This is a new one from Ignited Moth!  I wasn’t technically tagged in it, because it was open to everyone, which is what I’m more than likely going to do.  I’m getting lazy lol.

1.) What book has been on your shelves the longest?

Oh my God, are you seriously going to make me get up, you cruel thing?  Didn’t I just say I was going to be lazy?  Wait…I have a Goodreads shelf for all of the books I physically own.  Hooray technology!  Helping roly-poly kids like me be lazy at 2 in the morning 😀

I think it’s Deerskin by Robin McKinley.

Wow, I’ve had this book for a long time.  Since high school and it shows.  The spine is held together with duct tape.  I want to start doing “classic” reviews as in reviews of books I read a long time ago.  I also want to reread it, because it was one of my favorite books (if really disturbing) in high school, and it helped cultivate my love of retold fairy tales.

2.) What is your current read, your last read, and the book you’ll read next?

I’m currently reading seven books, which you can find out more about from my last State of the Reader post.

• Chobits, Vol 1 by CLAMP (Manga)
• Master of Crows by Grace Draven (Kindle – Fantasy)
• Moon Called by Patricia Briggs (Kindle – Fantasy)
• The City of Ember by Jeanne DuPrau  (Kindle – Library)
• Hands, Kings, & City-States: Analyzing a World of Ice and Fire by Steven Attewell (Kindle – Reference)
• Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor (Physical – Fantasy)
• The Winter’s Tale by William Shakespeare (Kindle – Classic)

The last book I finished was Abstract Clarity by my blogger friend B. W. Ginsburg , and I’m in the process of writing a review for that.

Finally, my to-read-next list also has seven books on it, because I update it as finish so I’m always reading seven books at a time.  Yes, I’m ridiculous.  Yes, I have to keep notes.  I generally read two fantasy/fictions on my Kindle, a chapter or two a day at lunch if I’m at work; a classic; a reference, a physical fantasy/fiction; a comic/graphic novel or manga, and a library book.  I’m actually reading five books on my Kindle right now, because the The Winter’s Tale (the classic) and the Steven Attewell reference are on there, as well as The City of Ember from the library. I’m picking up another book tomorrow that’s a graphic novel, because the library is awesome.

• The Metamorphosis and Other Stories by Franz Kafka (Classic)
• The Universe in a Nutshell by Stephen Hawking (Reference)
• Death Note, Vol: 1 Boredom by Oba Tsugumi (Manga)
• The Demoniac by Kat Ross (Kindle – Fantasy)
• Blink Once by Cylin Busby (Library)
• Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay (Fantasy)
• The Diamond Tree by Michael Matson (Kindle – Fantasy)

3.) What book did everyone like, but you hated?

I’ve got some pretty popular books on my DNF shelf lol.  I’d have to say City of Bones, the first book in The Mortal Instruments series by Cassandra Clare is probably the most popular book that I couldn’t stand (besides the problematically popular Twilight and Fifty Shades of Grey, which would’ve been my fall backs if I couldn’t think of anything else).  I didn’t like any of the characters, and the writing came off as amateurish.  Oddly enough I have another of Clare book on my TBR list Lady Midnight, the first book in The Dark Artifices series. Actually, someone commented on my review of City of Bones suggesting this, and I enjoyed the sample immensely.

4.) What book do you keep telling yourself you’ll read, but you probably won’t?

My TBR list could bury a small child, but there are a few books I’m kind of just waiting to DNF once I give them a full chance.  One of them is Dolor and Shadow by Angela B. Chrysler, which I added because of the first word in the title, whose meaning I know because of the below lyric:

Saevam iram, iram et dolorem

And the song always and immediately gets stuck in my head whenever I see the title.  I read a little bit of it, but then decided to read something else.  It was  bit slower than I was hoping, and I keep not going back to it, because I don’t want to DNF it because I really love the title, but eventually, I’ll have to put it through its paces and decide from there.

5.) Which book are you saving for retirement?

Possibly Frazer’s The Golden Bough.  I attempted to read that a few months ago, but had to declare it DNF.  I had no idea it was more like an encyclopedia in terms of how many examples it used of one concept, and I really only have my own ignorance to blame.  I initially only had it on my Kindle, but I bought a physical copy so I can use it as a research reference.  I know I can do that with the eBook, but I just wanted a physical copy of the volume.

