never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them

• Favorite childhood book:
  The Mouse and the Motorcycle, Runaway Ralph, and Ralph S. Mouse by Beverly Cleary
• What are you reading right now?
  Covet by Tracey Garvis Graves, I Married the Duke by Katharine Ashe, Burn by Nevada Barr, and After Rain by William Trevor. So far, the Ashe book is best holding my interest, but the Trevor book has barely been cracked so I wouldn't count it out.
• What books do you have on request at the library?
  none at the moment. I'll be holding something for my Kindle and something in print later in the weekend, I'm sure.
• Bad book habit?
  I suppose some would take issue with reading more than one thing at a time, but I really don't think I have any "bad" book habits. Maybe I read too much?
• What do you currently have checked out at the library?
  the above are all from the library, whether in print or electronically. There are a few others. I generally have between 10 and 20 at a time.
• Do you have an e-reader?
  yup, it's a Kindle keyboard
• Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?
  I suppose that this is that point that I seem to reach in each little quiz, where I realize that I should've read ahead. Sigh.
• Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?
  I probably don't read as much, since I'm devoting at least some of my reading time to writing, and to reading others' blogs rather than reading books
• Least favorite book you read this year (so far?):
  I'm not doing to get into that. There are plenty of others for whom any book I'd list here will be a wonderful match, so what's the point? I'm a firm believer in S. R. Ranganathan's second and third laws (and the other three, for that matter).
• Favorite book you've read this year?
  ...have been covered in a recent post
• How often do you read out of your comfort zone?
  regularly. Of what I have listed above, Covet (which is somewhat 'gentle') and Burn (a mystery) fall outside the norm of what I'd usually pick up, and After Rain (European literary fiction) is an expansion of my typical ambitions, though William Trevor is one of my favorite authors.
• What is your reading comfort zone?
  straight up fiction, with frequent forays into romance, chick lit, literary fiction, and what one of my friends calls, "just plain weird"
• Can you read on the bus?
  given that I cannot recall the last time I was on a bus, it's not much of an issue, really
• Favorite place to read?
  couch
• What is your policy on book lending?
  I will lend, but I don't do it with the expectation that the item will be returned. Meaning, it's a gift—but with no obligation that it be loved and kept forever.
• Do you ever dog-ear books?
  Never. There are things that I'll do that stretch my own or other peoples "rules" about appropriate behavior, but I will not intentionally damage a book. That's what dog-ears do.
• Do you ever write in the margins of your books?
  margins, between the lines, lining pages, inside covers...sure. If it's my own book.
• Not even with text books?
  presumptions are a symptom of a small mind
• What is your favorite language to read in?
  English, of which this question is a poor example
• What makes you love a book?
  it depends on the book, I suppose. Sometimes it's a character with whom I closely identify, or deeply admire. Other times it's a setting or plot that draws me in. Often—probably most often—it is a certain ineffability of language, spare and concise while still descriptive and apt, that keeps me turning pages and seeking more, even after the book is done.
• What will inspire you to recommend a book?
  a perceived connection between what I've read and a reader that I know well. There are very few people to whom I can recommend what I read unreservedly, since my taste is varied and admittedly odd. And my friends tend to be readers with strong opinions already, so foisting my own version of "good" upon them is neither welcome nor successful. Careful match-making and crossed fingers let it happen, now and then.
  The exception is David James Duncan's The Brothers K, which I've forced into the hands of nearly every person I know. I love the book, it's changed my life each time I've read it, and if it's anywhere near as transformative to anyone else who reads it because of me, I will be grateful.
• Favorite genre?
  chick lit. The good stuff is consistently hilariously funny and well-written, without the goopy aftertaste of some other genres. The trouble is finding the good stuff when there is just so damn much of the mediocre.
• Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?):
  fantasy. Fantasy authors, by and large, write the bejeezus out of their work, crafting brilliantly. I have a stubborn (? is that the word?) suspension of disbelief, but once it's been conquered, I'm your loyal reader to the death. I haven't swallowed the lot of it, but what I love, I love—and all thanks to an old friend and his gift of G.R.R.M. (thanks again)!
• Favorite biography?
  The Sparkling-Eyed Boy by Amy Benson
• Have you ever read a self-help book?
  of course. Some of them are really amazing, some are terrifically awful, and a lot (prehaps most) aren't worth the paper they're printed on. What works for me won't work for you, so, yeah. Another category I'll leave with no suggestions.
