The bookworm tag game

A couple of friends about the blogoverse have acquired this survey of book reading habits, which if you read it, you’ve been tagged and are supposed to do it on your blog.  One such place to see the thing is here on J.Day's blog.  Here is my rendition; feel free to tag yourself or not, as I’m not big into do-this-and-pass-it-on unless it suits my purpose.
1- Fave childhood book- Easily the easiest question- Laura Ingalls Wilder’s Little House In The Big Woods.  The others I read mentioned the Black Stallion series, which were also excellent.

2-What are you reading now? Just finished New Testament History by FF Bruce.

3 (What do you have on request at the library), 4 (What do you currently have checked out), 16 (how many do you have checked out at a given time), 17 (have you returned a book unread) are all library questions and I haven’t been to in a while.

5- Do I have an e-reader?  Not as long as I can get pages.

6- Do you read one or several at a time?  I usually have “re-reads” stashed strategically about the house.

7- Can you read on the bus?  Never tried on the bus, but unlike many people I have little problem reading in a moving vehicle.

8- Fave place to read? Bedroom, bathroom*, kitchen table, out in the sunshine.
  * when we were kids, my sister got scolded when Parade Magazine kept mom out of the can.  Mom’s famous quote:  “I don’t go there to sit and think- I go there to shit and stink!”  Obviously one of those golden rules that didn’t stick.

9-Do you dog-ear pages?  Only until I press some unfortunate piece of trash into service as a bookmark.

10-Do you write in the margins?  Only in my Bible.

11- What makes you love a book?  The ability to put me into the action.  Laura Ingalls Wilder, and Leon Uris’ Trinity, did that the best for me.  This answer holds true for #12, What would make me recommend a book.

13-Fave genre- History, historical bio, some sci-fi, usually anthologies.

14- How do you feel about giving a negative review?  IMHO, different strokes for different folks.  It has to be really bad before I bad mouth it.

15- Fave poet- Myself.

18/19- Fave fictional character/villain.  This question automatically throws me into the world of comic books.  And there it hugely depends upon the writer.  For me the wrong writer (Chuck Austin, John Byrne, Jeff Loeb) can ruin the best character.  Written at their VERY best, probably Thor and Dr. Doom.  MY brain doesn’t usually retain novel characters too long after the book is done.

20- What books go on vacation?  Something in history, hopefully the next Susan Wise Bauer book.  Barbara Tuchman would work, too.

21- Longest time gone without reading?  From birth till learning to read.  Whether it be a comic, a novel, or an ingredient label at dinner, I’ve read pretty much ever since.

22-Name a book you would not finish, and 26- What would cause you to stop reading 1/2 way through?  The answer in both is John Updike’s Rabbit is Rich.  I can take constructive stupidity for a long time (Catch-22, anyone?)  But when Rabbit starts weighing the moral ramifications of stealing his friend’s pictures of his wife in the nude while snooping through his dresser drawer, I walked to the closest trash can and threw the damn thing away.  One that came close was Stephen King's The Tommyknockers.  A nice 150-page novel stretched out to 752.  I finished it only to prove I could.

23- What will easily distract you when reading?  Depends on the book.  Most can be disrupted by knowing the right answer on Jeopardy.  Little House books, best bring nukes.

24/25- Fave and worst film adaptations.  Not a big movie person.  I’d have to say I enjoyed the film and book versions of A Time To Kill fairly equally.  As a comic book person, I realize that I am “expected “ to answer the second question with The Watchmen and/or League Of Extraordinary Gentlemen, but I thoroughly enjoyed both.  Screw you, Alan Moore.

27- Do you organize your books?  About once every 8-10 years, lasting about 25 minutes each time.

28- Do you give away books you’ve read or keep them?  I am a veteran re-reader.  Gitcher hands off!

Before I go, let me announce I got my latest delivery from the Great Postcard Campaign!  It came from my good friend at The Cat And The Coffee Cup, the sole fellow Hoosier in our group.  Thanks and hugs to you!