55 Book Related Questions

55 Book Related Questions

55 Book Related Questions is a swap that was started a few years ago at Swap-Bot (she may have originally gotten the questions elsewhere, I don't know) and I took it over. I thought I would put my answers on my blog, instead of sending via message or email.
I hope you'll enjoy my swap!
From ~ ImzadiRose



01 Favorite childhood book? Why is that one your favorite?
My favorite childhood series is the Trixie Belden series by Julie Campbell and under the pseudonym Katheryn Kenny. It was a set of 39 books that was first started out in 1948. If you haven't heard of them, think of them as a younger, and more "real" Nancy Drew. Trixie and her friends would solve mysteries around their area and had a wonderful little club. I adored Trixie and wanted to be like her and have that kind of adventures and friends! I still collect the books to this day. I had them all, until I lost them all after a move, I have about 1/3 of them again.


02 What are you reading right now? What are your thoughts on it?
As of writing this (9/2) I am currently listening to Blood Moon by Alexandra Sokoloff on audio. It's the 2nd book in the Huntress / FBI series about a FBI agent who is hunting a female killer. The first book was really good and this one is pretty good as well, though the agents obvious infatuation with the killer is kind of off putting. The killer is killing scum though, so you can't help but root for her. Finished 9/2, 4/5 stars.

As of getting reading to post this (9/3) I am listening to Timecaster Supersymmetry on audio and I am reading James Potter and the Hall of Elders Crossing (in honor of James arriving at Hogwarts) on my Kindle.


03 Do you go to a library? If so, what do you currently have checked out there? If not, is there a reason?
I don't go to the library any more. I'll pop my head in, occasionally, to see if they are selling anything but I've only ever checked out one book there (in 3.5 years we've been living here) and that was just because the book wasn't in ebook format. I don't go because this library is TEENY TINY. There's just not much there, at all, and I get anything I wanna read on my Kindle.


04 Do you collect any authors/series or certain types of books? What are they?
I do collect 3 series. I collect Harry Potter ~ I had all the books years ago and lost everything during moves. Actual physical copies now I have only 1, 3, 4 & 5 and multiple copies of some of them. I am able to get them for 25 cents at the thrift store, so I pick one up whenever they have them. I also collect Trixie Belden. I have most of the books 1-13 and a few copies. The books were printed in multiple types of formats, and I have a mix of "oval", "square" and hard covers. I also do collect Nancy Drew. I'm not into them as much but will grab them when I see them. I have about 20.


05 Do you have a yearly goal on amount of books you want to finish? What is it? Are you ahead of, or behind in your progress?
I do have a yearly goal and this year I made my goal 300 for the year. I had it at 200 but when I got pretty close to that, before half of the year was up, I raised it to 300. I have completed 228 books on the year (76% of my goal) and am 28 books ahead of schedule.


06 Do you have an e-reader? What kind? Do you read both "real" and ebooks, or just one or the other?
I have a 2nd Gen (so quite older) Kindle Fire. I had a Kindle Keyboard for years, but they kept breaking on me. Finally the last time they were no longer selling/replacing that type. I could have got a Paperwhite but the Amazon person gave me a deal on the Fire. It's a 7 inch and was $72 for me at the time. Though it doesn't do some of the things the newer ones do, it is wonderful and I love it so much. It's so sturdy and endures my rather rough handling of it. :) I only read ebooks, even though I collect "real" books. My Fire is never out of arms reach.


07 Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once? Why?
I used to be a one at a time person, until I discovered audiobooks about 3 years ago. Now, I always have 2 going ~ one on the Kindle and one as an audiobook. I'll typically only listen to my audiobook at night, before I go to sleep, though I'll listen in the day if I'm enjoying it or want to finish it that day. My Kindle books are read pretty much any time. If I only have one going (such as now) it's because I'm waiting on something with a challenge, in this case, I'm waiting to get our info for the Amazing Race game. Now (9/2) I have two going. I had finished Huntress Moon and I am listening to an audiobook for my "Camp Massacre" challenge and the Kindle book I started is for my Amazing Race Game.


