(Para quienquiera que sea hispanohablante y esté leyendo esto, lo que sigue es un post muuuuuuuuy largo que responde a un Swap, como ocurre por acá últimamente. Después no digan que no avisé que era largo)
- 1 Favorite
childhood book?
I had a
few... I used to read a lot, and more than once, my mum's childhood books. My
favorite ones were An old-fashioned girl, by Louisa May Alcott, and Alice's Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking
glass, both by Lewis Carrol (Charles Dodgson) (These last two are still
my favorites). There was also the Harry Potter saga (the first 4 books, the
other came out during my teen years). There was another book, one I checked out
from my school's library, that was called Todos tontos (could be
translated as All fools) that was the most hilarious short story
I've ever read
- 2 What are
you reading right now?
La
condición humana (La condition humaine, Man’s fate, original and English
title, respectively) by André Malraux. It’s a novel about the failed communist
insurrection in Shanghai in 1927.
- 3 Do you go
to a library? If so, what do you currently have checked out there? If not, is
there a reason?
It’s been a
while since the last time went to a library! In the last years I’ve been going
only for research purposes, at the National Library or on any specific library
in museums, but people are not allowed to check out books in those places. When
I was at school I used to check out a lot of books from its library, and also
when I was a child my mum used to check out books for me from a library where
she attended to a class. I think the only reason I don't do that anymore it's
because I already have a lot of un-read books in my shelves, that I don't need
any more.
- 4 Do you
collect any authors/series or certain types of books?
This year I’ve
been trying to complete the Rougon-Macquart series by Emile Zola, and I’ve been
looking for L. M. Montgomery’s Anne books. Another collection that has
increased a little this year is my Robin Hood one. This is a book collection
here at Argentina targeted for children that was well known during the
60s-70s-80s. Some of these books are the ones I mentioned in the first
question, belonging to my mother. These
books have a very characteristic yellow cover, and amazing black or red ink illustrations.
Other
collections I have are the complete Harry Potter saga, including the study
books and Beedle the Bard, all the Jane Austen novels, a lot of Agatha
Christie's novels, and all the Discworld books I could afford. I'm also a big
fan of Lewis Carrol, so I have most of his narrative works, even more than
once.
- 5 Do you
have a yearly goal on amount of books you want to finish?
I set my
Goodreads reading challenge at 45. So far I’ve read 42, but I don’t think I’m gonna
make it to the final line.
- 6 Do you
have an e-reader?
No, but I
wish I had
- 7 Do you
prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?
I’ve done
both and I don’t have a preference. If I’m reading a non-fiction book, I would probably
grab a fiction one, or any lighter reading, to rest a bit from time to time.
8 Do you
have a blog where you post about books? If so, give your URL
This one!
But for now I post about books when I’m doing a related swap.
- 9 Do you
follow any blogs about reading/books? Which ones?
Sort of. I
follow a friend’s blog, where she occasionally posts what she read lately, but
it's not exclusively a book-blog. (Seas of Time, but it's in
Spanish)
- 10 Favorite
book you’ve read this year (so far in 2015)?
La tierra (La terre, The soil, original and English title, respectively), by Emile
Zola. The novel describes the steady disintegration of a family of agricultural
workers in Second Empire France, in the years immediately before the outbreak
of the Franco-Prussian War of 1870. It offers a vivid description of the
hardships and brutality of rural life in the late nineteenth century.
- 11 Least
favorite book you read this year (so far in 2015)?
Los hijos
de Heidi (Heidi’s children, original title), by Charles Tritten.
- 12 How often
do you read out of your comfort zone?
Not every
often, but every now and then, if I feel brave (?) (I’m currently reading out
of my comfort zone!)
- 13 What is
your reading comfort zone?
Hard to
define. I really enjoy going into the "classic" category, mostly
because I feel it's a secure zone, where I won't be disappointed. I think
"They must be considered classic for a reason", so I trust centuries
-or years- of judgments. I enjoy a lot fantastic literature, and works that are
satirical without being insulting. Naturalistic French literature it’s also a
must. Naturalism in general, actually. 19th century literature could
be also accurate. And then there are the
cultural-history, art-history, history-history kind of books.
- 14 Favorite
place to read?
The train /
metro / bus! It's where I do most of my reading, so I feel very comfortable
there, although sometimes it makes feel sleepy.
- 15 What are
your thoughts on book lending?
I agree
with people lending me books, I don't agree very much with me lending books to
people. I'm very jealous of my things, and books are on top of my list of
things-I-don't-like-sharing. However I DO share my books, sometimes, to VERY-FEW-PEOPLE.
