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ladyneferankh. :)
1) What author do you own the most books by?
Haha, LibraryThing to the rescue! Although I don't have everything in there yet. Hmph.
Andre Norton, 49.
Edgar Rice Burroughs, 37.
Erle Stanley Gardner, 30-40.
Margery Allingham, 27.
Leslie Charteris, 20-30.
Agatha Christie ought to be up there, too, since between my mother and I we own all but a couple of her 70+ novels. But I did most of my buying in junior high and early high school, and we never kept track of them.
2) What book do you own the most copies of?
I have duplicates of:
The Guns of Navarone by Alistair MacLean (my old paperback, and a first edition hardcover WITH MAP fromjordannamorgan *squee*);
False Colours by Georgette Heyer (1940s hardcover with dust jacket from Half Price Books, and a paperback from a 20+ book ebay auction); and
The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs (hardcover picked up by me at a random time, and a paperback sent to me from a Paperback Swap user).
3) Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?
Nope. That's one of the few grammar rules that was never pounded into me, and one that I never picked up from *cough* extensive reading.
4) What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
Err. Richard Diamond, for one. But he's not in a book, darn it.
5) What book have you read the most times in your life?
The Bible is one, for sure. I've read it through maybe... well, I counted 6 times about 10 years ago. Say 8 or 9 times now. Otherwise, I know I've read Ben-Hur about 6 times; Where Eagles Dare; and Rifles for Watie, although it's been years since the last time.
6) What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
Ugh, how do I remember that? Probably a Nancy Drew, or a Mandy book, or, if Mom was letting me read Agatha Christies by then, The Man in the Brown Suit or Partners in Crime.
7) What is the worst book you've read in the past year?
Lightbreaker, by Mark Teppo. The first chapters on the Baen website were weird but interesting enough for me to request it through PBS; but I didn't like it at all and swapped it back right away. The Kruton Interface by John DeChancie was another disappointment, since I really liked Starrigger and Castle Perilous wasn't too bad. Maybe The Kruton Interface was just full of in-jokes that I simply didn't get, or maybe that particular kind of humor (whatever it is) doesn't communicate to me; but I found it completely unamusing. I also tried to read Bill, the Galactic Hero by Harry Harrison, because it looked like it might be fun, but it was all bitter, bitter dystopian and anti-military humor. I did not finish it, which I very rarely do. I even finished The Kruton Interface, because often books that I'm "meh" about do redeem themselves somewhat by the end. I skimmed to the end of Bill in desperation and it certainly did not; it left a nasty taste in my mouth and I immediately dived into a Boys Own Adventure. :D
8) What is the best book you've read in the past year?
Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia. I have some more five-stars on my Goodreads list, but that's the winner so far.
9) If you could force everyone to read one book, what would it be?
I don't think I would. I read insane amounts (my goal is 250 for the year and I'm on track to exceed it), but even I have a really bad tendency to avoid things given or recommended to me. I can be a very obstinate person. Books recommended/lent or outright given to me that I haven't yet read:
Anna Karenina
To Have and to Hold
Hood and Scarlet
So I don't think I would force anyone to read anything. I certainly do talk about what I like, and I do lend books; but it's to people who really want to. I try not to persuade them. (I have converted several people to Saint books, though. :D)
10) Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for literature?
Ick. "Literature" awards are reserved for depressing, pointless "literary" books written for "literature" critics. I couldn't care less who wins.
11) What book would you most like to see made into a movie?
Hmm. MHI would be a fantastic movie, and something Hollywood could actually handle really well. Although it would probably be rated R for violence (and maybe language), in which case I would really have to struggle about seeing it! How's that for irony?
12) What book would you least like to see made into a movie?
I don't know; there are so many. I tend to see everything in my own way when I read it, and no movie will capture the nuances of my own favorite bits. :)
13) Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.
Unfortunately I never remember my dreams. Well, hardly ever.
14) What is the most lowbrow book you've read as an adult?
EVERYTHING I READ is considered "lowbrow" by the "literary" critics. From MHI to A Yankee Flier in the South Pacific to Miss Pinkerton! I guess I'm proud of it; but mostly I don't care. I want to enjoy what I read, and I have no intention of turning my recreational reading into something for approval from society or the literati.
15) What is the most difficult book you've ever read?
I think... The Man Who Was Thursday by G. K. Chesterton. I flat out did not follow that book. That's one I need to try again sometime, actually; because I know it's worth it, and to be honest, I did not slow down and try to figure it out or think about it further.
Oh, I just rememberd another one. The Black Stallion was one of the first books I ever read, I think in kindergarten. I remember getting The Black Stallion Mystery from the library sometime after that, probably less than a year; and while I had no difficulty actually reading the book, I simply did not comprehend it. A 7- or 8-year-old just doesn't have the understanding, I guess.
16) What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you've seen?