08 Do you have a blog or GoodReads where you post reviews? 
I post both on this blog, obviously, and at GoodReads. Though I don't update my blog as much as I used to, I definitely need to get back to it more as I have a BUNCH of reviews to write. However, I'm ALWAYS on GoodReads. It's my homepage and I update my books almost daily, and post in my groups pretty much daily. You can keep up with me here at KaKiJoKoJa or on my GoodReads


09 What sites, if any, do you go to for getting recommendations of books? If you don't use any sites, how do you get recommendations for new books?
Typically only GoodReads! I do follow some blogs but I don't tend to pay attention to what others think of books as I usually don't read what everyone else is reading and I usually don't have the same opinions on books. I use the "Recommendations" page of GoodReads all the time. I am very much about "judging a book by it's cover" to pick out what I wanna read next. I'll go through my recommendations and just read the blurbs about books that look neat, otherwise I'd be doing nothing else other than reading recommendations.


10 Favorite book you’ve read this year (so far in 2015)? Why?
My favorite book of the year is definitely The Martian by Andy Weir. I read this back in March and though I have loved a lot of books since, this one still takes top spot. If you haven't read it yet, I highly recommend it and if you are a fan of audiobooks, I recommend it that way, the narrator, R.C. Bray is really good. He really brought the characters to life and there were several laugh out loud moments for me. I ended up staying up all night listening to this one, it was fantastic!


11 Least favorite book you read this year (so far in 2015)? Why?
Hard choice, there's been a few, but top (or bottom) definitely goes to The Giver by Lois Lowry, which I read all the way back in January. Books that piss me off most are the books that were good or at least not bad, until that ONE moment that ruins everything. That happened for me with this book. I thought it was OK, until I certain point, then I was just pissed. I still hate this book, will never touch more, and am still mad that it even put me off reading for over a week!


12 Book due to be released this year (2015) that you are most looking forward to and why?
The book that I know about that I'm most interested in coming out is the 3rd book in the Chronos series by Rysa Walker ~ Time's Divide. It's a time traveling series and I have enjoyed all the books so far. I definitely can't wait for more! There's also a book I don't know anything about ~ Pull by Anne Riley which I'm VERY intrigued about. It's also a time traveling type book, hopefully it'll be as good as it sounds!


13 What is your reading comfort zone and How often do you read out it?
I'm proud to say I don't really have a comfort zone anymore. If I DID say I still had one, I'd still say mine is mystery/thriller, but I will now read almost anything, as long as it sounds good to me. I still read a bunch of mystery/thriller, but I also read all kinds of other stuff. Lately, I've been really into the Virtual Reality type books, but I have read everything from middle grade to adult, non fic (though not much) to fantasy. I'll read anything that sounds like something I would enjoy, no matter what the genre.


14 Favorite place to read? Why do you like that place best?
I only have two places I can read ~ my recliner and my bed. I prefer my recliner, because it's WAY more comfortable than my bed. I typically only read at night, before I go to sleep, in bed, though sometimes when it's waaaaay too hot in here (no central air in this place, only a window unit in the bedroom), I'll go in there to read. I definitely prefer it out here. We hope to get a reclining couch, at some point, so we aren't in separate mix matched chairs! But hey, the price (free) was right!


15 What are your thoughts on book lending?
Meh, depends on the person. I'd be fine with lending books to my friend Kim, but she's probably it. I had loaned my Harry Potter set to a former "friend" and never saw them again. ARGH!! Other than that, if I had any friends to lend to here, I'd probably be fine with it, and just not lend out my HPs or Trixie's, unless they were ones I had double copies of.


16 What are your thoughts on pirated books?
Minority here ~ in that I see nothing wrong with it. It's no different than going to a library, or lending books to someone. I have a ton of thoughts on it, but since the majority of people are against it, or at lease act against it, I won't share them.


17 What are your thoughts on "Banned" books?
Stupidity! People should read what they wanna read and nothing should be censored. I just don't get it at all and though I'm not into the whole making sure I read banned books, I think it's pretty stupid that it's a thing. People are WAY too uptight! With books, and with all things, I wish people would worry about themselves and not care what someone else ~ who has no impact on their lives whatsoever ~ wants to read, think or do!