- 16 What are
your thoughts on pirated books?
I never
thought of it before, actually. But I did use pirated books in the past, and I
guess I plan to use them in the future, so... Yes. (?)
- 17 What are
your thoughts on "Banned" books?
Well, my
country has passed for some dark years -not so long ago- when a lot of books
where banned. For someone who wasn't even born in those years, it's so weird to
me that this could even be a problem in the present. I definitely don't agree
with anybody deciding what's right reading and what’s not.
- 18 What are
barriers you have to reading more? (work, family, etc.)
My own
distraction and preference to spend time on the computer, for example. I mean,
most of my free time I spend it in front of a screen, and not precisely a
kindle's screen.
- 19 How many
books have you read in the last six months?
20!
- 20 What
makes you love a book?
I don't
know! I guess is that "x" factor that makes me read until the end
without making me think I would rather be doing something else.
- 21 What will
inspire you to recommend a book?
First, I
must know the taste in books the other person may have, and last, I must have
loved it WAY TOO MUCH to be very over excited about it.
- 22 5 of your
top read genres
Classic,
mystery , romantic, fantastic, historic.
- 23 5 authors
you read a lot
Emile Zola,
Jane Austen, Edith Barton, Terry Pratchett, Julio Cortázar
- 24 Do you
read non-fiction? Biographies?
I do, I do!
I’ve read some biographies, but only about specific characters that I'm very
interested in. Although, I prefer general or specific studies that aren’t
centered in one particular persona.
- 25 How many
times do you read a week?
That
depends. Like I said, I'm my worst enemy when it comes to reading time, and I'm
more likely to read only while traveling, so that would depend on how much I
travel during the week. This last days, no to so much, so let's say maybe 3, 4
times a week?
- 26 Do you
feel you read better with or without noise?
That
depends of the noise. I got used to read in crowded places, but if I have a
very distracting noise very close to me -like two people having a particularly
audible conversation next to me- I might find it hard to concentrate.
- 27 What
influences your book choices?
Mostly, my
own interests. Every time I go to a bookstore, I usually check the same shelfs,
in case I see something I might like or I might find something I've been
looking for. Sometimes I check the "new arrivals" table, in case I
see something that catches my eye.
- 28 Favorite
reading snack?
I don't
have any, because I normally don't eat while I'm reading... If anything, I
might have a cup of tea
- 29 Do you
literally judge a book by its cover, title, or author?
Well, yes.
Not so much the title, because, unless it's a non-fiction book (where the title
must give you a clear hint about the content of the book), sometimes they don't
tell you much about the story. Definitely the authors, especially if I already
read some of their works, or if I read a review or anything. And, in case I'm
not familiar with the author, the cover is always an attractive feature to
judge.
- 30 What is
the longest book you have ever read? The shortest?
The longest
is one I’ve been reading very slowly for the last couple of years: A
history on their own which has more than 1000 pages. And the shortest,
well, I don't know, must be some book I read when I was a kid. I still have one
my aunt and uncle gave to me when I started reading, it's called Cuando
Tina berrea (When Tina cries)
- 31 How do
you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?
As long as
they’re given as “constructive criticism”, having respect toward the author’s
work, I think it’s ok.
Personally,
I don't tend to give reviews... I guess, the closest I've ever be of doing that
is scoring a book with stars in Goodreads, but that's it, and that's mostly to
mark how much I liked the book or not.
- 32 Do you
make up stories, or ever think about an alternate ending for a book because you
want to?
Nah, I
don't. I might like or not an ending, but I never tried to re-write them. And
the only stories I make up are those my mind creates when I'm sleeping, which
are pretty crazy and very funny, most of the time, but I don't always write
them down.
- 33 Most
intimidating book you’ve ever read?
Mmh... I
could say it was Belgium: From the Roman invasion to the present
day, by Emile Cammaerts. I guess the "intimidating factor" was
that it's the first History book I've read in English, so it was quite an
experience.
- 34 Most
intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?
I've bought Ullyses by James Joyce some years ago and is still there, waiting
for me in the "to read" shelf. I tried to read it once, but I guess
it wasn't the right time, because I dropped it in a few days.
- 35 What book
do you try to steer people away from?
I can't really think of any right now, I
mean, if they're interesting in any book, why keep them away from it?
- 36 What book
do you recommend most to others?
