A LONG Book Meme

Lindsay did this, and I liked it, so I thought I'd join in...

1. Favorite childhood book?
For preschool age, The Jolly Jumping Man (a Golden Book). Later, Eight Cousins, by Alcott. I almost swooned with joy when I found Rose in Bloom, the sequel.

2. What are you reading right now?
A Deadly Yarn. Also, I am persevering with the Little Book of String Theory. So far I'm following it.

3. What books do you have on request at the library?
(Checks library site...). The Chocolate Pirate Plot, Kilt Dead -- which are in; Dangerous to Know -- for which I'm number 3 on the list; and in the statewide system, In the Company of Others, the newest Jan Karon. I'm a sucker for online requests!

4. Bad book habit?
Reading in the shower. I try to limit it to books I own, but.......

5. What do you currently have checked out at the library?
Nine in total -- four yarn shop mysteries, two Constable Evans, String Theory, a compendium of knitting stitches, and a short story collection that will probably go back unread.

6. Do you have an e-reader?
No! I have seventy-two-skillion things I'd prefer to do with my money. And if you want to buy me a present, "real" books are fine. Even used. I have a list...

7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time or several at once?
Usually one fiction and one non-fiction, not counting any specific studying I may be doing.

8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?
No. I may be reading less print since I started reading blogs, but that was a long time ago.......

9. Least favorite book you read this year?
The Grave Gourmet. It looked interesting enough that I actually requested it, but UGH! Took it back after less than two chapters. This is RARE.

10. Favorite book you’ve read this year?
No clue. Nothing jumps out at me, so I'm guessing I read a lot of mind candy.....

11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?
Aside from my "one non-fiction" mentioned above, I have a discipline of "educational reading", where I go through something I think I ought to read which would never otherwise make it to the top of the pile. Ten to twenty minutes four or five times a week. I've done some good stuff this way.

12. What is your reading comfort zone?
Light, unfortunately. Mysteries (with or without romance). Milder sci fi and fantasy. Older (in terms of when it was written) young adult.

13. Can you read on the bus?
No bus, no car, no nothin'. I come very close to envying my children because reading while traveling doesn't make them queasy. (I have read on planes, but that's because the discomfort of reading while moving is less than the discomfort of thinking about where I actually am...)

14. Favorite place to read?
My end of the couch. Our new couch has recliners in both ends, and the left side is mine. (Now if I could just persuade the dog to respect that.)

15. What is your policy on book lending?
Lend, but write it down! Unless we have duplicates, which is not as rare as you might think.

16. Do you ever dog-ear books?
Only catalogs. I broke this habit 40+ years ago.

17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?
Rarely. Roger does it much more, which is sometimes interesting and sometimes distracting.

18. Not even with text books?
I cracked my last textbook in 1973. My Bible study guides have spaces where you're intended to write.

19. What is your favorite language to read in?
Um, the only one I know? Although it makes me ridiculously happy if I can follow a short passage in French or Greek.

20. What makes you love a book?
When something resonates with me. It can vary from book to book.

21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?
If I think it's a good "fit" for the person I'm recommending to. I rarely make blanket recommendations.

22. Favorite genre?
See number 12.

23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did)?
Classic light fiction. Austen, Bronte(s), re-reading Alcott.

24. Favorite biography?
Can't think of one.

25. Have you ever read a self-help book?
Anxiety, Phobias, and Panic by Reneau Peurifoy. This one saved my life, or at least my sanity.

26. Favorite cookbook?
The More-with-Less Cookbook. Ask my kids!

27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or nonfiction)?
My Grandfather's Son by Clarence Thomas. Kelson won an autographed copy by being the only one in his HS classroom who could immediately identify who Thomas is. Pathetic.

28. Favorite reading snack?
Not food, drink. Tea with sugar, no cream, no lemon.

29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.
??????

30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?
If a critic is reading it, it's probably not my style.

31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?
I think you should always be honest, but I also think that you should always even out things. If you tell me what’s bad about a book, I fully expect to hear what’s good about it as well. (This is Lindsay's answer. I agree completely.)

32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you choose?
Koine Greek. I know just enough to fumble around in the New Testament. I'd love to be fluent.

33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read?
Till We Have Faces. I read it through four or five times one Lent, because I grasp that it must make some point I need to understand, but I still don't "get" it. And I love everything else Lewis wrote.

34. Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?
The Silmarillion. The sentences are simple too long to make this anything but work for me.

35. Favorite poet?
Kipling. Or Robert Service. I'm a poetry lowbrow.

36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?
Five to ten. As low as two, and as high as twenty, but both of those are rare.

37. How often have you returned books to the library unread?
As often as my reading "eyes are bigger than my stomach". But with online renewal, it's rare.

38. Favorite fictional character?
Samwise. I don't think it's any accident that I came out as him on a "which Tolkein character are you?" Facebook quiz.

39. Favorite fictional villain?
Scrooge. Because he isn't, in the end.

40. Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation?
A stack of whatever series I'm hooked on at the time. New reads, re-reads, doesn't matter.

41. The longest I’ve gone without reading.
However long I had the flu that one time. If I go 24 hours without reading time, I get withdrawal symptoms.

42. Name a book that you could/would not finish.
Not too many. I'll only stop if I feel the book is/could be damaging me in some way. But of course there are many I don't start for this reason.

43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?
Not much.

44. Favorite film adaptation of a novel?
Emma. Because then I didn't have to read it.

45. Most disappointing film adaptation?
Jane Eyre, the old one with George C. Scott. I love the book for the dialogue, and the movie turns three pages into two sentences as often as not. We'll see about the new version.

46. The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?
A $50 gift card. I borrow rather than buy.

47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?

Only to see if I should bother.

48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?
Distraction. Got more interested in another book I was reading simultaneously. I have one like that right now....

49. Do you like to keep your books organized?
I was excited that moving let me organize the books, something I'd been meaning to get around to for years..

50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?
Keep. I might want or need to reread them. Unless they belong to the library, of course.

51. Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?
"Avoiding" is the wrong word for the Twilight books. "Reject outright."

52. Name a book that made you angry.
An Inconvenient Truth. Which I will never actually read.

53. A book you didn’t expect to like but did?
The Lord of the Rings. I avoided it for about 10 years, but then got it forced on me. And look what happened.

54. A book that you expected to like but didn’t?
A Wizard of Earthsea. Rave reviews from friends, but "meh."

55. Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading?
Harry Potter

This post took longer than I expected, so there are no links. If it's not clear which book I'm referring to, pipe up in the comments.