ESG: 55 book related questions

(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. 19^th 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!