A Few Thoughts About Books

September Writing Challenge - Prompt #29:

Read

Today I'm aiming for something quick and mindless, so how about a little reading questionnaire?

What's the last book you read?

The last book I finished was The Boxcar Children which I read to Zoe and Eva. I have three other books in progress: Jesus the Christ, The Running Dream, and The Book of Lost Names. 

Oh! And I just started reading Junie B. Jones and the Stupid Smelly Bus with Eva. 

What's the last book you purchased?

I just bought a copy of 175 Temple Symbols and Their Meanings with a 25% off coupon and a gift card!

When/where do you read the most?

I do a lot of reading in the early morning or after I put my kids to bed. I also read in the car while I'm waiting for my kids to come out of school, and I listen to audiobooks while I do house and yard work. 

What book have you read the most?

As a child, I read The Boxcar Children, Weasel, The Giver and The Cay over and over. In fact, I did pretty much every book report of my life on The Cay, and I now wonder why none of my teachers ever noticed. I had the same English teacher for three years in junior high. How did she not catch that?

As an adult, I have read The Book Thief about five times and listened to the audiobook twice. 

Do you have a favorite author?

No. 

What's the best book you've read this year?

It's been a weird year for reading because my mind has been mush. But I really enjoyed The Fountains of Silence by Ruta Sepetys and Ban This Book by Alan Gratz, which is strange because they are YA and middle-grade, which usually don't top my list.  

Do you read books one at a time?

No. I always have multiple books in the works. 

What is your favorite book?

The Giver by Lois Lowry, The Book Thief by Markus Zusak, and Bird Box by Josh Malerman (but I always caution readers about Bird Box).  

What is your favorite series?

Harry Potter, of course!

What book would you like to see made into a movie?

The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. I didn't love the book (it was just okay), but the entire time I was reading it, I kept thinking, "This could be a really cool movie!" 

Do you you prefer buying books or borrowing them?

Either way. If I want/need a book now, and the hold list at the library is too long, I'll buy it. But usually if I buy a book, I end up giving it away when I'm done with it. I don't keep very many books. 

Do you prefer fiction or non-fiction?

I enjoy both!

What are your favorite book genres? 

This is a difficult question to answer because I'm not really well-versed in book genres. This makes it really hard to shelve my Goodreads reviews. A few months ago, Amy taught me about "up lit." I'd never heard that term before (but have read several books that fall into the "up lit" category). Amy is a librarian, so she knows these things. I don't. If I want to know what genre(s) a book falls into, I often have to google it. I also don't really know what constitutes literary fiction vs genre fiction. I could learn, but I haven't bothered to.

So to answer the question... I don’t know. 

But I feel like I read a really wide variety of books, and my taste doesn’t really fall into any particular genre of books. 

Do you prefer paperback or hardback?

Usually paperback. I don't like dealing with book jackets, and I don't like the weight of hardback books. But if there's a book I want to read that only comes in hardback, I'll make due.

Would you ever write a book?

I have always wanted to, but I don't want to deal with the scrutiny and criticism. So I probably never will.