Bookish Q&A: Because You Wanted to Know More, Right?

October 24, 2014 Q&A 24

Howdy Bookworms!
Today’s post is brought to you by the incomparable Sarah from Sarah Says Read. She completed this survey and I decided that it was necessary for me to do the same, except I got lazy and only completed a portion of it. Rest assured that I’ll eventually finish the project. I really like interviewing myself. Ready???
1. Favorite childhood book: It’s tough to remember having a favorite book as a kid. I mean, are we talking picture books? Chapter books? Adolescent books? Childhood can be long and complicated. I remember there being some purple book with an owl on it that was my favorite as a wee one. I have absolutely no idea what it was called or who wrote it. So, uh, my favorite childhood book was “that one purple book with an owl.” Good enough? Good. Let’s carry on…
2. What are you reading right now? Right now, I’m reading ‘Salem’s Lot by Stephen King for The Fellowship of the Worms. I’m not scared… yet…
3. What books do you have on request at the library? I’m not sure. Let me go and check (please hold as I clickety click on over…) The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley.
4. Bad book habit: I tend to get waaaaaaaaaay too emotionally involved with fictional characters. I’ve been listening to audio book versions of the Outlander Series (because I wanted to relive it, natch. Swooning over Jamie Fraser never ever gets old) and I find myself tensing and getting upset as things happen to the characters. I know exactly how things turn out, but it stresses me anyway. I’m the same way with Harry Potter re-visits. Actually, if a book doesn’t get me overly involved with the lives of the characters, I probably don’t much care for it.
fictionalcharacterdeath
5. What do you currently have checked out at the library? I actually managed to get ‘Salem’s Lot from the library. It was pure luck that it came available in time for the readalong.
6. Do you have an e-reader? Indeed! I have two, actually. I use my Kindle Paperwhite (OMG how I love it!) for the majority of my reading. The backlight makes my world go round. I kept my old Kindle, though, and I use that as a loaner so family and friends can enjoy some of my digital copies of books. That’s the drawback to digital reading, I think. Difficult lendibility.
7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once? I have recently discovered that I can read several books at one (maximum of three). They must, however, all be in different formats. I can have a Kindle book, a physical book, and an audio book all going at once, but not multiple books in the same format. My brain would explode.
8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog? I read a LOT more. I mean, I always read a fair amount, but I’m chewing through 100 books a year. It’s pretty crazy, actually. I’ll also admit that I stress about reading more than I used to. I like having things to tell y’all about. If I’m not reading ALL THE THINGS I worry I’ll run out of material. Really, though, my Bookworms are so cool, you probably wouldn’t mind if I wrote limericks. Now that I think about it, maybe I should be writing more limericks… As odes to fictional characters. Mmmm Jamie Fraser, there are so very many things that rhyme with “red”!
heylassie

Swoon

9. Least favorite book you read this year: Oooh. I don’t love being negative, but since you asked, survey. I listened to the audio version of Here on Earth by Alice Hoffman. I didn’t even like it enough to blog about it. I couldn’t decide if it was an intentional ripoff of Wuthering Heights or simply an ode to the classic, but since I didn’t care for Wuthering Heights either (review), it did nothing for me.
10. Favorite book you’ve read this year: Holy cats, it is SO hard for me to pick favorites! I’m going to go with my (mostly arbitrary) Goodreads ratings and list out my 5-star books thus far. (Again, the arbitrary-ness of my star ratings cannot be overstated.) Crazy Horse’s Girlfriend (review), Ready Player One (review), Written in My Own Heart’s Blood (review-ish), Headhunters on My Doorstep (review), Slammerkin (review), I Am Livia (review), Frog Music (review), The Chaperone (review).
11. How often do you read outside of your comfort zone? Oooh tough question. I am a fairly eclectic reader, so it’s hard to define my comfort zone. I certainly have some books I consider comfort fiction, but that’s certainly not all that I read. I guess I really push it to the “there’s a good chance I’ll hate this” limit once a month or so?
12. What is your reading comfort zone? When I feel the need to read something comforting, I tend to choose Southern Fried Fiction. Fannie Flagg, Beth Hoffman, Sarah Addison Allen- these ladies always make me feel better about the state of the universe.
13. Can you read on the bus? I can, but I’m not in the habit of riding the bus. Living out in the boondocks, as I do, makes public transit inconvenient at best.
14. Favorite place to read: My bed. Perhaps not my favorite activity that takes place in the bed, but it’s up there on the list. (Top of the list is sleeping, you filthy minded Bookworms, you!)
A Katie asleep in her natural habitat. Note penguin PJs and obnoxious husband wielding cell phone...

