Reading Meme

From Booking Through Thursday:

1. Favorite childhood book?
Probably Boy or The BFG by Roald Dahl.

2. What are you reading right now?
Lord of Chaos by Robert Jordan. I just finished The Audacity of Hope by Barack Obama too.

3. What books do you have on request at the library?
I don't have a library up here, boo.

4. Bad book habit?
Oh you name it. I dog-ear pages, leaving the spines broken, just generally abuse them. I think a loved book is a tattered one.

5. What do you currently have checked out at the library?
My last selection of checked out books were all Elizabeth Peters.

6. Do you have an e-reader?
No, and I don't want one until the technology improves.

7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?
I'm infamous for not only reading several books at once, but writing several at once.

8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?
I think they changed when I started college. Less reading, more internet.

9. Least favorite book you read this year (so far?)
Wow, I don't generally read books I don't like... I really can't answer this.

10. Favorite book you’ve read this year?
The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss.

11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?
Not very. Though I sometimes go on kicks of this.

12. What is your reading comfort zone?
Well-done sci-fi/fantasy (read: not cliched schlock). An occasional bad romance. Literary fiction. Thriller mysteries that are all about the characters, not the story.

13. Can you read on the bus?
Not really. I get motion sickness.

14. Favorite place to read?
In bed - or curled up on the couch next to my boy.

15. What is your policy on book lending?
I'm pretty free with it.

16. Do you ever dog-ear books?
Do I ever. I'm better about it than I used to be, but if it's my book, forget it.

17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?
D is constantly complaining about this.

18. Not even with text books?
...oh, but I do it in my regular books more.

19. What is your favorite language to read in?
English is the only one I comprehend enough.

20. What makes you love a book?
Compelling characters. Clever dialogue.

21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?
The above.

22. Favorite genre?
Used to be fantasy, now I'm just gonna say "well-written books".

23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)
Mainstream fiction/chick lit.

24. Favorite biography?
I liked one of Jack London's I read as a kid. I bet I'd love Dreams of My Father.

25. Have you ever read a self-help book?
I browse through them occasionally.

26. Favorite cookbook?
My Better Homes and Gardens cookbook.

27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction)?
The Lies of Locke Lamora by Scott Lynch - for the language and descriptions.

28. Favorite reading snack?
I eat whole meals while I read.

29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.
Twilight? I thought maybe I'd find something to like in it, but no. It was just dreck.

30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?
Critics are not my favorite people.

31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?
Honesty, dudes and dudettes.

32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you chose?
French. Or Russian. Possibly Arabic.

33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read?
The Source by James Michner. I had to read it for 9th grade and it was so ... dull. But I made it through.

34. Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?
Wuthering Heights. Weirdly. Because I think I'll love it too much.

35. Favorite Poet?
Theodore Roethke.

36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?
One or two.

37. How often have you returned book to the library unread?
Half the time. That's why I cut down to only checking out one or two.

38. Favorite fictional character?
Will from His Dark Materials (He's in The Subtle Knife and The Amber Spyglass)

39. Favorite fictional villain?
Petyr Baelish from A Song of Ice and Fire (especially in A Feast for Crows)

40. Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation?
Old fantasy favorites. Harry Potter, Wheel of Time, ASOIAF

41. The longest I’ve gone without reading.
Probably a month. Maybe two.

42. Name a book that you could/would not finish.
I didn't finish Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrel the first time. And I'm still not sure why.

43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?
Other people in the room trying to talk/read to me.

44. Favorite film adaptation of a novel?
Lord of the Rings without a doubt.

45. Most disappointing film adaptation?
The Golden Compass.

46. The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?
Upwards of 60 bucks.

47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?
Not very. Though in a bookstore I always flip open the book and read a random page after I read the beginning just to make sure the writing doesn't go downhill.

48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?
Cliche plot. One dimensional characters. Something utterly ridiculous happening for no reason. BAD BAD writing (Stephenie Meyer, I am staring daggers at you.)

49. Do you like to keep your books organized?
I do this sometimes.

50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?
Both.

51. Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?
Ish? Not really. I read what I want when I want.

52. Name a book that made you angry.
I've been angry with my WoT re-read because I see a lot of wasted potential.

53. A book you didn’t expect to like but did?
Janet Evanovich's One for the Money

54. A book that you expected to like but didn’t?
...Twilight. Before the biggest hype.

55. Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading?
Romance schlock. Whee.