18 What are barriers you have to reading more? (work, family, ect)
Thankfully, not much, and self inflicted, for lack of a better term? :) My Hubby distracts me most, but I think that's on me because He'll be here doing His own thing (playing Hearthstone right now) but I'm still not reading. It's partially on Him though, as He'll typically start talking to me when I'm reading so I have to keep starting and stopping. He especially likes to do that when I'm listening to an audiobook. Other barriers are me wanting to play games and my new online course that I'm taking. I'm trying to create more of a balance of reading at least part of the day (to finish up a book, usually), playing a game part of the day and doing my class, when it's going on.


19 How many books did you read during Jan - Jun (1st 6 months of year)? How many more books have you read in Jul and Aug?
For the first 6 months of the year, I completed 163 books. Oddly enough, in Jul and Aug, I completed 63 books. This actually has my count off by one, I gotta figured out what doubled up, since it's not showing any duplicates. I think it was something with a book I read partial of. I guess I did technically read it twice, but I wish I could get it to list as just once since the first time was just a sample, but I did leave a review for that part.


20 What makes you love a book?
A subject matter that is interesting to me. Likable characters, a lot of action and quick moving plot. I would rather have action than people talking about their feelings any day, YUK! I prefer action over romance, though there are some romance authors I do read and I will read it if it has to do with a story I really like, but I definitely don't need it. I love books that grab me from the start and especially books with unexpected twists, which for as much as I read, is very hard to do for me. I typically see things coming, so I'm always glad when something surprises me!


21 What will inspire you to recommend a book?
My excitement and enjoyment of it. If I stay up all night to finish something, I typically love it and want to tell everyone about it. I at least tell my friend Kim and my Hubby, so they can read it as well. There are some books (The Martian) where I'm all about telling my Hubby to drop everything and read it now!! Luckily I know Him well enough to know what He will and won't like of what I read, so when I really recommend something, I know He will love it too.


22 5 of your top read genres and one Recommended book for each genre
I'll narrow this one down by choosing only books I read this year (no re-reads), and trying to do different books/authors than the ones I have listed below. Won't list books (Martian) I already have either.

Mystery / Thriller ~ The Naked Eye by Iris Johansen
Gaming / Video Games ~ Solarversia by Toby Downton
Science Fiction ~ Insignia Series by S.J. Kincaid
Action / Adventure ~ Chess Team Series by Jeremy Robinson
Young Adult / Middle Grade ~ Cragbridge Hall Series by Chad Morris


23 5 authors you read a lot and one book you recommend for each

Nora Roberts / J.D. Robb ~ Blue Smoke or In Death Series
Chris Carter ~ Robert Hunter Series
Matthew Reilly ~ Scarecrow Series or everything!
Robyn Carr ~ Virgin River Series
Cherise Sinclair ~ Shadowlands Series (erotica)
I can make recommendations all day! If you want a ton, just ask! :)


24 Do you read non-fiction? Biographies? What is one of your favorites? If you don't read them, what keeps you from them?
I read very few non-fic / Bios. I have to REALLY like the subject or person and that doesn't happen very often. I did just read the 2nd biography by Dick Van Dyke. I really like him, as a person, I think he's fantastic. The few non-fiction books I have read have been Disney or roller coaster related. That's pretty much the extent of my interests, though I may read some sea related stuff soon. :)


25 How many times do you read a week?
Daily, at least a few hours at night before I go to sleep. I listen to audiobooks to help me fall asleep since I have a hard time falling asleep. Since I'm tossing and turning anyways, it's a great time to listen to audio and I typically take around 2 hours (sometimes more/less) to fall asleep. I'll also read during the day whenever I feel like it, or all day everyday, if I'm in a bookish mood. :)


26 Do you feel you read better with or without noise? What kind of noise can't you read through?
I prefer quiet or instrumental music. When my Hubby is at work, it's usually quiet in here when I want to read, but there are things that I do have to drown out sometimes. We, sadly, live in a duplex, and instead of the neighbors kids playing out back in a HUGE open area, they play in the little tiny strip in front of the house between the house and the road. That means they are inches to about 5 feet outside our open window. UGH! Hate it so much. So, at that point (because the kid is 3 or 4ish and screams at the top of his lungs) I'll put my earbuds in. I will turn on Spotify and listen to a Disney Instrumental playlist I have.


