Get to know me

 Ich kann an kaum einem Fragebogen vorbeigehen ohne diesen auszufüllen, den folgenden habe ich auf Charlotte Frears blog gefunden. Die Antworten sind in englisch, deutsche Buchtitel stehen (zu meist) in Klammer:

1. Favourite childhood book?

Lady and the Tramp, by Ward Greene (Susi und Strolch)

2. What are you reading right now?

Folk & Liedermacher an Rhein und Ruhr, Robert von Zahn

4. Bad book habit?

Judging books by their cover.

6. Do you have an e-reader?

No, but I plan on getting a Sony one of those days.

7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?

Usually one at a time, it can happen though that I will read some non-fiction on the side.

8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?

No, not really, and I don’t expect them to.

9. Least favourite book you read this year (so far?)

before I fall, Lauren Oliver (Wenn du stirbst, zieht dein ganzes Leben an dir vorbei, sagen sie <- Wer hat sich den Titel ausgedacht? *groan*)

10. Favourite book you’ve read this year?

before I die, by Jenny Downham (Bevor ich sterbe)

11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?

Not much, something must come heavily recommended for that.

I’ve got an eye on Laurie Halse-Anderson’s Speak, but what I know about the topic really puts it out of my comfort zone.

12. What is your reading comfort zone?

These days: Soft SF, romantic stories, Father/daughter stories

14. Favourite place to read?

On my window ledge

15. What is your policy on book lending?

Only to close friends

16. Do you ever dog-ear books?

Never!

17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?  

God gracious, who would do that?

18. Not even with text books?

Ermm, got me!

19. What is your favourite language to read in?

British English

20. What makes you love a book?

Characters, nostalgia, romance …

21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?

I must have personally liked it, or know somebody I trust that liked it.

22. Favorite genre?

It used to be Horror but theses days I’d say Love Stories (but not Romance).

23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)

Fantasy.

24. Favourite biography?

Napoleon Bonaparte, forgot who wrote it, but it was one of the first biographies I read from start to end.

25. Have you ever read a self-help book?

Amounts of.

26. Favourite cookbook?

I don’t cook much so I don’t really have an opinion there.

27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction)?

I would say Ja, damals…, by Else Hueck-Dehio

28. Favourite reading snack?

Anything I can pop in my mouth without getting distracted from reading

29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.

Paper Towns, by John Greene (Margos Spuren); I think my expectations there where just to great.

30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?

Depends on the critic, but more often not than do. I gravitate more to the trivial.

31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?

Gleeful when writing them and then usually bad after having had some time to think about it. It never feels right to write something bad about a book other people enjoyed.

32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you choose?

Spanish

33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read? 

The Growth of the American Republic, by Henry Steele Commager & Samuel Eliot Morison (Das werden der Amerikanischen Republik)

34. Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?

Lucifer’s Hammer, by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle (Luzifers Hammer)

35. Favourite Poet?

W. H. Auden

38. Favourite fictional character? 

Do comics count? Because then I’d like to put down Yoko Tsuno (by Roger Leloup), I love her.

Else, I think I have to go with Patricia Briggs’s Jesse Hauptman, which is a side character in her Mercy Thompson series, she’s so the daughter I wish I had.

39. Favourite fictional villain?

Currently: Victoria from the twilight books

40. Books you’re most likely to bring on vacation?

Which ever I’m reading at the time.

41. The longest you’ve gone without reading.

Reading proper novels that means, I guess?

Because I couldn’t go more than a day without reading anything.

But sometimes it can take me a week or more before I settle on a new book to read.

42. Name a book that you could/would not finish.

Most recent one: Rest in pieces, by Rita Mae Brown (Ruhe in Fetzen)

43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?

People trying to talk to me.

44. Favourite film adaptation of a novel?

I’d go with Pet Sematary (Friedhof der Kuscheltiere, Stephen king) I feel it was close to perfect.

45. Most disappointing film adaptation?

I am Legend (Ich bin Legende, Richard Matheson), they completely ignored the main point of the book which made the movie rather, well, pointless.

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

Hard to tell, but taking the change in book prices into account it would probably amount to about 100.- €

47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?

Not that often, but some authors I have to do several takes on and with those I often skim through a couple chapters to try and get a better feel for them.

48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?

Lot’s of things, but mostly it comes down to main characters I detest or insensitive/inappropriate use of sexualised violence.

49. Do you like to keep your books organized?

I’m a Virgo – I live for that.

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

I tend to hold on to them, even some I disliked.

51. Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?

At the moment it’s 50 shades of grey, by whom ever

52. Name a book that made you angry.

Story of O, by Pauline Réage (Die Geschichte der O)

53. A book you didn’t expect to like but did?

Mistress of the art of death, by Ariana Franklin (Die Totenleserin)

54. A book that you expected to like but didn’t?

The time traveller’s wife, by Audrey Niffenegger (Die Frau des Zeitreisenden)

55. Favourite guilt-free, pleasure reading?

Annie on my mind, by Nancy Garden (Leider scheint es keine deutsche Übersetzung für das Buch zu geben, ein Jammer!)