A good book has no ending - R.D. Cumming

[birdienl]

01. A fictional character you identify with and why
02. Your earliest memory of reading or being read to
03. Your favourite book aged 9 ½, or 13 ¾, whichever you remember best.
04. The book that’s been on your shelves the longest.
05. A book you acquired in some interesting way
06. A book with a story for you, that reminds you of something specific in your life (a person, a place, a time).
07. What fictional character are you (secretly) in love with
08. The last book you acquired, and how (begged, bought, borrowed?)
09. Your current read, your last read and the book you’ll read next.
10. What author do you own the most books by and why?
11. Do you own multiple copies of any book? What are they? Why do you have multiple copies?
12. Book borrowing – do you use the library? Do you prefer to try before you buy? What about lending your books to friends? Are you a good borrower, do you remember to return books?
13. Do you reread a lot? Why (not)? Name a book you have reread many times.
14. What is the best book you’ve read in the past year?
15. Do you recommend books to other people? If you could force everyone you know to read one book, what would it be?
16. Adaptation: What book would you most like to see made into a film? Do you like to read the book first or see the film? Any books you have read after seeing the film version?
17. What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read?
18. Your favourite book series & your favourite book out of that series
19. Your favourite picture, junior fiction and Young Adult books
20. Least favourite plot device employed by way too many books you actually enjoyed otherwise
21. A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving
22. Your "comfort" book
23. Favourite book cover including a picture!
24. Favourite fictional relationship (romantic, friendship, familial)
25. Most annoying character ever
26. Most quotable novel or 5 of your favourite quotes from any books.
27. Any five books from your "to be read" stack. What makes you select a book for your “to be read” stack?
28. Some firsts: First book you remember loving/being obsessed with. First book that made you cry. First book you gave to someone else as a gift.
29. Saddest character death OR best/most satisfying character death (or both!)
30. The End: do you prefer everything tied up or to be able to 'make up your own mind'? What is the worst ending to a book you have read? And the best? (careful, spoiler tags!)

04. The book that's been on your shelves the longest

I got one of my Bibles at the end of primary school. Otherwise, it's probably my Emil of Lönneberga book, written by Astrid Lindgren. There are probably books which I 'own' even longer, but they are not on my shelves, but in a box in my mother's attic.

05. A book you aquired in some interesting way

Hmmm.... Most books I have are just bought in a bookstore, book market or second hand shop. I did however realize last week that probably over half of the books on my shelves are bought at the yearly Book Festival (Boeken Festijn). This large book market sellling remaindered books for ridiculously low prices is probably one of my favourite days of the year! They sell a lot of Wordsworth classics for about 1,95 euro, but also other novels, non-fiction, cook books, comics, children's books, cards, crafts stuff etc. etc.

06. A book with a story for you, that reminds you of something specific in your life (a person, a place, a time)

Not so much the story, but some books remind me of the time I bought them or when I read them. For example, my copy of Lorna Doone by R.D. Blackmore I bought during my first ever trip to England at a small street market in Bath. I read the book during my trip to Prague a year later, which included a 20 hour bus trip (twice, to go and to return...) and I still had only finished a small part of the book!
I bought Great Expectations by Charles Dickens in Rochester, the city where parts of the story take place and where Dickens lived for a part of his life.

07. What fictional character are you (secretly) in love with

Not very secretly, but I'm in love with at least half of Austen's heroes! (It depends on which book I read last which character I'm most in love with at the moment, but I love Frederick Wentworth and Mr. Knightley best)
My other 'great classic love' is Gabriel Oak from Far from the madding crowd by Thomas Hardy. He's such a honest, reliable character and a great friend to the heroine Batsheba, he shines in comparison to the other main male characters in the book.

Comments

[moonreviews]

Apparently I did a similar meme a while ago... Some of the questions are different, though. I think yours is the extended "month-version" :)
http://moonplanet.livejournal.com/189444.html

[birdienl.livejournal.com]

Yes, indeed many of the same questions.
It's really nice doing something like this, you get to think about things you don't normally think about and it's just fun to talk about books anyway.