27 What influences your book choices?
The blurb about the book, it has to grab my attention right away and not be TOOOOOOO long. If it's a huge amount of reading for the blurb, I'm likely not going to read it. The author, if it's an author I like, I'll tend to try their books out, even if it's something new. If it's an author I don't like and it's a new book, I'd be more hesitant to try it. Tons of hype usually keep me AWAY from books, which isn't always a good thing. It kept me away from The Martian for too long, and that was great, same with Harry Potter, way back. I didn't start reading those until right before the 5th book was out because I was tired of hearing about it, and that was a HUGE mistake.


28 Favorite reading snack? Favorite reading drink? Do you eat/drink while reading, or do you put the book down for snacks?
Yup, I'll eat and drink while I read. I'm a junk food junkie, so cookies, ice cream, candy is all good for me. I mainly drink Mt Dew, though I'll drink Sweet Tea as well and an occasional Coke or Pepsi. My favorite snack would be cookies. I love sweets while I'm reading. Lately I've been on a Snickerdoodle kick. My favorite drink ~ Mt Dew or a Fruit Punch Kickstart Dew.


29 Do you literally judge a book by its cover, title, or author?
Yup, I sure do. I get 50+ recommendations on my GoodReads recommendations page, more since it's often 50 for each "favorite" genre when I haven't checked in. I don't want to be sitting here all day reading blurbs to see what I wanna read. So, I'll go through all 50 and click not interested on covers that don't grab my attention right away. Then I'll read the blurbs of the rest. Titles don't really affect me in anyway, unless it's unique. Then I definitely look out for my certain authors, and stay away from a few others!


30 What is the longest book you have ever read? The shortest?
Longest book I've ever read was Odyssey by William Shatner at 1,072 pages. The longest book I've read in 2015 is Sandstorm by James Rollins at 608 pages. The shortest books I've read are various eroticas around 30-40 pages, and a bunch of graphic novels, like the Arkham series.


31 How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?
I've found that I don't like it, IF I've gotten the books from NetGalley, then I always feel bad because they are wanting good reviews. They say honest, but you know they, and the authors, don't really want bad reviews out there. So, I feel bad about it in that way, but if its not from them, than I don't have a problem with it. If I read it and hated it, I have absolutely no problem in saying so! My hang ups are different than others, so I dislike strange things sometimes, but that's just me. I don't have a problem saying anything bad about it!


32 Do you make up stories, or ever think about an alternate ending for a book because you want to?
Not REALLY. Not to the extent of a full story or anything like that, but there are definitely things I think of about how some book could have gone on in some way or how some book could have been changed (In my HP world, Fred is still alive!). But that's pretty much the extent of it. Never been much into the fan fic or anything like that, though I have read some good ones years ago.


33 Most intimidating book you’ve ever read? Why?
This is the same answer as last time ~ definitely The God Delusion by Dawkins. It was very wordy for me and it made my head hurt. I tried to read it but I don't think I got very far into it, it's been a while now. I preferred the much lighter God, No! by Penn Jillette! Thank you, Penn, for making me realize that I've been an Atheist all these years since I turned away from religion, not Agnostic! :)


34 Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin? How come?
None? Most books don't typically (see exception above) intimidate me, for books I want to read. That book was one that my Hubby wanted me to try and it was just toooooo much for me. I prefer lighter, fun stuff. I read for entertainment, NOT for learning, that's just how I am. I'd say Books of Skyrim but I already started it. I'm not intimidated by it, it's just super LONG! I guess I'll say one of my new Oceanography books, since I am taking a class on it, want to learn more, but don't know if I can just sit here and read a text type book anymore.


35 What book do you try to steer people away from?
50 Shades of Crap! Yup, my answer hasn't changed from that either. Still awful, still out there getting people's attention. I don't understand it. Read a REAL BDSM book instead, please, not that horrible stuff. Start with the above mentioned series by Cherise Sinclair. She won't steer you wrong, like 50 did! I hate that she tried to make it BDSM-ish and gave BDSM even more of a bad name. Ugh. And don't get me started on the awful writing. I could complain about that series all day!


