
Click here to play along!
An AWESOME theme this week over at Sunday Stealing! Remember–you can join the fun simply by answering the questions and then adding your link–just click on the icon above!
1: Favorite children’s book: If you’ve read my blog for any length of time, you know that it’s Charlotte’s Web!
2: The last book you’ve read: I finished Sisterland by Curtis Sittenfeld earlier this week and really liked it.
3: Books on your “to read” list: Oh my gosh—seriously? There’s just no way. Check my Goodreads account via the Reading Challenge icon on the right sidebar if you’re interested . . .
4: Top 5 authors: It’s so tough to limit it to five, but my favorite authors of fiction include Jodi Picoult, Ann Packer, Beth Gutcheon, Anna Quindlen, Stewart O’Nan. Bonus answer–my favorite authors of nonfiction include Studs Terkel, John Feinstein, and Robert Caro.
5: Favorite genres: Contemporary, realistic fiction—followed closely by narrative nonfiction.
6: A book that has made you extremely mad: A book I’m reading right now is making me very angry—it’s called Play Their Hearts Out and it’s a nonfiction, investigative book about youth basketball. I have some pretty strong opinions about what youth sports programs should and shouldn’t focus on—and the priorities and behavior of most of the adults in this book are so misplaced that I’ve actually had to set this book aside for awhile.
7: A book that you’ve cried over: Eleanor and Park was the last book that I cried so much over that I had to stop and catch my breath. We’re talking “ugly crying face” here. What powerful writing!
8: A book that made you laugh out loud: I don’t laugh out loud when I read very often, but there were some lines of dialogue in Where’d You Go Bernadette that made me laugh out loud.
9: Fiction or nonfiction? Both—right now I’m in the middle of a nonfiction phase, but I love fiction as well.
10: First book you’ve read by your favorite author: The first Jodi Picoult book I read was The Pact, and it made me a Picoult fan for life. That being said, I haven’t loved everything she’s written—but I automatically read every book she publishes.
11: Best book-to-movie adaption: I loved the nonfiction book about high school football in Texas called Friday Night Lights–but I ADORE the movie. It’s one of the very few films that I enjoyed more than the book—and that’s saying a lot because the book was great. There’s a line that Billy Bob Thornton says to his star quarterback that gets me every time.
12: Do you read comics/manga? No—that’s one genre I’ve never dipped into.
13: Hardcovers or Paperbacks? Both.
14: Do you buy books as soon as they come out or wait a while? Depends—I usually wait and then either buy the paperback, or find a nice used hardcover copy once the paperback is released. On the other hand, there are a few books that I’ve gone out and purchased in hardcover on their release day–because sometimes I JUST CAN’T WAIT!
15: Do you buy books spontaneously without any prior knowledge of what happens in it? I usually have some idea about the plot or topic before I buy a book. I’m much more likely to borrow a book from the library on a whim, rather than to purchase a book without knowing anything about it.
16: Have you ever bought a book based on the cover alone? I’ve been drawn to find out more about a book because of it’s cover, but I can’t recall ever buying a book just because of how it looked.
17: Where do you usually buy your books? I am a HUGE fan of abe.books. If you’re not familiar, abebooks is a central, web-based hub for thousands of used book stores all over the US and even in a few other countries. You can search for just about any book you want and then compare prices and condition with used bookstores all over the country. It’s also a great source for finding out-of-print books. I’ve bought well over 100 books via this site over the years.
18: Book that had a strong impact on you: This is a hard question—there have been many. I’ve read a lot of books about education that have made me really examine my own beliefs about teaching and our country’s educational systems. That’s my favorite kind of book—one that makes me think.
19: Historical or science fiction? I don’t care for science fiction. Nothing against it-I just have never been able to get into it. I do like some historical fiction—but my favorite books tend to be set in contemporary times.
20: Dystopian or Utopian? Neither—again, not my taste.
21: Worst book-to-move adaption? This isn’t the worst—but I did not like the movie version of The Help. Maybe it was just the reactions of the other people in the theater that affected my opinion—people were laughing throughout the film as though it were a comedy. I left the theater shaking my head.
22: Book that should have a movie adaption? I would love to see what a good director and screenwriter could do with Stewart O’Nan’s Songs For The Missing.
23: The first book you’ve fallen in love with: Charlotte’s Web made me fall in love with books when I was in second grade.
24: Humor or angst? Humor, I guess. I’ve never really had a good grasp of what angst is . . .
25: How many books do you own? Over 1,000.
26: Do you go the library? I usually stop by every Friday after work—I have holds that have come in almost every week, and checking books out on the same day of the week helps me remember when they’re due back.
27: How many books do you read a year? Great question—and one that I’ve never been able to accurately answer! I have never kept a formal tally of what I read. Since I started my blog this past summer, I’ve realized that I won’t be able to do any of those awesome “What I Read This Year” posts unless I start keeping track. So I started using Goodreads at the beginning of 2014—my goal is to read 75 books this year. I think that’s realistic, but we’ll see! So far I’ve read 13 books.
28: Favorite “required reading” book? I can’t think of one—different people “need” to read different books at different times. I can’t think of a “one-size-fits-all” book.
29: Favorite quote? I have a lot of favorite quotes about books and reading, but, to me, it all boils down to this one: “Any book that helps a child to form a habit of reading, to make reading one of his deep and continuing needs, is good for him.”–Maya Angelou
30: A book you absolutely hate: My mind is a blank on this one! I know I’ve read books that I couldn’t stand—but apparently I’ve blocked them out of my mind!
Like this:
Like Loading...