I recommend
Discworld books A LOT! And the last one I remember I recommended very strongly
-to the point of actually buying the book for my friend- was Lady
Susan, by Jane Austen. There’s
also The man who was Thursday, by G. K. Chesterton. I never recommend that book;
I just buy it for the other person.
- 37 Do you
ever re-read books?
Not so much
lately, because I have a lot of new books that I haven't read yet, but I've
done it a lot before, when I wasn't able to buy new ones. Sometimes I feel nostalgic
of certain stories, and I like to pass the pages and read again my favorites
passages.
- 38 Favorite
fictional character?
I've read
so many that probably my first choice would let behind a lot of magnificent
characters that I can't even remember right now! I'll just say Sylvie and
Bruno from, well, Sylvie and Bruno. I know they’re more than just one character, but they can't be separated because they
can't live without each other and because they both complement each other so
perfectly!
- 39 Favorite
fictional villain?
This
villain, the perfect villain, for being so clever, so cunning, the most
reasonable character I've found in the entire saga and the most
"human" of it -and by human I don't mean he has an humanitarian personality,
but that he is the most relatable character to our own world-, it's Lord
Vetinari, from the Discworld saga. Probably my favorite character there, side
by side with Death (another great character, and not so evil as you may first
think)
- 40 Books I’m
most likely to bring on vacation?
Definitely
fiction, I don't want to struggle my mind with History while I'm supposed to be
resting
- 41 The
longest I’ve gone without reading.
I certainly
don't keep count of it, but I guess no longer than week? I don't know!
- 42 Name a
book that you could/would not finish.
I feel like
I'm repeating myself a lot, but, as I said above, Ullyses is one of those
books. I haven't finished a couple of non fiction books, mostly because I'll
just check them when I’ll need their information. And, for some unknown reason,
I never finished an anthology of short "comical" stories by Edgar
Allan Poe. I've never read the last story. And, just as a tradition (?), I'll
keep it that way.
- 43 What
distracts you easily when you’re reading?
If I'm
reading while traveling, I might get distracted by the people around me, or the
things that pass by the window. At home, I don't know, maybe my cat or suddenly
I find myself thinking about something I have to do or something that happened
or anything, really.
- 44 Favorite
film adaptation of a novel?
I'm a big
fan of BBC's adaptations. I've seen all of the adaptations made of Jane
Austen's novels, and they're always so delightful! And my favorite movie from a
book is Jane Eyre, with Michael Fassbender and Mia Wasikowska
- 45 Most
disappointing film adaptation?
One that
really made me mad at the time was the film adaptation of La cena (Het
diner, The dinner, original and English title, respectively), by Herman Koch.
When I finished the book I thought "This would be a great movie", so
I looked if there was any, and I was lucky I found one. It was ok at the beginning,
but at the end was so so so different! They changed it so much I felt it was an
outrage. It's not like they re-write the entire ending, but they change the
reactions of the main character, and how some things went on, so, well, they
really annoyed me.
- 46 The most
money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?
In a
bookstore was about $570 (U$S70, approximately). In the last book fair I spent
$743 (U$S91)
- 47 How often
do you skim a book before reading it?
Not so much
before reading it, but I might do it before buying it! I usually check, if it
has, the index (very important for me in a non-fiction book), if it has
pictures, I read the back of it, and that kind of stuff.
- 48 What
would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?
I must feel
I'm getting nothing out of it, or being really bored. If I'm not getting
excited to the idea of reading, then maybe I shouldn't do it anymore. Sadly,
that mostly happens with college textbooks, and I can't get rid of them that
easily.
- 49 Do you
like to keep your books organized?
Yes, sure,
I like to, but I don’t always have them organized :P
- 50 Do you
prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?
I keep
them, I keep them all!
- 51 Do you
read for enjoyment or to gain knowledge?
Both!
Although most of the time they don't go separately
- 52 Name a
book that made you angry.
None comes
to mind, actually. I don't think I've ever been angry towards a book, or
because of it.
- 53 A book
you didn’t expect to like but did?
The
twilight saga. I don't love those books, and they're definitely between my
favorites, but I must admit that I couldn't put them down! And they made me see
vampire stories in a different way -outside the "horror" category.
- 54 A book
that you expected to like but didn’t?
Wuthering
Heights. I don't know exactly why, but I'm not a huge fan of the Brontë
sisters. I guess I should give it a second read, it's been a while now, I might
change my mind.
- 55 Favorite
guilt-free, pleasure reading?
All of it!
Everything I read is for pleasure and guilt-free
Phew, that was exhausting!