None of them are very obscure. Probably The Tempest, and I did see it in person.
17) Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
Probably the French; I've not read much of the Russians. I mostly enjoy Dumas and Hugo.
18) Roth or Updike?
I think I've successfully avoided both.
19) David Sedaris or Dave Eggers?
Ditto!
20) Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?
Probably Shakespeare. I haven't minded the little I've read of the Canterbury Tales, but not enough to want to read more. And I've only read small excerpts from Paradise Lost, again too little to want to read more. If/when I had/have mental leisure and time to read poetry, though, Milton will be up there. I've read a fair amount of Shakespeare and mostly enjoy it.
21) Austen or Eliot?
Austen. Although Silas Marner really is quite good.
22) What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
Pretty much anything considered "literary" after about 1880. Partially through disinterest, and certainly outright avoidance of James Joyce, Thomas Hardy, and the so-called Lost Generation. But I'm not embarrassed about it. :D
23) What is your favorite novel?
I'm not even going to pretend it's my favorite-above-all-others, but Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ has long been one of my favorites. There's so much to it. It's a great story, there's a lot of meaning to ponder, and the description and setting are so vivid that I find it a joy to read.
24) Play?
Err. My mind goes blank with questions like this. Honestly, "The Ugly Duckling" by A. A. Milne is a favorite. It is so funny. The little bits of "The Importance of Being Earnest" I've read are funnier, probably, but hey - I haven't read it all!
25) Poem?
"The Explorer," by Kipling, which I know I've posted before.
26) Essay?
I've a couple. "On Faerie Stories" or "On Three Ways of Writing for Children" by C. S. Lewis... or of course, "The Monsters and the Critics" by J. R. R. Tolkien.
27) Short story?
"The Canterville Ghost" by Oscar Wilde. HILARIOUS.
28) Work of non-fiction?
The Bible, duh. Otherwise... maybe the book of C. S. Lewis essays. Or Tolkien's Letters.
29) Who is your favorite writer?
Again, I can't do that. Alistair MacLean is way up there, though, because at his best I *love* his books. Great stories, lots of action and suspense, humor of the best kind in just the right places, and splendid writing.
30) Who is the most overrated writer alive today?
Dunno. I pay little attention.
31) What is your desert island book?
The Bible, yes. Then maybe Ben-Hur, because it would last so long and has high readability.
32) And... what are you reading right now?
Right this minute, A Lady of Quality by Georgette Heyer.
ladyneferankh. :)1) What author do you own the most books by?
Haha, LibraryThing to the rescue! Although I don't have everything in there yet. Hmph.
Andre Norton, 49.
Edgar Rice Burroughs, 37.
Erle Stanley Gardner, 30-40.
Margery Allingham, 27.
Leslie Charteris, 20-30.
Agatha Christie ought to be up there, too, since between my mother and I we own all but a couple of her 70+ novels. But I did most of my buying in junior high and early high school, and we never kept track of them.
2) What book do you own the most copies of?
I have duplicates of:
The Guns of Navarone by Alistair MacLean (my old paperback, and a first edition hardcover WITH MAP from
jordannamorgan *squee*);False Colours by Georgette Heyer (1940s hardcover with dust jacket from Half Price Books, and a paperback from a 20+ book ebay auction); and
The Gods of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs (hardcover picked up by me at a random time, and a paperback sent to me from a Paperback Swap user).
3) Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?
Nope. That's one of the few grammar rules that was never pounded into me, and one that I never picked up from *cough* extensive reading.
4) What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
Err. Richard Diamond, for one. But he's not in a book, darn it.
5) What book have you read the most times in your life?
The Bible is one, for sure. I've read it through maybe... well, I counted 6 times about 10 years ago. Say 8 or 9 times now. Otherwise, I know I've read Ben-Hur about 6 times; Where Eagles Dare; and Rifles for Watie, although it's been years since the last time.
6) What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
Ugh, how do I remember that? Probably a Nancy Drew, or a Mandy book, or, if Mom was letting me read Agatha Christies by then, The Man in the Brown Suit or Partners in Crime.
7) What is the worst book you've read in the past year?
Lightbreaker, by Mark Teppo. The first chapters on the Baen website were weird but interesting enough for me to request it through PBS; but I didn't like it at all and swapped it back right away. The Kruton Interface by John DeChancie was another disappointment, since I really liked Starrigger and Castle Perilous wasn't too bad. Maybe The Kruton Interface was just full of in-jokes that I simply didn't get, or maybe that particular kind of humor (whatever it is) doesn't communicate to me; but I found it completely unamusing. I also tried to read Bill, the Galactic Hero by Harry Harrison, because it looked like it might be fun, but it was all bitter, bitter dystopian and anti-military humor. I did not finish it, which I very rarely do. I even finished The Kruton Interface, because often books that I'm "meh" about do redeem themselves somewhat by the end. I skimmed to the end of Bill in desperation and it certainly did not; it left a nasty taste in my mouth and I immediately dived into a Boys Own Adventure. :D
8) What is the best book you've read in the past year?
