birdienl | Reading well is one of the great pleasures that solitude can afford you.

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!)

18. Your favourite book series & your favourite book out of that series

Well, it's just one of many ofcourse, but I'll pick the Thursday Next novels from Jasper Fforde. These novels are like nothing else: so clever and quirky and funny! My favourite book from the series is The Well of lost plots, which takes place almost entirely in the BookWorld.

19. Your favourite picture, junior fiction and Young Adult book

Picture book:
A dictionary by Richard Scarry. I don't remember the exact title, but I do remember loving his drawings.

junior fiction:
Anything with horses I guess! One of the stories I remember most fondly was Anna's paardenboerderij about a girl who slowly became friends with a neglected and assaulted horse

Young Adult:
The same answer as question two: a trilogy of historical books about the 100 year war between England and France by the famous Dutch author Thea Beckman.

20. Least favourite plot device employed by way too many books you actually enjoyed otherwise

The 'illegitimate child' plot device was definitely used too often by some Christian authors. Woman is happily married, often with children, but has a secret.... When she was young, she had an illegitemate child and had to give it away. Now the secret comes back to haunt her. Ofcourse it is an interesting storyline, but for a while I seemed to come across it in practically every Christian novel I read.

21. A book you thought you wouldn't like but ended up loving

I never thought I would love Possession by A.S. Byatt as much as I did. I don't generally like contemporary literary novels, but this was great. Seamlessly the story moved from past to present and back and the characters were wonderful.