55 Bookish Questions

In trying to decide what I was going to write for my blog and looking for bookish memes I came across this booking quiz here. It turned out to be both easier and harder than expected. I hope this gives a little insight into my reading habits.

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1. Favorite childhood book?
The Magic Faraway Tree by Enid Blyton and A Little Princess by Frances Hodgson Burnett

2. What are you reading right now?
Well I literally just finished Stormlord Rising by Glenda Larke. The next book I read will be Stormlord's Exile by the same author.

3. What books do you have on request at the library?

None at the moment.

4. Bad book habit?
Buying books when I am overseas and knowing that I will have to sacrifice some when I leave.

5. What do you currently have checked out at the library?
Stormlord Rising and Stormlord's Exile by Glenda Larke
Sacrifice and Heretic by Sarah Singleton

6. Do you have an e-reader?
Yup. A Kobo. I don't use it very often though. I prefer to read actual books and I bought the Kobo mostly for travelling.

7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?
It depends on my mood and the book. Often I will have several going but across varying genres so that I can match my book to my mood.

8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?
No.

9. Least favorite book you read this year (so far?)
This year... Oh wow. I can't really remember all the books I have read this year... maybe Time Riders by Alex Scarrow. I managed to get about halfway through I think but it just didn't hold my interest.

10. Favorite book you’ve read this year?
I'm gonna go for The Stormlord Trilogy by Glenda Larke but I also really enjoyed reading The Judas Strain, The Devil Colony and Bloodline from the SIGMA Force series by James Rollins, not to mention The Sacred Vault by Andy McDermott.

11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?
Well I guess it depends what is out of your comfort zone. I like to read a wide range of genres so I don't really have much of a comfort zone.

12. What is your reading comfort zone?
I don't know.

13. Can you read on the bus?
All the time. It makes the trips go by so much quicker.

14. Favorite place to read?
In bed.

15. What is your policy on book lending?
It depends on the person and how much I want them to read the book. If I know they love and respect books then I am more likely to lend.

16. Do you ever dog-ear books?
Never!

17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?
Nope. I've never had an urge to.

18. Not even with text books?
Well maybe a little bit of writing but mostly it was highlighting parts I needed to pay more attention to.

19. What is your favorite language to read in?
English... I'm not quite at the read in Finnish level yet.

20. What makes you love a book?

Characters, plot, and the writing itself. You can have a great plot and characters but if it isn't well written it's horrible. I think you could have any two of these three and without the third the book just wouldn't be good enough for me to love.... Epic heroics also help.

21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?
See above ^^^ Also if the book has stuck in my head then it has done something right.

22. Favorite genre?
I don't have any one genre that stands out above the rest. I would have to say that Fantasy, Science Fiction and Action/adventure would be at the top.

23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)
Non-Fiction... I do read some but not as much as I would like.

24. Favorite biography?
The Happiest Refugee by Ahn Do

25. Have you ever read a self-help book?
No.

26. Favorite cookbook?
I've only ever bought one so it would have to be The Food & Cooking of Finland by Anja Hill.

27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction)?
Tomorrow, When The War Began by John Marsden... Everytime I read it it makes me think hard.

28. Favorite reading snack?
Anything that's tasty and I don't have to concentrate on to eat.

29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.
Harry Potter. Everyone loved it but I really didn't.

30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?
I rarely read reviews on books so I can't really say that I ever agree or disagree.

31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?
I don't often dislike books but when I do there is no point in pretending that I do like it. I just say that I disliked the book.

32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you chose?
Finnish... because if I am reading in it then I'm probably speaking it fluently! (I hope!)

33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read?
I don't think I've ever truly been intimidated by a book that I can remember but if I had to choose probably reading The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood.
 

34. Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?
The Hunger Games in Finnish. I will get there! I will read it!

35. Favorite Poet?
Dorothea Mackellar or William Blake. I can't decide.

36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?
About 10.

