Book Meme

My friend Anne suggested this Meme and I can't resist an opportunity to talk about books, so here we go. :)

1. Favorite childhood book?
All of the Laura Ingals Wilder books.

2. What are you reading right now?
"K is for Killer", "Good Girls Don't Get Fat", "The Writer's Digest Guide to Query Letters"

3. What books do you have on request at the library?
I must shamefully admit that I don't use the library. There are two reasons for this. 1. I found that once I had a certain number of children, I could almost never get my act together enough to return books on time. My over due book fees added up to such an amount that I felt justified just buying the books I wanted. 2. I really want to buy the books anyway. Does a crack head *borrow* their crack and give it back? I think not. I must own the books, love them, hold them, POSSESS them! LOL!

4. Bad book habit?
I'm not necessarily "Gentle" with my books - I dog ear at will, lay flat instead of marking my place, etc.

5. What do you currently have checked out at the library?
[See #3]

6. Do you have an e-reader?
No. Wretched technology!

7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time or several at once?
I usually have one fiction book that I'm reading "just for fun" and at least one educational book that I'm reading for some other purpose. Sometimes I have 3 or 4 going at once.

8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?
No, not that I've noticed.

9. Least favorite book you read this year?
"The Godfather"

10. Favorite book you’ve read this year?
Mmmmm....hard to say. A) my memory is bad so I know I've read some fantastic books that I loved this year and now I've already forgotten them. B) I'd have a hard time picking a favorite.

But, SOME that I really enjoyed are:

"Finding Nouf"
"Marriage Bureau for Rich People"
"How To Be An American Housewife"
"Crazy Aunt Purl's Drunk, Divorced, and Covered In Cat Hair"
"Damn, Why Didn't I Write That?"
"Raising Great Kids On Your Own"

This year I re-read all the Rick Riordan Olympian books and read "The Red Pyramid" and re-read all the Harry Potter books - all of which I enjoyed tremendously as well.

and many, many others that are escaping my brain at the moment...

11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?
I don't. Reading is my sole source of fun, pleasure, learning, and growth at this point in my life and I only read what I WANT to read.

12. What is your reading comfort zone?
I like good, clean fiction, mystery, fantasy, some sci-fi. I like books on any topic that currently interests me [these can range from gardening and raising chickens to obscure religious texts to "how to do" just about anything - I love learning new stuff]. I have a real weakness and devotion to good juvenile fiction - that's probably my favorite genre of all.

13. Can you read on the bus?
I can't read when in motion - makes me puke.

14. Favorite place to read?
any place I can take a book.

15. What is your policy on book lending?
I don't lend books - I give them away. I have literally owned several copies of many books that I love because I keep giving them away and buying more copies. I don't lend books because you so seldom get them back - I give the book away with a happy heart and don't ever look for it to come back home. Then I never have to worry about who has which book where...

16. Do you ever dog-ear books?
Yes.

17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?
Generally not, but sometimes I do if a book affects me in a specifically good or bad way. [You should have seen my copy of that horrible Ezzo "Babywise" book - it was so marked up as to be hard to read the text. I had people borrow my copy of that book just to read what I wrote LOL!]

18. Not even with text books?
I used to mark up my text books, but it has been a long time since I worked with text books.

19. What is your favorite language to read in?
English.

20. What makes you love a book?
Compelling characters, a good story, a moral lesson, something beautifully ironic, something that makes me laugh or makes me grow as a person, all kinds of things can make a book great for different reasons.

21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?
If I couldn't put it down and enjoyed every second, or if it was a book that changed my life in some positive way.

22. Favorite genre?
Probably juvenile fiction.

23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did)?
I don't really have any genre I don't read but wish I did - if I wish to read something, I read it.

24. Favorite biography?
hmmmm....I really loved the biography of Mother Angelica. [I even named a kid after her!].

25. Have you ever read a self-help book?
Yep, I read lots of self help and/or educational type books. Perpetual curiosity is part of my nature - I have to always be learning about something, it is almost a compulsion.

26. Favorite cookbook?
Moosewood cookbook, The Southern Living Cookbook, The King Arthur Flour Baker's Companion, The Flying Biscuit Cafe Cookbook, and many many others...

