Booking Through Thursday Medley

Okay, there must be something you read that’s a guilty pleasure . . . a Harlequin romance stashed under the mattress. A cheesy sci-fi book tucked in the back of the freezer. A celebrity biography, a phoned-in Western . . . something that you’d really rather not be spotted reading. Even just a novel if you’re a die-hard non-fiction fan. Come on, confess. We won’t hold it against you! Sometimes when the kid I baby-sit is napping, I’ll read some of the trashy romance novels his mom has lying around.

Love stories? Yes or No? As I look back on my favorite books, I don’t think any of them are love stories. I’m not adverse to them, but I think the fact that I’ve never been in a relationship removes me from the emotion of it. It’s a little out of my scope of experience, so I don’t connect to it as much.

Do you use bookmarks? Or do you dog-ear the corners? If you do use bookmarks, do you use those fashionable metal ones? Or paper? Sometimes I dog-ear passages that I love, and often I’ll leave a book open, face-down to keep my spot. I own bookmarks that I use, but often I’ll use some ratty piece of paper.

Audio Books. Yes or No? Depends on who is reading it. As a rule, I don’t like audio books. I much prefer to control the pace of my reading, and my own inflections. However, I do own some audio books. I have John Hodgeman reading his book The Areas of My Expertise in his dry, deadpan way, and I have some books read my celebs that I like. Robert Sean Leonard in particular is an amazing reader. He has such a great, sexy voice and perfect inflections.

But, enough about books. . . what else do you read?? Magazines? Newspapers? Professional journals? Cereal boxes? Phone books? Purchase invoices? Homework? Everything. I was “that kid” who would read cereal boxed. I’m compulsive: if there is something in front of me with words on it, I will read it.

Do you tend to read more books written by one gender over the other? If so, which one? Men? Or women? Is this a deliberate choice? Or just something that kind of happened? I guess I read more books by men. It’s certainly not a conscious choice. I think it’s because I seek out classics, and most of them are written by men. I do have books that I enjoy that are written by women, of course.

Have you read Lord of the Rings? If so, how many times have you read it? Just once? Or so many you can’t count? If not, why not? Not your cup of tea? And, while we’re on the subject, did you see the Oscar-winning movie(s)? What did you think? I have read it, and with skimming back through and all that, I’m sure I’ve read it more than twice, probably more than three times. I need to reread it sometime. I saw the movies an embarrassing number of times. Truly, it’s obscene. I could probably quote them by memory.

Do you read non-fiction books for pleasure, not counting books required for courses or for work? If so, what areas of non-fiction interest you the most? If not, why not? What are some of your favorite books from those areas? I don’t typically read non-fiction books, for purely cynical reasons, really. I like to be immersed in a story, to accept the situation and the characters. With non-fiction, I spend the whole book wondering what actually happened and what didn’t, so I find it hard to get involved with the people and situations in it.

How do you decide to read a book by an author you haven’t read before? What sort of recommendations count most highly in making that decision? I am such a cautious person. I stick with authors I’ve read and liked, or go with the “tried-and-true” classics. Sometimes if I hear enough good things about a book from friends or reviewers I’ll try it out.

What author that you remember having read does the best character development? What book/series do you think is that author’s shining work with regards to character development? What was (were) your favorite character(s) in that book or series? Do you ever find yourself really liking a character in a book that you’re certain you would never be friends with in real life? Do you ever re-read a book to visit a character because you miss him/her? Alexandre Dumas is great at character development. If you trace the development of the characters from The Three Musketeers to their final book…it’s kind of incredible. They stay completely true to form while changing and maturing. Dumas’ plot and secondary characters leave something to be desired, but he was a genius with his beloved main characters. I really liked Athos as the fallen nobility, the brooding man of dignity, but I also liked Aramis, who was the least likeable. He had flaws and was more cunning than the other three, but he was endearing to me. The characters I like in books, and other works of fiction, are most certainly people that I probably couldn’t be friends with in real life. It’s like women falling for the “bad boy” in movies because it’s safe, except my bad boy isn’t some leather-wearing jerk, it’s usually some broody, introverted, extraordinary guy. Hellooo, Athos.

Do you enjoy reading mysteries? What’s your favorite kind of mystery? Do you like plenty of blood and guts, or do you prefer the details to be left to the reader’s imagination? Do you prefer mystery stories based in the author’s time or in previous centuries? Do you prefer mysteries based in your own country, or in distant lands? Do you like to figure out the solution, or do you allow yourself to be carried away with the story? I typically don’t read mysteries, or at least I don’t usually seek them out. The mysteries I am crazy about (the Sherlock Holmes stories, And Then There Were None, the Lord Peter series) are more about characters and their psychology than the actual mystery. I don’t like figuring things out myself because I’m truly awful at it, so if I figure it out on my own, I don’t have much faith in the hero detective. I don’t really have a preference on time or setting, I guess. I suppose I prefer period pieces, and apparently I like British mysteries the best.

Do you buy the books you read, or do you borrow them from the library or from friends or from somewhere else? Do you prefer new or used books? If you buy them, do you keep them? If you don’t keep them, how long do you hold on to them before letting them go? What do you do with them? I prefer buying books myself, for whatever reason. I used to buy exclusively new books, but now that I’ve discovered HalfPrice Books…well, you just can’t beat those prices. I’ve also started embracing books that look well-used. I keep all of my favorites, those books that are a part of me, even if I probably won’t be rereading them anytime soon. But I’ve been trying to eliminate clutter and simplify my life, so books that aren’t integral to my library and won’t be read again get sold. Usually to buy new books.