Questionnaire : Books Books Books!

 

if you love books, love collecting books, love reading books – answer these questions – for fun! i got all these questions from the facebook page of bookxcess – a bookstore in amcorp mall that sells great titles with great affordable prices!

i’m tagging all my readers who love books!

What book are you currently reading? How far in are you? What's it about? Are you enjoying it? i’m currently reading agatha christie’s ‘poirot’s early cases’, a collection of short stories on the esteemed investigator’s earlier cases. being a mom of 3 boys – time is never enough, so short stories are the best – it’s short and easy to digest. i can finish one story in one sitting, and continue my chores right after.

If you could live out any storybook (as a character in it), which story would it be? any story happening on the discworld. discworld is the wacky world created by one of my favorite authors terry pratchett as the setting for his books. a police force made of trolls, dwarves, a werewolf, vampire and a few humans; a librarian who was cursed and turned into an orangutan and prefers to stay that way – all happily living and solving crimes on discworld!

 

the discworld series

Lets say you had to donate your old books. Is there ONE book that you could not bring yourself to donate? it’s probably gonna be really hard to part with my books, but if i had to choose, it would be john adam’s ‘watership down’ (about adventures of rabbits) because it belongs to my late mom, and she was always asking me to read it so that she could have someone to talk about the book with. i would keep THAT one.

Do you recommend books to other people? If you could force everyone you know to read one book, what would it be? george orwell’s ‘animal farm’. people not familiar with this masterpiece need to know that just because it’s a classic written before the dinosaur age, it doesn’t use difficult words. the story is easy to follow with an interesting plot. it has engaging loveable animal characters and even more touching and meaningful message.

What’s the first book that you ever read more than once? What book have you read the most times? And–how many? i’ve read many books more than once; but the FIRST book that i’ve ever read more than once would be stephen king’s ‘it’. and it’s a mighty fat book! finish reading it is like losing a friend, because i got really attached to all the characters.

now the book that i’ve read the MOST times pulak would be roald dahl’s ‘omnibus’ – a collection of adult short stories by the author more popularly known for his wonderfully wacky children’s books. his stories are so very interesting especially in the way he wrote it, the sentence structure and most of all the ending – that countless re-reading will not get you bored.

 

 

A book you thought you wouldn’t like but ended up loving? i’m stubborn. i very seldom read books outside my favorite genre or other than my favorite author. however a colleague of mine recommended yann martel’s ‘life of pi’ and i ended up being so engrossed in the book and his writing style. it’s about a shipwrecked boy who survived at sea on a boat – with four zoo animals; a tiger, a hyena, an orang utan and a zebra. interesting, huh!

Name one book that you hope never, ever, ever gets made into a movie (no matter how good that movie might be). twilight. no, wait ----

What’s the last book you were really EXCITED to read? And, were you excited about it in advance? Or did the excitement bloom while you were reading it? Are there any books you’re excited about right NOW? the last book i was really excited to read was jasper fforde’s ‘the fourth bear’. yes, i was excited in advance because for the rarest time, i actually tried to be more adventurous and ventured out to discover new authors that i might like, instead of sticking to the same authors (reading ONLY my favorites) – that’s when i found jasper fforde and that he writes about cases that involved nursery rhyme characters. so interesting, and wacky! just how i like it!

 

What’s the largest your personal library has ever been? What’s the greatest number of books you’ve ever owned at one time? the largest nearly 200 i think – JUST storybooks! and i’m not done yet!

What is the most annoying character in a book ever? frodo. just thrown the daymn ring already, and don’t be so lembik!

What is your favourite fictional relationship between characters? (romantic, friendship, familial) there are so many favorites! the relationship between christopher boone & his dad in 'curious incident of the dog in the night time' is sweet and needs patience because of christopher’s condition as an autism kid; also hercule poirot & hastings’ conversations are always delightful – poirot the self-confess genius in solving crimes while hastings just put up with him; oh, and the wonderful sisterly love in 'little women' ~ many, many more!

 

What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read? beowulf. had to read for a class in college. yech. he made shakespeare looks like dr. seuss for beginners! tak paham ape!

