A-Z Book Survey, the Guiltless Reading Edition

  • Saturday, August 10, 2013


Jamie over at Perpetual Page Turner has a bookish A-Z Survey and I decided to take a crack at it. Join me for the ride, and if you take the survey, I'd love to see your answers. You may just surprise yourself!

My most read authors!
Author you’ve read the most books from: 
I had a feeling it would be Agatha Christie but mine is Roald Dahl! Agatha Christie was close second along with Lemony Snicket (I had to read all the books in the series A Series of Unfortunate Events, what do you think of me!).

Next in the running was Michael Crichton (yes, I went through a compulsive phase after Jurassic Park), Enid Blyton (a children's book writer who I adore and grew up with), and Neil Gaiman (oh just love love love anything he writes), and of course, J.K. Rowling (as you cant just stop with book 1, right?).

The next level were surprising to me. I would never have thought I'd read so much Sophie Kinsella (chick lit is so much fun)! Gabriel Garcia Marquez is one of my perennial favourites and still have quite a number of his books on my TBR. Jasper Fforde is there because I got hooked on the Thursday Next series. And Murakami is again a favourite ... still more of his work to read. Lastly, if you don't know Eric Carle, honestly, you need to make his acquaintance, especially if you have young kids!

(Quick tip: If you use Goodreads and keep track of your reads, go to your account, click  “My Books” and scroll down ... on the left hand side under your shelves, there is  “Most Read Authors”) 

Best Sequel Ever: Hmmm. I can't seem to pick a "best" so I'll list a few series where I couldn't wait to get my hands on the next in the series:
Currently Reading: Raising Eyebrows by Dal LaMagna which is a memoir by the man who founded the company Tweezerman.

Drink of Choice While Reading: I'm not picky. Whatever I feel like drinking at the time.

E-reader or Physical Book? Physical books period.

Gave it a chance:
fascinating!
Fictional Character You Probably Would Have Actually Dated In High School: I didn't really date plus it's strange to have to think about characters as potential love interests. I'll think about this a bit more.

Glad You Gave This Book A Chance: Rats by Robert Sullivan. I came across this non-fiction book in a yard sale and never thought I'd find reading about rats so fascinating!

Hidden gem!
Hidden Gem Book: Recently I discovered Persephone's Torch: A Novel in Three Acts by freder. Obscure. Few readers. Go check out my review!

Important Moment in your Reading Life: Probably when I started blogging about books. This opened up a whole new world to me. I discovered the world of book bloggers, hopped around from  Bookmooch, Shelfari, LibraryThing and Goodreads, started joining book giveaways, eventually hosted authors and did giveaways of my own. Truly a book lover's dream ... and just because I started blogging about what I read!

Just finished!
Just Finished: Very Recent History by Choire Sicha which I read for a book tour with TLC Book Tours. It's an anthropological take of the year 2009. My review is coming out this week.

Kinds of Books You Won’t Read: Horror books, generally. The Amityville Horror well, horrified me. And anything classified as young adult with vampires or paranormal beings.

Longest Book You’ve Read: Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. All 1,463 pages of it! Unabridged is the only way to read this.

Major book
hangover!
Major book hangover because of: The Book Thief by Markus Zusak. Really. Wow. I recommended it to everyone who would listen. More recently it was Lotería by Mario Alberto Zambrano.

Number of Bookcases You Own: None, because I just pile them wherever. Yes I have a messy, book-ridden house.

One Book You Have Read Multiple Times: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas. It's just so good!

Preferred Place To Read:
In bed, just before going to sleep.

Quote that inspires you/gives you all the feels from a book you’ve read: 
“It is nothing to die. It is frightful not to live.”
 - Victor Hugo, Les Misérables 
Reading Regret: Every time I read an astounding book, I always regret that I've finished reading it. Nothing can compare to reading a book the first time around and loving it! (Like tasting something so delicious for the very first time ... you need to savour it. Because the next time you taste it, you'll remember.) I always try to keep this in mind so I don't rush through books.

Series You Started and Need To Finish (all books are out in series): The Thursday Next Series by Jasper Fforde. I stopped at Book 5 and I still have two more in the series to read.

Three of your All-Time Favorite Books:

    
Since they're favourites, I've also read these quite a few times.

Strange Pilgrims by Gabriel Garcia Marquez 
The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexander Dumas
Les Miserables by Victor Hugo

X marks the spot!
Unapologetic Fangirl For: Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Neil Gaiman. Roald Dahl. Agatha Christie. Eric Carle. All geniuses in their own genres.

Very Excited For This Release More Than All The Others: For the longest time, I've just been wanting to get my own copy of The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman. I'm not sure why I haven't gotten a copy yet!

Worst Bookish Habit: I dogear! I'm sorry, I can't help it! I tried stickies - annoying after a while, taking notes - interrupts my reading flow, and multiple bookmarks - also annoying.

X Marks The Spot: Since I have piles, let me count the 27th among them. It's Pain, Parties, Work: Sylvia Plath in New York, Summer 1953.

Your latest book purchase:
A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin, all 4 books. Haven't read them yet.


ZZZ-snatcher book (last book that kept you up WAY late): This is Paradise by Kristiana Kahakauwila. Gritty, compelling short stories which really resonated with me.

Wasn't that fun? I hope to see what everyone's answers are so please leave your link if you decided to join this survey!

7 comments

  1. Great list!

    I need to read more GGM.

    I prefer reading in bed too :)

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    1. No one can compare to him. I still get chills when I re-read Strange Pilgrims, Juju! Reading is bed is the best, isn't it? I don't care that studies say it keeps you awake -- reading actually helps me sleep. :)

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  2. Roald Dahl, Sophie Kinsella and Enid Blyton are favourites of mine too :) I've been recommended to Neil Gaiman books but I'm yet to read one, but I just know that it's going to be fantastic :D

    The Harry Potter Series and JK Rowling is just a given LOL

    My A-Z Survey

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    1. Any idea which Gaiman book you're starting with? :)

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  3. Oh Roald Dahl - he was number 8 on my list, with 12 of his books read. He was such a genius... Matilda was the best =)

    I have yet to read The Count of Monte Cristo, though I want to.

    Great answers! =D

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    1. I love Matilda too, but I got hooked because of Charlie Bucket, so I have a soft spot for him :) Please read Count ... you need to, Rinn. I guarantee you'll like it!

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  4. I've read lots of Agatha Christie too! It seems like that was my teenage years, reading about murder. :) I'm planning to do this survey tomorrow, and already filled it out, but I kinda want to change my answer to best sequel to the Harry Potter series, cause they seemed to just get better and better. And it's great to read that you've re-read Les Mis so many times - it gives me the courage to finally start it! (I'm a little daunted by the length!)

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© guiltless readingMaira Gall