This week's Booking Through Thursday is all of these questions!
1. Favorite childhood book?
Lily's Purple Plastic Purse by Kevin Henkes was my favorite picture book. Anne of Green Gables by L. M. Montgomery was my favorite chapter bok.
2. What are you reading right now?
In Cold Blood by Truman Capote, The Best American Essays 2008, and The Catcher in the Rye by J. D. Salinger.
3. What books do you have on request at the library?
Slouching Towards Bethlehem by Joan Didion.
4. Bad book habit?
Putting them down on the table with the spine up.
5. What do you currently have checked out at the library?
The Catcher in the Rye, About a Mountain by John D'Agata, Sleeping Naked is Green by Vanessa Farguharson, and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith.
6. Do you have an e-reader?
Yes, I have a nook.
7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?
Several, although lately I've been focusing more on one at a time.
8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?
Oh yeah, I read a lot more and I'm more conscious about what I think while I'm reading.
9. Least favorite book you read this year (so far?)
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation.
10. Favorite book you’ve read this year?
Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides.
11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?
Not very often.
12. What is your reading comfort zone?
Genres I know I can count on like literary nonfiction, graphic novels, young adult series, and classics.
13. Can you read on the bus?
Yeah I do it all the time.
14. Favorite place to read?
Outside as long as I don't have the sun to my back.
15. What is your policy on book lending?
I'll lend to anyone I'm friends with.
16. Do you ever dog-ear books?
I used to but now I use bookmarks and sticky notes.
17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?
Often.
18. Not even with text books?
Still do it here.
19. What is your favorite language to read in?
English though I can read some French.
20. What makes you love a book?
Strong female characters, strong characters of any kind, detailed description but not flowery language.
21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?
If I come away from a book thinking it either changed the way I look at something or helped me learn a lot about a subject or life.
22. Favorite genre?
Literary nonfiction.
23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)
Current literary fiction.
24. Favorite biography?
Wild Child: Life with Jim Morrison by Linda Ashcroft.
25. Have you ever read a self-help book?
I've read fitness walking books and study books.
26. Favorite cookbook?
Better Homes and Gardens New Cookbook.
27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction)?
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee.
28. Favorite reading snack?
Popcorn or oranges.
29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.
The Secret History of the Pink Carnation. I think I expected too much from it.
30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?
Depends on the critic. I usually agree with book reviews from the Believer. Bookmarks is more touch and go.
31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?
I feel that I always give reasons for why I don't like a book so I don't mind giving negative reviews. I try to find something good even in books I dont like.
32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you chose?
Dutch.
33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read?
Middlemarch by George Eliot.
34. Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy.
35. Favorite Poet?
Emily Dickinson.
36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?
I didn't have a library card until last week (I know, I know!) but including the university library I would say about 3 or 4.
37. How often have you returned book to the library unread?
Frequently when I was younger, which is why I didn't get a library card again until last week.
38. Favorite fictional character?
I have way too many! One I always remember fondly is Marcus in About a Boy by Nick Hornby.
39. Favorite fictional villain?
Lydia Gwilt from Armadale by Wilkie Collins.
40. Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation?
Some literary nonfiction and historical fiction.
41. The longest I’ve gone without reading.
Three or four months probably.
42. Name a book that you could/would not finish.
Most recently I have been very challenged by Surviving Paradise. Not sure if I'll finish it or not.
43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?
Noise, other conversations, my own nagging thoughts.
44. Favorite film adaptation of a novel?
Jane Eyre! The PBS version.
45. Most disappointing film adaptation?
I wasn't too fond of The Lightning Thief.
46. The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?
Oh boy, no clue. Definitely upwards $150 dollars.
47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?
Not that often, surprisingly.
48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?
Boring plot.
49. Do you like to keep your books organized?
I like to keep them on shelves, but in no particular order.
50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?
I prefer to keep them.
51. Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?
Gone With the Wind, even though I said I'd read it by the end of the summer.
52. Name a book that made you angry.
I can name an essay that made me angry. Ticket to the Fair by David Foster Wallace.
53. A book you didn’t expect to like but did?
I wasn't sure if I'd like Candy Girl by Diablo Cody and really enjoyed it.
54. A book that you expected to like but didn’t?
Trieste and the Meaning of Nowhere by Jan Morris.
55. Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading?
The Luxe series.
Did any of my answers surprise you?