• Favorite cookbook?
  there's a 1-pot cookies book, and a 1-pot chocolate desserts book, and a couple of soup books that I use pretty often. I'm not sure what they're called—they're packed and living in another county at the moment.
• Most inspirational book you've read this year (fiction or non-fiction)?
  Me Before You by Jojo Moyes. If you can get through that book without sobbing (no exaggeration) or feeling literally unchanged, you are more stubborn than I. Or may be dead.
• Favorite reading snack?
  I'm not big on eating or drinking while reading, as a rule. Tea, maybe, if anything.
• Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience:
  hype doesn't usually affect my reading, since what I choose doesn't usually approach anything like hype. The authors that I read would probably kill for hype.
  Ooooh, I know: The Five People You Meet in Heaven. I'm going out on a limb to say that it was the worst book I've ever read. And the movie...!
• How often do you agree with critics about a book?
  oh, rarely. I'm usually looking for something much different than commercial or widespread appeal in what I read.
• How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?
  if it's honest, then it's acceptable
• If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you choose?
  Spanish
• Most intimidating book you've ever read?
  Silence in October by Jens Christian Grøndahl. It's a gorgeous novel, but I was limited to a paragraph or two at each sitting. The book required a very great degree of contemplation.
• Most intimidating book you're too nervous to begin?
  I don't really think that way
• Favorite poet?
  impossible! There are too many. The best I can say is that there is a favorite for every occasion.
• How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?
  kind of a lot. I guess more than most people.
• How often have you returned a book to the library unread?
  not very often
• Favorite fictional character?
  Everett Chance, from The Brothers K
• Favorite fictional villain?
  the one in Winter Study by Nevada Barr. That book, in the 'Anna Pigeon' series, is scary as Hell and also incredibly funny (although I might just have a really peculiar sense of humor to think so). The villain is most decidedly a "bad guy."
• Books I'm most likely to take on holiday?
  four Kindle books from my library plus additional ones purchased from Amazon if necessary, and some paperbacks as needed for the remainder of the time. If needed, there is a bookstore and also two general merchandise stores with decent book selections in the place where I most often vacation, to acquire more. Which I very often do.
• The longest I've gone without reading:
  I don't know. Why would I go without reading?
• Name a book that you could/would not finish:
  it took me at least four separate attempts to get all the way through Hamlet
• What distracts you easily when you're reading?
  depends. If I'm really into what I'm reading, then nothing will really distract me—I'm more prone to just tuning out whom/whatever's trying to gain my attention. If I'm on the fence about it, though, then I can be pulled away fairly easily.
• Favorite film adaptation of a novel?
  Pride and Prejudice from 2005
• Most disappointing film adaptation?
  one of the adaptations of Emma wasn't too brilliant, but I can't recall which one. It mustn't have been that bad.
• The most money I've ever spent in the bookstore at one time?
  oy. $485.
• How often do you skim a book before reading it?
  rarely. I judge by covers, read back blurbs, and go with my intuition.
• What would cause you to stop reading a book halfway through?
  a desire to go no further. It's not a requirement, but I do tend to finish what I've started. Maybe I'm just lucky, that I generally don't start what I don't end up liking enough to finish.
• Do you like to keep your books organised?
  I do, yes
• Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you've read them?
  I usually read first, then decide whether or not to buy
• Are there any books you've been avoiding?
  there are, for no better reason than the resulting argument with friends who've developed some notions about them which seem based on nothing but angled press and preconceived notions
• Name a book that made you angry:
  Martin Sloane by Michael Redhill
• A book you didn't expect to like but did?
  Three Junes by Julia Glass. A terrific book that I've since read at least twice more.
• A book that you expected to like but didn't?
  about a third of the entries in Barr's 'Anna Pigeon' series are pretty bad. I love the series as a whole, but some of the books are just...ugh.
• Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading?
  anything by Jennifer Crusie.
  Phrasing the question that way makes it sound like she's nothing but pleasure, though, and that's not it at all. Her books are incredibly thoughtful, sensitive, and meaningful. That's in addition to being genuinely funny, clever, intricate, and romantic. I've read everything she's written at least once, and own more than half of it. In a box...somewhere.

[from The Cat, of course, who got it here; the title quotation is by Lemony Snicket, from Horseradish]