Book Questions

Book Questions

Shamelessly stolen from Sheila:

Book questions:

What was the last book you bought?

Well...I took a bag to McKay's today to trade-in, so the Harlan Ellison and H.P. Lovecraft books I got weren't necessarily paid for with cash....

I bought a copy of Walter Moers's The 13 1/2 Lives of Capt. Blue Bear on Ebay, based on the snippet I read a few days back when the bright yellow cover caught my eye at Barnes and Noble....

Name a book you have read MORE than once

There aren't a ridiculous number of them....it's a time thing, more often than not.

However, The Stand, and the first four Dark Tower books from Stephen King all pop to mind.

Cannery Row and Of Mice and Men are both favorites, and aren't daunting in terms of volume to re-read.

I read The Road early this year, and started it again the very next day.

And I've probably gone through Confederacy of Dunces and Huckleberry Finn three times each....

I want to give special mention to To Kill a Mockingbird, which I read the night before our test for it in Mrs. Lillard's class in the eleventh grade. I loved it so much the very next night, I read it again.

Has a book ever fundamentally changed the way you see life? If yes, what was it?

Unless you'd like me to go into an overlong diatribe about the profound impact Larry the Cable Guy's Autobiography had on my life, I'll just say no....

How do you choose a book? eg. by cover design and summary, recommendations or reviews?

All of the above, though by and large the largest number of what I've read over the past several years come from the recommendations of friends and family. The crazy thing about this internet/blogging thing is the number of books I've picked up and read based on reviews and recommendations from other bloggers. Sheila and Bill both get a lot of credit in that regard.

Normally, I'm not too influenced by covers, though the aforementioned 13 1/2 lives of Capt. Blue Bear is an exception....

And there are authors that I read whatever they do...Michael Chabon, Joe Lansdale, Cormac McCarthy. I guess I'll even say Stephen King, but his efforts of the past six or seven years have me waiting until the book shows up on a remainder table or in paperback....damn but he's written a lot of stuff I haven't cared for in recent years.

Do you prefer Fiction or Non-Fiction?

I go through phases, though the truth is I've been in a fiction phase for three or four years, now.

What’s more important in a novel - beautiful writing or a gripping plot?

A little from column A, a little from column B. There's an acceptable balance for each, with plenty of room to be heavy to one side or the other. I end up having very little use for one without the other, however....

Most loved/memorable character (character/book)

Huckleberry Finn
Ignatius O'Reilly
Leonard Pine, from multiple Joe Lansdale books
Everybody in Cannery Row
Harold...he of the purple Crayon
And I've got a special place for Theophilus Crowe, of Christopher Moore's various works....

Which book or books can be found on your nightstand at the moment?

The 13 1/2 Lives of Capt. Blue Bear. I'm just 20 pages in, but I'm digging it so far.

What was the last book you’ve read, and when was it?

I am close to finishing Special Topics in Calamity Physics, which is my favorite non-Cormac McCarthy book I've read this year. That's a helluva book.

Have you ever given up on a book half way in?

Hells yes. Life is too short, and I don't have anything to prove toward literacy. The last one was a stinker called "The Men Who Stare at Goats," a non-fiction piece about paranormal experiments in the military. Jon Ronson was a little too in love with the sound of his voice, and I've heard Maj. Ed Dames blather on enough listening to Coast to Coast on those insomniac nights.....

I've got plenty of books that I've hurled across the room. Sheila mentions Underworld, which beyond the Pafko at the Wall section, did very little for me. Very recently, it was Dan Simmons' The Terror, which was 200 pages of book packed into 625 pages.....