Bookish questions ... since I haven't been reading lately

I'm in a reading slump ... I want to read and keep getting books from the library. But when it comes time to sit and read? Nope. I blame the nice weather and just the general busy-ness of doing other things. So when I saw this list of bookish questions, I figured I'd answer ... even if no one else cares to read them. If you are reading, hey there! 

Edited to add the links I'm supposed to be linking to! This is kinda/not really part of the monthly Show Us Your Books linkup with Steph and Jana. If you're looking for book recommendations, go to their sites and then peruse the links. Lots of great suggestions on there! Here? ... not so much. Also edited to add, I have no idea what happened to the formatting. I copied the list of questions from Rebecca so maybe that's where I went wrong. :)

What book has been on your shelf the longest?

That I've read? That would be the Book of Giant Stories. I love that book - my mom found it when going through one of her decluttering phases and gave it to me for my personal library. My memories include climbing up in my dad's lap to have him read this to me, then he'd fall asleep and I'd keep reading aloud to him. I know my son found it and read it when he was younger. It's only 3 or 4 short stories but the artwork is pretty amazing too. And as many times as it's been read and carried around, the binding is in great shape.

That I haven't read but keep meaning to? No idea - but I did/do have a habit of buying books and then never getting to them, because I would buy more books or go to the library to get other books. So yeah, there are a lot of books that are on my shelves that haven't been read. I've been getting rid of some (donations to Friends of Library booksale or dropping off at the Little Library in the neighborhood), but I swear those books multiply when I'm not looking.

What is your current read, your last read, and the book you’ll read next?

Currently Reading: Good Riddance, by Elinor Lipman

 

Last Read:  Where the Crawdads Sing, by Delia Owens

Next Read: Becoming, by Michelle Obama

What Books Did Everyone Like, but You Hated?

Hmm ... not sure. I even went through my Goodreads lists and couldn't find one that I "hated". Life is too short and my TBR list is too long - if I get to the 3rd or 4th chapter and am still not into it, it's gone.

What book do you keep telling yourself you’ll read, but you probably won’t?

Les Misérables ... I have it on my Kindle and may eventually get to the end of it. Reading only a chapter every few months will take forever though. Amazingly, when I do get back to it, I still remember what's going on and who's who.

What book are you saving for retirement?

Why save them? Or maybe that will be Les Mis for me.

Last page: read it first or wait ’til the end?

I won't read it first, but I'll occasionally glance at it to see whose names are mentioned. Spoilers have never really bothered me in books or in TV/movies - it's all about the journey for me.

Acknowledgment: waste of paper and ink or interesting aside?

Meh - I don't read them. I'll read the dedication page at the beginning, but all the thank yous at the end? nope. I'd rather read about what the author was doing or going through when the book idea came to them or if current events influenced them in some way. 

Which book character would you switch places with?

Elizabeth Bennett - 'nuf said.

Do you have a book that reminds you of something specific in your life (place, time, person)?

I would always get a John Grisham paperback for the flight back home from Alaska - not sure why other than he happened to release a book every summer and I needed a book to read on the flights. 

Name a book that you acquired in an interesting way.

Can't think of any - I do love it when friends give or loan me a book they think I'll like. The fact that they're thinking of me and want to share a book moment with me strengthens the friendship bond. I used to hoard my books and not want to loan any out, but now I've gotten to the point where I want to share these books with my friends and have been gifting them (no loans - please keep!) if I think they'll like them.

Oh - but I remembered one when I was filling in the last question below: 

I have a few books at home from my college days as a German major. I doubt I'll ever read them again or if I could even read them now. But one I'll never get rid of is Der Pate. I stayed with a friend for a summer in Germany - wasn't really a foreign exchange student, wasn't really on vacation, just visiting her and traveling around when her school/'Gymnasium' was out for the summer. When I wasn't going to school with her as a pretend-student, I stayed at the house and tried reading Der Pate since I pretty much had the story memorized from reading the English version regularly (The Godfather, if you haven't guessed from the cover). On my last day there, her mom gifted the book to me ... and I haven't tried reading it since. 

Have you ever given a book away for a special reason/to a special person?

Yes - (see answer above)

Which book has been with you to the most places?

My Bible -- not changing Rebecca's answer ... the current one or any other version/format has been with me the longest and thanks to the YouVersion app on my phone, it's always with me. Before smartphones, my Bible went with me to every summer camp in Indiana and Alaska, went to college with me ... I can't say I read it as regularly as I'd like to or should, but I know I'd miss it if I didn't have it.

Any ‘required reading’ you hated in high school that wasn’t so bad two years later

Two years later?? Well, I've been out of school a little longer than that. And I never liked being told what to read or when so I rarely actually finished a book in HS or college. One of my reading goals is to finally read what I said I did in school - so this is only a short list of those books that I've reread/finished in the past 25 years since college: A Separate Peace (Knowles), 1984 (Orwell), Great Expectations (Dickens), Metamorphosis (Kafka) ... I'm sure there are others.

Used or brand new?

No preference

Have you ever read a Dan Brown book?

Yep - kind of odd that this was the author suggested for this question though, so I'm wondering why. Is something wrong with his books?

Have you ever seen a movie you liked more than the book?

Also yep - but I prefer to read the book before I see the movie so I know what's going on in the movie. I really REALLY like The Handmaid's Tale series and am glad that I saw the series (seasons 1 and 2) before reading the book - it's a flip for me because the series helped explain what was going on in the book for me and I think I would have been lost in the book had I tried reading it first.

Have you ever read a book that’s made you hungry, cookbooks included?

Julie and Julia, by Julie Powell - made me want to try to make some of the recipes. I do have Julia Childs' cookbook, but haven't tried anything from there yet.

Who is the person whose book advice you’ll always take?

Ooh - this is why I always try to look at the posts in the Show Us Your Books linkup. I don't know if there's just one person on there that I take all of their book advice - it's more like a collection of books from everyone's posts that I try to remember when I go to the library. Lately, I'll open up the library's website along with the linkup and start requesting as I come across a book I want to read. Always a fun time when the requests come in all at the same time ... 

Is there a book out of your comfort zone (e.g. outside of your usual reading genre) that you ended up loving?

True crime - I prefer to read fiction, but I read I'll Be Gone in the Dark and was quite surprised I liked it.

BONUS - Fun book facts about me... 

Um ... not sure what to put here. 

I prefer paperbacks, then ebooks, then hardbacks. But prefer ebooks from the library, because ... germs. 

I don't like series and I really don't like that so many new authors are focusing on stretching their stories out to 3-4 more books. Stop. The first book would have to be freaking amazing for me to look for book 2.

There are books in every room of my house and I wouldn't want it any other way. 

I've read almost all of Stephen King's books

I can't do audiobooks because I'm constantly distracted. When I sit down with a book/Kindle, I focus on what I'm reading. An audiobook is, for me, like TV or radio - I can have it it on in the background for noise and do other things, but then I don't know what I just listened to. Even in the car, my mind wanders rather than focusing on the book being read. The only audiobooks I've been successful with were the Harry Potter books ... mainly because I have those stories memorized.