Thursday, May 6, 2010

Just for Fun - a Survey


If you follow this blog, even if you never comment, could you take a minute to answer these questions? Please? Just for fun.

1. What's the best book you ever read?

2. What's the worst book you ever read?

3. When you start a book, do you stick with it to the end even if you don't like it? Or do you cast it aside in favor of a different, hopefully better, book?

4. Are you more likely to buy your books or check them out from the library?

5. Do you read every single word on every single page, or do you skim through parts?

6. Do you ever cheat and read the last page before you get to the end?

7. What's your favorite genre?

8. What are you reading now?

7 comments:

  1. 1. The Giving Tree by Shel Silverstein. I know, bizarre-o right? but it is the one book (IMO) that reaches people of all ages. it is also the only book I own multiple copies of because I will not lend out mine and I am always willing to give one out.

    2. couldn't even tell you the title, I tend to give away the books I don't like and then erase them from my memory. the most recent had to do with a man dying, going to heaven, and being brought back to life to live out the next few years in constant pain. it's still out on shelves, I cringe when I see it in the stores but I don't remember the title.

    3. If it is an educational book or a self help type of book and I don't like it, I will not force myself to finish it. otherwise, I will push myself to the end be it fiction or non fiction. there are some books that overwhelm me and I may need to take a break from them for a while (Anna Karenina for instance), but I have difficulty reading more than one book at a time so I have to finish it in order to move on.

    4. I buy books, from the store or on my kindle. I have a 'thing' about libraries and borrowing books in general. I don't even like to borrow them from family or friends because I tend to roll the cover or bend the binding. if someone else has already broken it in, I can't get comfortable ... and I would hate to ruin someone else's book.
    ::: sensory issues, definitely! :::

    5. I thought I did read every word until a friend brought up a quote in a book that we were reading together. I had never seen or heard the quote before, but she pointed it out to me. I don't intentionally skip over words, but I think I read quickly over parts that I don't feel relate to what I am getting out of the story.

    6. I never cheat ... honestly.

    7. I no longer have a favorite. I used to. anything by VC Andrews was an instant buy for me (horror/fiction/drama). since I bought my kindle I have gotten tons of freebies in genres I never would have pursued otherwise so now I am just in an exploratory mode.

    8. today I am reading Broken Whole by Keith Adams.

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  2. 1. That is really hard. I have quite a few I really love. I'm going to say Midwives by Chris Bohjalian

    2. I really disliked The Road, couldn't even finish it.

    3. I used to try to finish it, but I don't have time for that anymore. I try to at least get about 100 pages in before quitting though.

    4. I buy and borrow about equally.

    5. I usually read every single word.

    6. I almost always cheat and read the last page before finishing the book.

    7. I don't think I have a favorite. I do read a lot of YA fiction due to my job.

    8. I have several books going right now. Reading The Cay at school during SSR time. Re-listening to Eclipse for fun. A couple of chapters into the first book in the Meg Cabot Mediator series. Also still listening to Innocent Traitor by Alison Weir

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  3. 1. I would have to go with the Harry Potter series- love them!

    2. Definitely Wicked. Hated that book. The musical was great though!

    3. I can't help it...I read it to the end...even when I HATE it! (I need to get over that.)

    4. Definitely the library!

    5. I read every single word!

    6. Never cheat!

    7. I love lots of genres- young adult, mystery, sci fi, historical fiction, anything except nonfiction

    8. The Queen's Fool (Phillipa Gregory)

    Kristen

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  4. Diane, I LOVE The Giving Tree. Still cannot read it without getting all teary.

    Okay, here are my answers:

    1. Ack, I have so many faves, it's impossible to narrow it down to one. She's Come Undone, Lonesome Dove, The Red Tent, Life of Pi, GWTW come to mind.

    2. I can't think of a worst book I've read; see #3.

    3. Like relationships, life is too short for bad books ;) I usually give a book 50 pages. If it doesn't grab me by then, I'm done with it. Reading is my escape; if it feels like work, I'm not interested.

    4. I have a book buying problem! Barnes & Noble is probably my favorite store - I could spend hours in there. I have a library card but I NEVER check books out. I don't even know why - it's not like I keep all the books I read. Unless I really, really love a book, I just give it away when I'm done with it. But there's something about that new-book feel and new-book smell . . .

    5. I just recently discovered the art of skimming. But only parts that seem irrelevant or not crucial to the main story.

    6. I try not to cheat, but sometimes the urge overpowers me.

    7. Memoirs. But I also love contemporary fiction.

    8. Mommie Dearest by Christina Crawford. I read it in high school, but am re-reading it as it's my book club's current selection. In honor of Mother's Day being this month ;)

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  5. 1. Too many to choose from - Harry Potter series, The Book Thief, Thank You for Not Smoking or anything from Christopher Buckley, No Matter How Loud I Shout or anything from Edward Humes, and Jeffrey Archer novels...and just recently, "Sh*t My Dad Says"

    2. 100 Years of Solitude

    3. Lisa's right - life's too short to finish bad books.

    4. After moving 50 boxes of books from apartment to condo to house, I've switched from buying to getting them from the library.

    5. Great books, I read every word. Good and average books get skimmed.

    6. Oh, yeah - I'll cheat if I really want to know the ending.

    7. Non-fiction: History and Politics; Fiction - alternate history and contemporary fiction

    8. You Couldn't Ignore Me if You Tried about John Hughes movies and Dead End Gene Pool by Wendy Burden

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  6. 1. Hm, well, the first one that comes to mind is I Know This Much is True by Wally Lamb. I remember being sooo into that book. I could NOT put it down.

    2. I've read a lot of crap. See #3.

    3. Sometimes I keep reading, but it can end up taking me a VERY long time to finish. For some reason, I don't tend to just abandon books altogether. Sometimes I probably should though.

    4. More likely to buy, but libraries are fab and I should use them more often.

    5. I sometimes read a single sentence 3 times. Then, other times, I'll even go back to re-read parts when I'm much farther along in the book so that I can confirm details.

    6. No.

    7. Love fiction more than anything, but after that, I'm wide open.

    8. The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down.

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  7. 1 - Hmmm, that's a tough one, there's so many!

    2 - The Nanny Diaries. Maybe because I was a new mom when I read it, but it really irritated me.

    3 - I always finish books, mostly because I usually buy them. I've had a few struggles lately, since I've been trying to tackle the past dozen or so Pulitzer winners. A couple those were a challenge!

    4 - I usually buy my books, especially now that I have a Kindle. I always feel under pressure to finish books from the library quickly, even though I often read a book in a day or two anyway. I love my Kindle, btw. I like to use it when I work out on the treadmill because I can make the print really big and just have to click to get to the next page.

    5. I usually start skimming if a book is starting to bore me since I always finish them.

    6. I never cheat. Hard to do on a Kindle, LOL.

    7. I always have 3 books going at once, one on my Kindle (The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao), one in the bathroom (The Little Giant of Aberdeen County) and one in the car to read while waiting for the kids' buses (The Space Between Us). Thanks to Lisa for the last 2 books!

    ReplyDelete