36 What book do you recommend most to others?
The Night Circus by Erin Morganstern!! 4 years as my most FAVORITE book ever! It's so magical and beautifully written. Thankfully, most who have read it on my recommendation have loved it, though there are a few who haven't and that makes me soooooooo sad. I love everything about it, it's just a special kind of book and yes, if you didn't know, my blog IS in the black & white with red theme based off of The Night Circus!


37 Do you ever re-read books? How many times have you re-read a favorite? If you don't re-read books, why not?
I HAVE re-read books, but it's rare, and usually pretty specific. I think the only books I've actually read more than 2 or 3 times are the Harry Potter books and my favorites from Trixie Belden (3, 9, 7, 1). Beyond that, it's been just a few. I've re-read the Harry Potter books via both audiobooks, first all of Jim Dale's and now all of Stephen Fry's, of which I have the last one (maybe last 2?) left to do. I've re-read The Night Circus twice now. Other things I've re-read have been because I read them so long ago, or for things like I'll re-read The Martian before I see the movie, stuff like that. My re-reads for the year I'd say are less than 10 books (total), as I'd prefer to read something new!


38 Favorite fictional character and why?
Still Bailey from The Night Circus. I think he's absolutely fantastic! He knows what he wants at an early age and he does what he needs to, including turning away from his family, to get what he wants. I love it, and I wish I had done that ages ago. Of course I wish I had ever had that much passion for something. He's a fantastic character and I absolutely adored him! Widget and Poppet from the same book are also favorites.


39 Favorite fictional villain and why?
Typically I'd say Voldemort, but I'm liking this killer from the Huntress / FBI series ~ Cara. She only kills evil people ~ rapists, dealers, abusers.... basically anyone who has harmed a child or spoken of harming many people. It's a killer I can get behind and understand why she is doing it and root for her to continue and not be caught. At least someone is bring justice to those who need it!


40 Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation?
I had to look up vacation in the dictionary. It's one of those things where you leave where you live and go have fun somewhere else, right? LOL! I really wouldn't know what that was like, our last one was our honeymoon in 2007, and none will be in sight for many many years. But, if I could go on vacation, I'd just bring my Kindle, which in addition to the hundreds of books I have on it, I can access my cloud for any other book I want. If I HAD to chose a "real" book or two to take, I'd take Prisoner of Azkaban, Blue Smoke by Nora Roberts and The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafon.


41 The longest I’ve gone without reading?
The first 5 or so years of my life? Early in my life I didn't read a lot. I was the outdoors type and I wasn't allowed to read much. I lived a sheltered life, and my Trixie's are the only books I remember at all from my childhood, though I'm sure I had some Nancy's too. Most recently, I only read 10 books in Jun after being burnt out during Apr and May when I read 84 books in 8 weeks. 10 is really nothing to me and were almost all audiobooks I just listened to at night before sleep.


42 Name a book that you could/would not finish and why you couldn't?
There's been a few, most recently was this week. I wanted to read The Deadly Web by Kay Hooper, and I just could NOT get into it. The story bored me, the characters bored me. I was starting to skim it before I was even 20% through the book. I skimmed most of it through about 45% and then I just had to make myself stop. I hate not finishing books when it's for a challenge (otherwise I wouldn't have given it past 2 or 3%), but I gave it a chance for the challenge but had to eventually say enough was enough and give up on it.


43 What distracts you easily when you’re reading?
My Hubby! I love the Man. If you ask His co-workers, they would tell you He's the most quiet guy, but He's so not, with me. We're always talking to each other, even after knowing each other over 22 years, and being together going on 11 years! He's worse when I'm trying to listen to an audiobook, because I have to stop it so I can pay attention to Him and not lose anything on the book. If I'm REALLY into a book, I gotta just tell Him to leave me alone. It rarely works. :)


44 Favorite film adaptation of a novel?
Deathly Hallows. I think the movie(s) is even stronger than the book. It leaves out a lot of the stuff that drags out and just sticks with all the action. I wish they had gone with the 3 movies, then it would have been really fantastic!