37. How often have you returned book to the library unread?
Rarely. Maybe 1 in every 50 books I borrow.

38. Favorite fictional character?
Ellie Linton or Alanna of Pirates Swoop and Olau.

39. Favorite fictional villain?
This was hard to think of but I will go with Duke Roger of Conté from the Song of the Lioness Quartet by Tamora Pierce. Honourable mention to President Snow of The Hunger Games.

40. Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation?
Tomorrow, When The War Began and in general action/adventure and crime novels.

41. The longest I’ve gone without reading.
A week? I read every day if I can whether an actual book or just some fanfiction.

42. Name a book that you could/would not finish.
Emma by Jane Austen. I had to read it for school and just couldn't do it.

43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?
Food? I can really get into books and block out the world all around me.

44. Favorite film adaptation of a novel?

Tomorrow When The War Began

45. Most disappointing film adaptation?
The Lovely Bones. I loved the book but really really didn't enjoy the film.

46. The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?
I think I spent about $80 when the last Borders store was closing in Sydney.

47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?
Rarely. I usually just read the blurb and make a decision from that.

48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?
If it was boring me and I was having to force myself to read it.

49. Do you like to keep your books organized?
Well I try but it's hard when you don't have space for your books or you create piles of books to be read.

50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?
Keep. I don't like to give away books.

51. Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?
Lord of the Rings and Pride and Prejudice

52. Name a book that made you angry.
No book has ever made me angry, but many have made me sad.

53. A book you didn’t expect to like but did?
Sahara by Clive Cussler. My dad was constantly going on about how good he thought Clive Cussler was and how much better than the movie the book was. Usually this means I don't like the book but I really enjoyed it. I am also now a massive Clive Cussler fan and dad probably regrets telling me about him because I permanently borrow his books.

54. A book that you expected to like but didn’t?
Emma by Jane Austen. I had to read this for school. I was excited to read it. I really tried and started reading it early and it made me fall asleep on the first page. I forced myself to read 12 chapters but still couldn't get into it.

55. Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading?
Tomorrow Series by John Marsden, and anything Star Wars.

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Random Logic

Let's Talk About [Books], Baby!

Books! LET'S TALK ABOUT BOOKS!

I've posted before about books... including my long delayed 30 Day Book Challenge posts... I really need to get up to date on those... woops!(it's even worse because I do have some typed up already), but today I am bringing up the topic of books for a different reason.

Today I am packing- my books that is. The hundreds of books with thousands of pages between them are going into storage because I will be moving overseas for a while. As a result all of my books(with the exception of 5- my friends put a limit on how many books I may take with me) will be boxed up and placed in storage in my parents garage. 

It's not so much the packing of the books that makes it difficult. I love my books but I have had to pack them before so that I could move- It is the fact that I will not be accessing these books for a significant period of time, and therein lies the problem.

With previous moves, I have just packed the books into boxes, got on with it, moved and unpacked. As such the only order in packing my books came as a matter of:

- what size books fit effectively in this size box?

   and

- How can I minimise the space required for storage.

This time my problem is how to effectively pack these books in such a manner that if I decide I really want to take a particular book with me and I have packed it away, I can quickly locate it and access it. I am also trying to keep my book series together. I read a lot of series and am fans of particular authors work whether as part of a series or otherwise, as such I have probably 10+ authors where I have 5 or more books by that author. Not to mention the few such as Christine Feehan, Sherrilyn Kenyon, Clive Cussler, John Marsden, Tamora Pierce, and Patricia Cornwell of whose books combined could fill a box alone. This makes it a challenge to pack my books, especially when I have both hardcovers as well as soft covers for a few of these authors.

As such I have come up with a plan. 

- I will label boxes(I never label boxes) with the authors name

- I will put as many series in a box as possible in order to minimise the amoutn of boxes I may find myself raiding in the next 5 weeks.

- I will try to leave certain books until last. If not because I want to take them with me, but because Garth Nix and Matthew Reilly are both going to be at Supanova this June and I haven't got all my Matthew Reilly books signed or any of my Garth Nix books signed.

In the meantime I shall drink my Kossu and try to not get to too depressed over the packing away of books, after all- It's just temporary and it's a sign of change in my life. Bring on Finland!

~~Random Logic~~