So many people have been doing this, it looks fun. I'll join in, too.
1) What author do you own the most books by? Either Henry James or Virginia Woolf. Or maybe Jan Karon – all those dear Mitford books (guilty pleasure).
2) What book do you own the most copies of? I’m sure it would be Harry Potter books in various incarnations: American editions, British editions, books on cassette. Or Room of One's Own. I think I have three copies.
3) What fictional character are you secretly in love with? Laurie from Little Women. I can’t believe he married Amy.
4) What books have you read the most times in your life? The Chronicles of Narnia.
5) What was your favorite book when you were ten? I loved Beauty by Robin McKinley so much I typed half of it out on the computer and printed it so that I wouldn’t have to continue to go back to the library to rent it out over and over again. Then I realized it was probably illegal and hid it in my cupboard.
6) What is the worst book you’ve read this past year? The one I’ve enjoyed least so far is either The Siege of the History of Lisbon by Saramago (which I was hoping to like greatly). I didn’t really enjoy Master and Margarita either, sadly.
7) If you could force everyone to read one book what would it be? The Bone People by Keri Hulme or Book of the Dun Cow by Wangerin.
8) Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for Literature? Roberto Bolano posthumously.
9) What book would you like to see made into a movie? Housekeeping by Marilynn Robinson.
10) What book would you least like seen made into a movie? Severance by Robert Olen Butler, short stories chronicling the ecstatic thoughts of just-decapitated individuals. It would be a really weird movie.
11) Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character? Had to do with Edward Cullen in a tree house. Very embarrassing. Not my fault.
12) What is the most lowbrow book you’ve read as an adult? The Twilight series.
13) What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read? Ulysses. Nightwood was quite difficult. Ovid’s Metamorphoses in the sense that no matter how hard I tried to finish it, I couldn’t. It just became too predictable. A beautiful concept, but long-winded.
14) What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you’ve ever seen? Haven’t seen many obscure Shakespearean plays. Probably As You Like It. At least that’s the one I’ve seen most recently.
15) Do you prefer the French or the Russians? Contemporary French, romantic Russians
16) Roth or Updike? Updike on principle, and for non-fiction.
17) David Sedaris or Dave Eggers? I’m going to go with David Sedaris, even though I haven’t read his books, I’ve read some of his shorts in the New Yorker and they’re funny.
18) Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer? Shakespeare.
19) Austen or Eliot? Austen.
20) What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading? There are many. The Beats, any epistolary literature, Dumas and Dickens and Dostoyevsky. I haven’t read any graphic novels aside from Persepolis.
21) What is your favorite novel? I have the greatest allegiance to I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith.
22) Play? Have recently become very enamored with Alan Bennett’s The History Boys, which is currently on its way in the mail to me. Or Oscar Wilde's plays - how does he write so wittily?
23) Essay? A Case for Books (very short by John Updike)
24) Short story? The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. Typical, but you can never get over the sickening wave of horror at the end.
25) Work of nonfiction? Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
26) Who is your favorite writer? Virginia Woolf for style, Bolano for scope, Murakami for inventiveness, James and Wharton for utterly depressing endings, A. S. Byatt for wonderfully crafted worlds.
27) Who is the most overrated writer alive today? I would say Stephanie Meyer, but she’s not widely highly rated by those who aren’t in the paranormal romance camp/ poorly teen fiction camp.
28) What is your desert island book? I Capture the Castle. Or the diaries of Sylvia Plath, because it's so huge and would last forever.
29) What are you reading right now? Put Out the Flags by Evelyn Waugh, to be followed by Towers of Trebizond by Rose Macaulay or The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
1) What author do you own the most books by? Either Henry James or Virginia Woolf. Or maybe Jan Karon – all those dear Mitford books (guilty pleasure).
2) What book do you own the most copies of? I’m sure it would be Harry Potter books in various incarnations: American editions, British editions, books on cassette. Or Room of One's Own. I think I have three copies.
3) What fictional character are you secretly in love with? Laurie from Little Women. I can’t believe he married Amy.
4) What books have you read the most times in your life? The Chronicles of Narnia.
5) What was your favorite book when you were ten? I loved Beauty by Robin McKinley so much I typed half of it out on the computer and printed it so that I wouldn’t have to continue to go back to the library to rent it out over and over again. Then I realized it was probably illegal and hid it in my cupboard.
6) What is the worst book you’ve read this past year? The one I’ve enjoyed least so far is either The Siege of the History of Lisbon by Saramago (which I was hoping to like greatly). I didn’t really enjoy Master and Margarita either, sadly.
7) If you could force everyone to read one book what would it be? The Bone People by Keri Hulme or Book of the Dun Cow by Wangerin.
8) Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for Literature? Roberto Bolano posthumously.
9) What book would you like to see made into a movie? Housekeeping by Marilynn Robinson.
10) What book would you least like seen made into a movie? Severance by Robert Olen Butler, short stories chronicling the ecstatic thoughts of just-decapitated individuals. It would be a really weird movie.
11) Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character? Had to do with Edward Cullen in a tree house. Very embarrassing. Not my fault.
12) What is the most lowbrow book you’ve read as an adult? The Twilight series.
13) What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read? Ulysses. Nightwood was quite difficult. Ovid’s Metamorphoses in the sense that no matter how hard I tried to finish it, I couldn’t. It just became too predictable. A beautiful concept, but long-winded.
14) What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you’ve ever seen? Haven’t seen many obscure Shakespearean plays. Probably As You Like It. At least that’s the one I’ve seen most recently.
15) Do you prefer the French or the Russians? Contemporary French, romantic Russians
16) Roth or Updike? Updike on principle, and for non-fiction.
17) David Sedaris or Dave Eggers? I’m going to go with David Sedaris, even though I haven’t read his books, I’ve read some of his shorts in the New Yorker and they’re funny.
18) Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer? Shakespeare.
19) Austen or Eliot? Austen.
20) What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading? There are many. The Beats, any epistolary literature, Dumas and Dickens and Dostoyevsky. I haven’t read any graphic novels aside from Persepolis.
21) What is your favorite novel? I have the greatest allegiance to I Capture the Castle by Dodie Smith.
22) Play? Have recently become very enamored with Alan Bennett’s The History Boys, which is currently on its way in the mail to me. Or Oscar Wilde's plays - how does he write so wittily?
23) Essay? A Case for Books (very short by John Updike)
24) Short story? The Lottery by Shirley Jackson. Typical, but you can never get over the sickening wave of horror at the end.
25) Work of nonfiction? Room of One’s Own by Virginia Woolf
26) Who is your favorite writer? Virginia Woolf for style, Bolano for scope, Murakami for inventiveness, James and Wharton for utterly depressing endings, A. S. Byatt for wonderfully crafted worlds.
27) Who is the most overrated writer alive today? I would say Stephanie Meyer, but she’s not widely highly rated by those who aren’t in the paranormal romance camp/ poorly teen fiction camp.
28) What is your desert island book? I Capture the Castle. Or the diaries of Sylvia Plath, because it's so huge and would last forever.
29) What are you reading right now? Put Out the Flags by Evelyn Waugh, to be followed by Towers of Trebizond by Rose Macaulay or The Lightning Thief by Rick Riordan
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