45 Most disappointing film adaptation?
Prisoner of Azkaban. It's my FAVORITE book and movie, but it left so much out and there's so much more I wanted out of it. But still, awesome both ways. I don't really watch a lot of movies and haven't seen a LOT of stuff that's both. The Harry Potters, Hunger Games are the main ones I can think of.


46 The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?
Dunno, but the best amount of money I spent in a bookstore was $12 for 116 books! It was a "friends of the library" type store doing a big sale where you spent something like $2 a bag and filled the bag. We got "only" 116 because we had no car (hey, still don't) and had to take all the books on the bus down to where we were living at the time. Made 2 trips, if I remember correctly. :)


47 How often do you skim a book before reading it?
Never, even before my Kindle's. I don't want to see something and be pissed that I saw it. What if I saw a major spoiler? Nope, never have done it and never would. Not one of those people who read the last page either, I can't believe people actually do that. I may be a quick reader and read a lot, but I actually like the time it takes to get through the book and learn how it gets to the end, not know it already!


48 What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?
Dull story, boring characters, one of my triggers. TYPICALLY, I know within the first two or three pages if I will like a book or not, so I rarely get half-way through a book before giving it up. If it was for a challenge I would try, but typically when I look through and see how much else I have that I have to endure, I'm ready to give it up. It's almost always just something from the start, like the story is slow and never gets going. But I would stop, and have stopped, for a trigger of mine.


49 Do you like to keep your books organized?
I suppose, to a degree. They aren't organized on my Kindle, but on OneDrive they are organized by author's first name. It works, for me. There's no kind of order on my "real" bookshelf except to have my series together in order that I like them (HP, Trixie, Nancy). The last shelf is just a mashed up pile however I can fit them in there.


50 Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?
Back before my Kindle, it would depend on the book. YEARS and years ago, there was this fantastic used book store near me, so I would keep the few books that I liked and wanted to keep but the rest would go to the bookstore. I'd get credit for the books and get more books. There were only a few people who I could give my books to that would appreciate them. Now, I'm just about my Kindle books and the books I collect.


51 Do you read for enjoyment or to gain knowledge?
ENJOYMENT! I always read for the fun of it. I am, for the first time, taking a class, and that has me interested in some stuff, but I don't think I'd actually sit for a whole book just to read to learn. Ugh. Sounds too much like school, which I HATED. I don't mind the class though because it's just articles and videos and it's been fun, so far at least. I did get a few Oceanography books, but if I did read them, they would be in chunks, never a sit down and read for hours, just not my thing, unless it's for FUN!


52 Name a book that made you angry. Why did it?
Ah crap, we're back to The Giver. I didn't like it when the Giver showed him the video. It pissed me off and I was really upset for quite a while, I'm talking days. I still don't like to think about it and don't like to think about the book. It just wasn't for me at that point. I DID end up finishing it, though mostly skimming it after that.


53 A book you didn’t expect to like but did (from 2015)?
I'd have to go with Troll Mountain by Matthew Reilly. It was the last book of his I needed to read to read everything he's written and I kept putting it off because I didn't think I'd like it, it's not really my kind of thing. I ended up really liking it. The story was quick and the characters were likable. It was just pure Reilly and I'm glad I finally read it. I love his books!


54 A book that you expected to like but didn’t (from 2015)?
Definitely Endgame: The Calling by James Frey. I was looking forward to this book for a REALLY long time. It sounded right up my alley ~ a deadly race, a game type thing and I HATED it. Mainly I hated the characters, they were flat and annoying. There was a lot of repetitiveness which I couldn't stand and choppy sentences. I just didn't like it at all and I skimmed most of it.


55 Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading?
I really need to change this question because I don't like this term. I am not guilty about anything I wanna read. I wanna read it and I read it. I don't care who thinks about it, or what they think about it. I read everything from action to mysteries to erotica, to sci-fi, to YA and even middle grade. I suppose if I had to answer, I'd have to say the Middle Grade stuff. I really love the clue / scavenger hunt type middle grade books, if they are written well, even at my age. It's just fun easy reading!


Thanks, if you read this far!