All about Books

1: Favorite Book

This is impossible to answer. At different stages of my life, I had different favourite books. I think I usually always say No Great Mischief by Alistair MacLeod and For Those Who Hunt The Wounded Down by David Adams Richards. Those were my favourite books as a teenager. Now? Who knows. Maybe I should be cheerier and say The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams.

2: Least favorite book

I don't tend to read books that I dislike. So, I'll say the Twilight series, or anything to do with vampires.

3: Book that makes you laugh out loud

Ok, this is also impossible to answer, since I laugh at just about everything. I suppose the books that had me laughing the most were Ellen Degeneres' books...do those count? Right now I'm ready Good Omens, and that has me laughing quite a bit.

4: Book that makes you cry

Oh man, there was this YA book I read when I was a young teen...I forget what it was called, but this kids father dies of cancer, and he has this little owl figurine...and it was THE SADDEST THING IN THE HISTORY OF FOREVER. Anyway, I try to avoid sad books like the plague.

5: Book you wish you could live in

Harry Potter, I guess? Or actually, I mean, except for all the world upheavel and horrible circumstances, I'd love to live in the Wheel of Time series. I would be Matt, but marry Perrin. It's totally doable....and again, preferably without the horrible circumstances. I never did finish that series - it got too stressful.

6: Favorite young adult book

The Hatchet by Gary Paulsen. I also really liked a book called Hold On, Geronimo by Marilyn Halvorson.

7: Book that you can quote/recite

Hamlet? I guess that's a play....um... I know a lot of quotes from Harry Potter, of course. Other than that, it's odds and ends from various books.

8: Book that scares you

There's this scene in The Hatchet...oh man...I'm not even going to describe it.

9: Book that makes you sick

That scene in A Spot of Bother by Mark Haddon. Ugh.

10: Book that changed your life

I don't think any book changed my life. They've challenged me intellectually, but that's just what books do.

11: Book from your favorite author

I don't really have a favourite author.

12: Book that is most like your life

I read books about other people - so, I don't think there is a book I've read that is most like my life. I think Lockpick Pornography by Joey Comeau does a good job of catching a particular mental states that I can sometimes fall into, but um...if you ever read that book, you will realize that it is NOTHING like me or my life.

13: Book whose main character is most like you

Maybe the dude in the Hatchet? He's very calm and matter of fact about things.

14: Book whose main character you want to marry 

I really liked Perrin in the Wheel of Time series...at least up until Book 8 (which is as far as I got). Other than that...um...Remus Lupin? He's not a main character though. Also, looking at these choices, it seems I have a thing for wolf-men. :-P

15: First “chapter book” you can remember reading as a child

The Noddy books. Sadly, they are now banned for supposedly being racist or something. I loved them. To my knowledge, I am not a racist.

16: Longest book you’ve read

Probably a history book for school. But, fiction? Um...the Wheel of Time series until book 8, if you count it as one giant book.

17: Shortest book you’ve read 

I have no idea. Probably something when I was learning to read. Dick and Jane?

18: Book you’re most embarrassed to say you like 

I'm not embarrassed by any of my books, I don't think.

19: Book that turned you on 

The Girl Who Couldn't Come by Joey Comeau (it's a collection of dirty stories).

20: Book you’ve read the most number of times 

Probably the third Harry Potter book. I read it in English, then German, then listened to the audio book...then possibly read it again. I also read Hold On, Geronimo a bunch of times back in the day. Oh wait...no, it's probably Catcher in the Rye...I've read that too many times to count, and also in German.

21: Favorite picture book from childhood 

I have no idea.

22: Book you plan to read next 

I'm currently reading like 6 books...so I plan to finish one of those. After that, I think the next book on the list is Cloud Atlas. It's already in my bed, and that usually means that it's next in line. (Yes, I sleep with books...I have a shortage of shelves, and it's just more convenient this way).

23: Book you tell people you’ve read, but haven’t (or haven’t actually finished)

1984, and a bunch of the "classics" - I just can't be bothered, and they've all been spoiled by now.

24: Book that contains your favorite scene 

There's a scene in For Those Who Hunt The Wounded Down that I call the "New Shoes" scene....and it's just...brilliant. I love it. It's very understated and no one really says or does anything out of the ordinary, and yet it's so amazingly heartwrenching. I have read that scene many a time.

25: Favorite book you read in school 

Hamlet. Does that count yet? Other than that, there were some books in elementary school I liked - Sign of the Beaver, and My Side of the Mountain.

26: Favorite nonfiction book 

Oh man...um, Western Civilization? Empires of the Word: a language history of the world. What else...Night, by Elie Wiesel (that kind of skims the line, there are some events in it that are fictionalized, but it is still only the truth.) Yes...I think I'm going to go with Night by Elie Wiesel.

27: Favorite fiction book

See question one.

28: Last book you read 

Until the end? Come Thou, Tortoise by Jessica Grant. It was amazing and terrific.

29: Book you’re currently reading

1)Good Omens (Must finish this before Friday night.)
2)I Am A Strange Loop - it's a book on philosophical mathematics! 
3)Saxons, Vikings, and Celts: the genetic history of Great Britain and Ireland.
4, 5, 6, 7....) I currently have four or five bookmarks in other books that I have not picked up again in over a year. They are all (for the most part) non-fiction books, so I don't have to worry about remembering or following a narrative. I'll get back to them eventually.

This is, sadly, how I read books. I blame university. 

30: Favorite coffee table book 

I don't have time for coffee table books! Have you seen the list of books that I'm reading?! I don't do casual!