Monster Hunter International by Larry Correia. I have some more five-stars on my Goodreads list, but that's the winner so far.
9) If you could force everyone to read one book, what would it be?
I don't think I would. I read insane amounts (my goal is 250 for the year and I'm on track to exceed it), but even I have a really bad tendency to avoid things given or recommended to me. I can be a very obstinate person. Books recommended/lent or outright given to me that I haven't yet read:
Anna Karenina
To Have and to Hold
Hood and Scarlet
So I don't think I would force anyone to read anything. I certainly do talk about what I like, and I do lend books; but it's to people who really want to. I try not to persuade them. (I have converted several people to Saint books, though. :D)
10) Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for literature?
Ick. "Literature" awards are reserved for depressing, pointless "literary" books written for "literature" critics. I couldn't care less who wins.
11) What book would you most like to see made into a movie?
Hmm. MHI would be a fantastic movie, and something Hollywood could actually handle really well. Although it would probably be rated R for violence (and maybe language), in which case I would really have to struggle about seeing it! How's that for irony?
12) What book would you least like to see made into a movie?
I don't know; there are so many. I tend to see everything in my own way when I read it, and no movie will capture the nuances of my own favorite bits. :)
13) Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.
Unfortunately I never remember my dreams. Well, hardly ever.
14) What is the most lowbrow book you've read as an adult?
EVERYTHING I READ is considered "lowbrow" by the "literary" critics. From MHI to A Yankee Flier in the South Pacific to Miss Pinkerton! I guess I'm proud of it; but mostly I don't care. I want to enjoy what I read, and I have no intention of turning my recreational reading into something for approval from society or the literati.
15) What is the most difficult book you've ever read?
I think... The Man Who Was Thursday by G. K. Chesterton. I flat out did not follow that book. That's one I need to try again sometime, actually; because I know it's worth it, and to be honest, I did not slow down and try to figure it out or think about it further.
Oh, I just rememberd another one. The Black Stallion was one of the first books I ever read, I think in kindergarten. I remember getting The Black Stallion Mystery from the library sometime after that, probably less than a year; and while I had no difficulty actually reading the book, I simply did not comprehend it. A 7- or 8-year-old just doesn't have the understanding, I guess.
16) What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you've seen?
None of them are very obscure. Probably The Tempest, and I did see it in person.
17) Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
Probably the French; I've not read much of the Russians. I mostly enjoy Dumas and Hugo.
18) Roth or Updike?
I think I've successfully avoided both.
19) David Sedaris or Dave Eggers?
Ditto!
20) Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?
Probably Shakespeare. I haven't minded the little I've read of the Canterbury Tales, but not enough to want to read more. And I've only read small excerpts from Paradise Lost, again too little to want to read more. If/when I had/have mental leisure and time to read poetry, though, Milton will be up there. I've read a fair amount of Shakespeare and mostly enjoy it.
21) Austen or Eliot?
Austen. Although Silas Marner really is quite good.
22) What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
Pretty much anything considered "literary" after about 1880. Partially through disinterest, and certainly outright avoidance of James Joyce, Thomas Hardy, and the so-called Lost Generation. But I'm not embarrassed about it. :D
23) What is your favorite novel?
I'm not even going to pretend it's my favorite-above-all-others, but Ben-Hur: A Tale of the Christ has long been one of my favorites. There's so much to it. It's a great story, there's a lot of meaning to ponder, and the description and setting are so vivid that I find it a joy to read.
24) Play?
Err. My mind goes blank with questions like this. Honestly, "The Ugly Duckling" by A. A. Milne is a favorite. It is so funny. The little bits of "The Importance of Being Earnest" I've read are funnier, probably, but hey - I haven't read it all!
25) Poem?
"The Explorer," by Kipling, which I know I've posted before.
26) Essay?
I've a couple. "On Faerie Stories" or "On Three Ways of Writing for Children" by C. S. Lewis... or of course, "The Monsters and the Critics" by J. R. R. Tolkien.
27) Short story?
"The Canterville Ghost" by Oscar Wilde. HILARIOUS.
28) Work of non-fiction?
The Bible, duh. Otherwise... maybe the book of C. S. Lewis essays. Or Tolkien's Letters.
29) Who is your favorite writer?
Again, I can't do that. Alistair MacLean is way up there, though, because at his best I *love* his books. Great stories, lots of action and suspense, humor of the best kind in just the right places, and splendid writing.
30) Who is the most overrated writer alive today?
Dunno. I pay little attention.
31) What is your desert island book?
The Bible, yes. Then maybe Ben-Hur, because it would last so long and has high readability.
32) And... what are you reading right now?
Right this minute, A Lady of Quality by Georgette Heyer.