6.) Last Page: Do you read it first or wait til the end?

Why would I ruin the ending for myself?  I know there are people who don’t care about spoilers.  I am not one of those people.

7.) Acknowledgements: Are they a waste of paper and ink or interesting?

Even if I didn’t read them, I wouldn’t think they’re a waste of paper and ink.  Writing is a momentous undertaking that spans not only years but people as well.  There’s absolutely nothing wrong with giving credit where it’s due.

8.) Which book character would you switch places with?

I’m going to play my shallow card her and say Lenore from Gaslight Hades by Grace Draven.  She’s paired with Nathaniel, the lovely creature on the below cover, and that’s my aesthetic.

The book takes place in a Victorian steampunk setting where alchemy, reanimation, and Lovecraftian portals exist.  Oddly enough, the act of switching with Lenore would be meta for the story, since Nathaniel isn’t in his original body either (re: alchemy and reanimation).

9.) Do you have a book that reminds you of something specific in your life?

Hm, well inThe Fault in Our Stars, Hazel loves this in-universe story titled An Imperial Infliction, and her obsession with it is the same as my obsession with Final Fantasy VII.  I suppose that’s more of a book reminding me of another narrative, but it’s what I’ve got.

10.) Name a book that you acquired in an interesting way.

The recently reviewed Stone & Iris Jonathan Ballahgh by was sent to me by the author himself!  I count that as interesting 🙂

11.) Have you ever given away a certain book for a special reason to a special person?

Definitely!  Though I’m often disappointed that the person doesn’t appreciate or sometimes even read the book.  I once gave a friend a copy of 3 Gates of the Dead by Jonathan Ryan whom I actually know/interact with IRL (huh, I sort of personally know two authors named Jonathan.  That’s amusing), because the protagonist reminded me of him to the point that I actually pictured a version of him while I was reading it.

12.) Which book has been with you the most places?

I used to carry a book with me wherever I went, but now I have a Kindle so I carry a ton of books me me wherever I go :p  I do remember toting around Watership Down by Richard Adams, various titles in Anne Rice’s Vampire Series, the fore mentioned Deerskin by Robin McKinley, and pretty much any book I happened to be reading at the time.

13.) Any “required reading” you hated in high school that wasn’t so bad two years later?

I want to reread Rebecca, because I didn’t like it at all back in high school, but I think it deserves a second chance.

14.) Used or brand new?

I love the smell of new books.  I won’t turn down a used book, but I do prefer new and crisp.

15.) Have you ever read a Dan Brown book?

Yup, I’ve read two: The Da Vinci Code and Angels and Demons.  They’re pretty much the same book.  He’s very formulaic, but then again so is every author lol.  It’s just that Dan Brown uses the exact same plot with no real deviations (at least in these two novels).  I still liked them though.

16.) Have you ever seen a movie that you liked better than the book?

I had to google “movies better than the book,” and see if I agreed with (and had both seen and read) any of the ones on the Buzzfeed list, and I did find one with which I concur:  The Princess Bride.  While I didn’t dislike the book, and it fleshed some things out, they were mostly just informative and didn’t add anything else to the narrative.

17.) A book that’s made you hungry?

Anything in the Redwall series.  Ohhhhhh myyyyy goooooooddddd.  Everything sounds so good, and apparently it’s all possible to make, since there’s a Redwall cookbook.

18.) Who is the person whose book advice you’ll always take?

Cupcakes and Machetes and Kim of By Hook or By Book are my two go-to book pals ♥

19.) Most read authors?

George R. R. Martin and Anne Rice.  I read more Martin than Rice now, but I do own her more recent Prince Lestat.  I started reading it a while ago and will probably have to start over when I pick it up again, but I do intend to finish it and read the next book in the revived series.  I guess I should mention Piers Anthony, Charles de Lint, Laurell K. Hamilton, Brian Jacques, and Terry Pratchett whom I probably have 100 books read between.

20.) Ship from two different books?

I think Ronan from The Raven Cycle and Mercy from Mercy Thompson would make an interesting couple.  A dream weaver .with a coyote skinwalker.  I wonder how that would work out :p

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No tagging.  Have fun with it if you want to do it!

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