27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or nonfiction)?
Probably "Damn, Why Didn't I Write That?" because it inspired me to actually START writing instead of "thinking about writing". Not inspiration in the traditional sense I guess, but inspirational to my situation!

28. Favorite reading snack?
ice cold coca-cola

29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.
I don't know if it ruined the experience, but that hype surrounding those awful Twilight books really was ridiculous. I ended up reading all four of them "waiting for it to get great" because everyone said how great they are... but you know what? At the end of it all, those books are just awful. period. I have never been so frustrated at wasting so much time! LOL!

30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?
I don't pay any attention to critics. All that matters to me is whether *I* like the book.

31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?
I don't mind it. If the book is bad, I feel like it is a service to the community at large to be honest about it. At the same time, most of the reviews I do are positive - because when a book is awesome, it deserves credit for being awesome.

32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you choose?
Spanish - I'd love to be more fluent in Spanish for many reasons.

33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read?
I gave up reading "intimidating" books years ago. Life is too short.

34. Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?
See #33

35. Favorite poet?
I don't care for poetry actually.

36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?
See #3 above....

37. How often have you returned books to the library unread?
N/A

38. Favorite fictional character?
Oh good Heavens? How am I supposed to pick just one? I suppose at the moment my favorites would be Percy Jackson, Hermoine Granger, and Kinsey Millhone.

39. Favorite fictional villain?
Actually, I don't like villains in general so I guess I don't really have a favorite.

40. Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation?
Whatever I'm reading at the moment I guess. [Vacation? what is this vacation of which you speak?]

41. The longest I’ve gone without reading.
I have never willingly gone even 24 hours without reading. The only exception was when I was in the hospital for the birth of my 5th child and I had an eclamptic seizure - it was the scariest time in my life in large part because it did brain damage that prevented me from being able to read for WEEKS - and I didn't know if that would be permanent or not. If it had been permanent, I'm not sure I could have survived such a disability given my book addiction. ;)

42. Name a book that you could/would not finish.
There are some books that I WISH I hadn't finished, but I generally do finish them once I start.

43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?
Nothing.

44. Favorite film adaptation of a novel?
The Lord of the Rings Trilogy. This is the only instance where [with all due respect to Tolkien, my hero] I believe the movies were actually BETTER than the books. The adaptation was AMAZING. Peter Jackson rocks!

45. Most disappointing film adaptation?
Pretty much all the others. Movies usually do a disservice to the books they come from. I am usually disappointed by them.

46. The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?
I'm not sure. Probably not too much, but only because I'm always too broke to buy more than a couple of books at a time. But I shop *frequently*. LOL!

47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?
Not usually. I like to start with the introduction and drink the whole thing in.

48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?
If it were extremely boring or offensive in some way.

49. Do you like to keep your books organized?
I keep my books organized by topic mostly, and then by author.

50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?
Fiction I give away [unless it was something just so amazingly incredible that I know I will read it again], non-fiction I typically keep for reference. Every couple of years I do a big purge and donate a ton of books that I no longer need. [And I usually kick myself later because it turns out I DID need one of those books I donated... ;) ]

51. Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?
No.

52. Name a book that made you angry.
The angriest I've ever been at a book was a wretched Anne Rice book, I think it was "The Witching Hour" - I hated HATED HATED the way that stupid book ended. I literally tore it to shreds and threw it in the garbage. I still remember how annoyed and mad I was when I finished the book, and that was 20 years ago.

Recently I read "The Godfather" for the first time and felt the same way - I threw the whole thing in the trash and truly, deeply regretted reading it. I wished I could WASH out my brain when I finished. I kept expecting it to get good and it never did - it is such an icon of American Culture and it turned out to be nothing but perversion, violence, and filth. Ugh.

53. A book you didn’t expect to like but did?
The Harry Potter books. I started those books with no real interest - I literally read them because I *hate* people trying to ban books and I decided that if people were going to ban them, I was going to read them and make MY OWN DECISION about the books. Turns out, I think they are FANTASTIC. Very glad I read those [all 7 or 8 times I've read them now... LOL!]

54. A book that you expected to like but didn’t?
Twilight.

55. Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading?
Juvenile fiction probably...

If you love to read, I tag you! Leave a comment so I can read what you write!