Wake sleeping Katies at your own peril. Photograph sleeping Katies also at your own peril.

15. What is your policy on book lending? I’ve loosened up on this a lot over the years. Since I started blogging I find myself in possession of a lot more books. If I wasn’t cool with lending them out and sending them into circulation, I’d be buried.
16. Do you dog-ear your books? I don’t have super strong opinions about dog-earring. Sometimes I do, but not if I have a bookmark on hand. I’ve got a lot of fun bookmarks, so I don’t do a lot of page bending these days.
17. Do you write notes on the margins of your books? Nope. I don’t know why, I don’t have any particular objection to margin notes, I’ve just never done it. If I feel the need to take notes, I usually open a draft of a future blog and jot down really useful comments like “WTF?!” or “This better not be the twist!”
18. Do you break/crack the spines? Oh yeah. Sometimes it can’t be avoided. I mean, have you ever read a chunkster? I challenge you to get through some of those bad boys WITHOUT cracking the spine.
19. What is your favorite language to read? Dothraki. Just kidding. I only read English. I’m depressingly mono-lingual.
20. What makes you love a book? Oh that’s a tough one. I saw a discussion on River City Reading that talked about three types of readers: those who read for language style, those who read for the plot, and those who read for characters. I can confidently say that language ranks the lowest on my list. I like a prettily constructed sentence as much as the next girl, but that’s not what blows my skirt up. What makes me love a book is a combination of fun plots and great characters.
21. What will inspire you to recommend a book? I really like to individualize my recommendations based on who is asking me. I will demand that virtually everyone on planet earth read Harry Potter and Outlander, but I do like to take into consideration what the seeker likes, you know?
Alright, I’m throwing in the towel on this survey, for now anyway. Any of you gorgeous bookworms care to tackle some of these questions? 
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24 Responses to “Bookish Q&A: Because You Wanted to Know More, Right?”

  3. Rhian

    I never, *ever* dog ear a page. EVER. If I need to mark my spot and one of my eleventy billion bookmarks isn’t within reach, I’ll use whatever’s handy – receipts, random bits of paper, drink coasters, magazines, etc. I generally have a good idea of where I’m up to, so if there is absolutely nothing to sandwich between the pages then I just close it.

    I don’t crack spines either, though I wasn’t aware I did this until a friend asked me if I’d read a book I’d lent her because it was in such pristine condition. I’m looking at two books I’ve read in the last couple of days, one of which is nearly 600 pages, and the spines aren’t even creased.

    Reply

    • Words For Worms

      No shame! I mean, my love for Outlander is near all-consuming, but even I realize it’s not for everyone. There’s a strong romance novel element (in addition all the other cool stuff with botany and military history and whatnot) and I’ve seen a lot of people get put off by some of the more scandalous bits. There’s really quite a lot of naked time in them. Not to imply that you’re a prude, but you know. Most lit fic if it has ANY sex is limited to a scene or two.

      Reply

  5. ThatAshGirl

    I accept your challenge, I totally do NOT crack spines. I have large books that I have read more than once *cough* Outlander and no crack to be seen. I worked in a Book Store, I have an ISSUE with messy spines.

    Reply

  9. Jennine G.

    I just copied and pasted this survey (or a similar one anyway) to use at a later date. I like reading these! And you always have so much humor in your answers!

    Reply

  10. Sarah Says Read

    The breaking-the-spine questions are always so weird to me. WHO CARES. Book spines are made to be broken! Probably. But it’s damn near impossible not to.

    Reply

  11. Trish

    Mmmmmm Jamie. It’s naptime here…totally inappropriate for me to go into the bedroom and sneak in an episode of the show, right? I have a similar bookish questionnaire in my draft…wonder how many of these posts I could get away with doing?!

    Reply

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