What animal-related books have you read? Which do you love? Do you have a favorite literary animal? definitely, definitely george orwell’s ‘animal farm’ – one of my favorite books, and the best story ever written in my opinion. i still cry at the end no matter how many times i’ve read it.

If you could see one book turned into the perfect movie–one that would capture everything you love, the characters, the look, the feel, the story–what book would you choose? there’s so many – but i would choose terry pratchett’s ‘the truth’ – set in a magical world, a clever plot, it has an inspiring hero who rises to the occasion, a love story, an adventure, a mission – it would be a very enjoyable movie!

Do you prefer to read a book really fast, or savor it slowly? definitely savoring it slowly. in fact, even a simple book like an agatha christie, i would be forced to re-read a page if i were interrupted in the middle of a reading. i admit i’m a s---l----o---------w reader!

What’s the latest you’ve ever stayed up reading a book? Is staying up late reading a usual thing for you? YES, staying up late reading a book is a VERY usual thing! hihi. when i was younger, when lights were off at home, i used a torch light to keep reading. what’s the latest i’ve ever stayed up reading? never can tell, because i’d be reading myself to sleep!

Do you read book reviews? Whose do you trust? Do they affect your reading habits? Your buying habits? i do read book reviews, but i’m never swayed by what’s written. i STILL look at the author, and storyline. opinions don’t matter, because books are very subjective. also, since i usually buy books by my favorite author, i don’t really need a review to tell me that his book is awesome! (yes, stephen king, terry prachett and roald dahl!)

 

Choose one book as a gift to:

1. Your best friend – stephen king’s ‘shawshank redemption’ – a wonderful tale of friendship fostered in an unlikely place
2. Your mom/ dad/ both – for mak, if she were still alive, would be jasper fforde’s ‘the fourth bear’ since this is one of the authors that i proudly discovered all on my own without being inspired by what she likes hihi. for abah, it would be mitch albom’s ‘tuesdays with morrie’ to show him that eventhough he’s a man with few words, he taught us just as much as morie did with that young man.
3. Your other half – for mr. khairul? anything with the word ‘leadership’, or ‘business’. *yawn* we have VERY different taste in books!
4. Yourself – complete set of gary larson’s ‘the far side’. mahal nak mampuih. so please someone give it to me as a gift ya hahaha
   

What is your favorite quote, from your favorite book? that’s easy – from terry pratchett’s ‘the truth’,

There are, it has been said, two types of people in the world. There are those who, when presented with a glass that is exactly half full, say: this glass is half full. And then there are those who say: this glass is half empty. The world belongs, however, to those who can look at the glass and say: What's up with this glass? Excuse me? Excuse me? This is my glass? I don't think so. My glass was full! And it was a bigger glass!

~ terry pratchett’s ‘the truth’

How did you encourage your children to pick up the reading habit? one of the things i did is i bring a pocket-size dr. seuss book in my handbag everywhere we go so that when there’s some sort of waiting involved, i could just pass the book to khaleef for him to read while he waits.

Do you read short stories? What do you like and dislike about short stories?  i LOVE short stories. by roald dahl, stephen king, edgar allan poe, agatha christie, h.g wells. in fact, i have ALL of jeffrey archer's short stories compilation but i've never read any of his novels! being a mom of 3, short stories are the best - easy to digest and fast to finish!

Ever received an unexpected gift of books from your loved ones? a day after i delivered my first baby, mr. khairul surprised me with the latest terry pratchett’s book ‘going postal’ which i finished during the first week of my confinement. it was a very meaningful book because it entertained me during my very boring confinement days. i was in taiping (tokcik’s house) and he works in kl. sob sob.

 

 

From your parents you learn love and laughter and how to put one foot before the other. But when books are opened you discover that you have wings. ~Helen Hayes

 

i would like to tag these adorable dorky bookworms :

1. aisha
2. syidot
3. hmm…

hmm, i know there are more out there, if you did do the tag PLEASE leave your url in the comment section because i would really love to read your answers. love, from a fellow dorky bookworm!