Mandy of Chocolate and Cream Cake posted this A to Z Book Survey a little ways back and I instantly fell in love with it. Every now and then I need a good meme to let my brain have some fun, and this one had Kristin written all over it! Books? Yes, please!
And then I started looking at the questions and realized they all looked familiar, like I had somehow seen them before…
…because I had. And totally forgot I did this very meme about a month ago. That should give you an idea of where my head is at.
But that doesn’t mean I can’t share it here too! So I am!
Author youāve read the most books from.
Not counting a long series, Iād have to go with Neil Gaiman. Or Shakespeare?
Best sequel ever.
I donāt really think of books as having sequels in the traditional sense, but seeing as I canāt think of any āsequelsā at the moment anyway, Iām going to go with favorite book in a series: Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince. I may harbor a not so secret love for Snape. And this book just killed it. It being the universe and everything in it.
Currently reading.
Iām working through a Sherlock Holmes compendium, but since itās short stories, Iāve been taking my time.Ā Currently I’m reading FangirlĀ by Rainbow Rowell, rereading Henry V,Ā and plowing through more Batman (Hush!).
Drink of choice while reading.
Tea! Lately, vanilla. But any warm beverage will do.
E-reader or physical book?Ā
I prefer physical books – just something about holding them and feeling the pages, the covers, the smells, the feeling, the ability to curl upā¦ – but have no shame in packing my e-reader for a trip. Books have taken up a huge portion of my suitcase before and an e-reader eliminates that for me, plus, I can read an infinite number of books!
Fictional character you probably would have actually dated in high school.Ā
Well, who I wouldāve dated in high school would be MUCH different than who I would currently date, so if weāre going that route it would have to be the pretty boy, slightly effeminate, brooding Jon Snow. With a bit more goth to him.
Glad you gave this book a chance.Ā
The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro. I kind of wrote it off as I had to read it for a class I wasnāt quite enthused about, but for contemporary fiction that reads like a classic English novel, itās really quite poignant and thoughtful.
Hidden gem book.
Libba Brayās Gemma Doyle series are really, really magical and quite refreshing for a YA series.
Important moment in your reading life.Ā
I remember checking The Hobbit out of the school library about 12 times during 6th grade. It really stands out as a monumental book for me, I think because I considered it my first āgrown upā book and just how captivating it was. I can probably trace my love of fantasy novels to that book, and just who I am as a person in general!
Just finished.
Heir to the Empire (Thrawn #1) – why have I not read more in the Star Wars Expanded Universe sooner?Ā Updated: I just finished reading JLA: Tower of Babel (which is such a fab concept!)
Kinds of books you wonāt read.Ā
Nothing thatās contemporary fiction ever sticks out at me. I can breeze past new release tables at the book store or hear about new books coming out and be completely disinterested. They just donāt soundā¦good. Though Iām sure some of them probably are! I think I just a) distrust popular opinion (it brought us Twilight and 50 Shades, oh dearā¦) and b) everything is described as essentially being a drama about family and love and mental illness, which just starts to sound repetitive after a while. It may be good, but ENTICE me. TRY to stand out.
Longest book youāve ever read.Ā
Goodreads tells me that would be George R.R. Martinās A Storm of Swords at 1,177 pages
Major book hangover because ofā¦
China MiĆ©villeās The Scar and Perdido Street Station. Man knows how to world build! Iām still hoping that one day Iāll wake up and be transported to New Crobuzon.
Number of bookcases you own.Ā
Currently my books are divided between 2 technical book cases, but thatās including being loaded from both sides (theyāre IKEA Expedits) and not counting the books strewn across my nightstand, tabletops, etc.
One book you have read multiple times.
Does rereading the entire Harry Potter series annually count?
Preferred place to read.
Itās more preferred weather than place; give me stormy, drizzly, grey days and books practically jump off of my shelf and into my hands. If Iām reading for class, however, I stay most focused in a public place like a coffee shop or cafe, otherwise, I do quite like laying in the grass to read. Iāve yet to find the perfect reading chair!
Quote from a book youāve read that inspires you.
“Sometimes fate is like a small sandstorm that keeps changing directions. You change direction but the sandstorm chases you. You turn again, but the storm adjusts. Over and over you play this out, like some ominous dance with death just before dawn. Why? Because this storm isnāt something that blew in from far away, something that has nothing to do with you. This storm is you. Something inside of you. So all you can do is give in to it, step right inside the storm, closing your eyes and plugging up your ears so the sand doesnāt get in, and walk through it, step by step. Thereās no sun there, no moon, no direction, no sense of time. Just fine white sand swirling up into the sky like pulverized bonesā¦ And once the storm is over you wonāt remember how you made it through, how you managed to survive. You wonāt even be sure, in fact, whether the storm is really over. But one thing is certain. When you come out of the storm you wonāt be the same person who walked in. Thatās what this stormās all about.ā – Haruki Murakami // Kafka on the Shore
Reading regret.Ā
Iāve always been a fast reader, which has come in handy at times, but there are quite a few books I āreadā earlier in life that I feel like I breezed through and would like to spend more time with, especially now that Iāve really learned how I read best.
Series you started and need to finish. A Song of Ice and Fire.
I still have to read A Dance with Dragons, and then technically Iām caught up with George R.R. Martin for now. I think just being in school and already having to read so much made me hold off on purchasing (hello, poor college student) a 1,000+ page novel to read as well. But Iām getting to it!
Three of your all-time favourite books.Ā
The Great Gatsby (F.Scott Fitzgerald), American Gods (Neil Gaiman), Norwegian Wood (Haruki Murakami) – THIS IS SO HARD TO CHOOSE. I feel like Iām picking favorite children. If I had children.
Unapologetic fangirl forā¦Ā
Magical powers, secret worlds and alternate universes, the paranormal and supernatural, anything steampunk, copious amounts of sarcasm. So Gail Carrigerās Souless really does it for me, basically.
Very excited for this release more than all the others.
Iām actually pretty pumped for the third book in Veronica Rothās Divergent trilogy, Allegiant. After all of the dystopian fiction hype in YA, I was hesitant, especially after being disappointed by others. But I really kind of dug Divergent and now need to know what happens!
Worst bookish habit.
I used to think it was sacrilege to write in books, but after being a Literature major for undergrad, I just couldnāt survive without doing it. Now, I do it all the time, which probably drives some people mad.
X marks the spot: the 27th book on my shelf.Ā
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway
Your latest book purchase.Ā
Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell
Zzz-snatcher book (latest book that kept you up way late).Ā
I donāt know if Iāve stayed up late with a book in a long time, probably not since I would go to midnight releases of Harry Potter and frantically read the book there on the spot!
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