A Reading Questionnaire

There are two blogs that I've added to my regular reads recently, Patti's Pen and Picks and Lesa's Book Critiques. They each had this great reading questionnaire on their blogs lately, and I wanted to answer it, too, because they're great questions. So, here they are:

1. ON YOUR NIGHTSTAND NOW - Technically, I don't have a nightstand, but...Harlan Coben's Hold Tight. Waiting in the wings? Far too many to mention, but I will probably be reading an ARC I received called Freezing Point (by Karen Dionne) and Craig Johnson's Death Without Company. I was listening to Death on audio, but every CD was damaged, so I just said the heck with it and pulled out the book. It's too bad, too, because the reader on Johnson's novels is outstanding!

2. BOOK YOU'VE "FAKED" READING - The Stranger by Albert Camus. I was supposed to read it in senior English but I just thought it was so horrible, I absolutely couldn't finish it. I was an avid reader when I was young, but I was, after all, still a teenager!

3. BOOK YOU BOUGHT FOR THE COVER - I may break the hearts of every cover designer out there, but I've never bought a book because of a cover. I would actually be hard pressed to describe the covers of my favorite books. A title - yes, The Crime Writer caught my attention on the library shelf, but never a cover. The Crime Writer, by the way, has an incredible cover in the edition of the book for Spain!

4. FAVORITE BOOK WHEN YOU WERE A CHILD - I guess this question all depends on the stage of childhood. When I was very little and someone else was reading for me, I really liked Are You My Mother. Once I could read for myself I fell in love with Beverly Cleary - especially The Mouse and the Motorcycle; Judy Blume - what girl didn't love Are You There God, It's Me Margaret?; Louis Sachar - those Wayside books were hilarious; The Boxcar Children; Johnny Tremain; and Maud Hart Lovelace's Betsy-Tacy series. As I got into my teenage years, I fell in love with Dickens and Shakespeare, Gone With the Wind and The Thornbirds.

5. BOOK THAT CHANGED YOUR LIFE - Dante's Inferno.

6. FAVORITE LINE FROM A BOOK - I'm drawing a blank on this one. Not because I don't have favorite lines but because so many of them don't make sense out of context. The ending to Chasing Darkness was a pretty great line, though, so I'll use that one: "Maybe this is why I do what I do. I chase the darkness to make room for the light."

7. TOP FIVE FAVORITE AUTHORS - Robert Crais, Michael Koryta, Pat Conroy, Thomas Holland, Harlan Coben.

8. BOOKS YOU RECOMMEND AS REGENERATION WHEN PEOPLE SAY, "I'M BORED BY ALMOST ALL CONTEMPORARY AMERICAN WRITERS.": Most times this will depend on the person, but some of my staples: A Prayer for Owen Meany (John Irving), The Lords of Discipline (Pat Conroy), Gone Baby Gone (Dennis Lehane), L.A. Requiem (Robert Crais), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (Ken Kesey).

9. BOOKS YOU CAN'T BELIEVE EVERYONE HAS NOT READ AND LOVED: Sorrow's Anthem (Michael Koryta), anything from the Myron Bolitar series (Harlan Coben), L.A. Requiem (Robert Crais), The Cold Dish (Craig Johnson)

10. BOOK YOU ARE AN "EVANGELIST" FOR: Absolutely anything by Michael Koryta, Alafair Burke or Robert Crais (not that RC needs MY help!), both books by Thomas Holland, The Cold Dish (Craig Johnson), The Fourth Watcher (Timothy Hallinan)

11. BOOK YOU MOST WANT TO READ AGAIN FOR THE FIRST TIME: Sorrow's Anthem (Michael Koryta).

Patti added a caveat at the end of her questionnaire that says: "subject to additions upon reminders and remembrances." That goes for me, too! :)

So, how would you answer these questions? Feel free to leave comments or carry this on to your OWN blog. Let us know you did so we can come and check it out!

Happy Reading!!