A book meme

Go figure, my first post back would be a meme. Well, I’m feeling lazy. I found this via Green Duckies; she’s got more interesting answers, of course.

This probably isn’t already stuff you didn’t already know. I plan on redoing this one in one year, to see how far my promise to myself has gotten me (See the answer to 22). Just so you know.

And I tag Amy. Otherwise, anyone can do this one.

1. What author do you own the most books by? ~Sylvia Plath. I have practically everything she wrote. Two close seconds would be Sarah Vowell and Edith Wharton.

2. What book do you own the most copies of? ~I don’t. I have one copy of every book I own. I used to have two copies of The Bell Jar, but I don’t anymore.

3. Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions? ~No. Better that way than saying “Of what book do you own the most copies?” or “By what author do you own the most books?” That would sound silly. Far more appealing to end them with the prepositions.

4. What fictional character are you secretly in love with? ~Severus Snape. *blush* Not a secret anymore, is it? I blame Alan Rickman.

5. What book have you read the most times in your life? ~It’s a tie between The Language of Goldfish by Zibby O’Neal and Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen.

6. What was your favorite book when you were ten years old? ~The Language of Goldfish.

7. What is the worst book you’ve read? ~I haven’t read a book yet that constitutes the ‘worst’ book, because I haven’t read them all. I mean, I wasn’t partial to 1984 by George Orwell when I first read it, and I didn’t like Sarah Vowell’s The Wordy Shipmates, but they wouldn’t qualify as ‘worst’ books. Maybe I’m just being too generous.

8. What is the best book you’ve read in the past year? ~Drinking Coffee Elsewhere by ZZ Packer.

9. If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be? ~Birds of America by Lorrie Moore.

10. Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for literature? ~I don’t know.

11. What book would you most like to see made into a movie? ~I don’t have an answer to that one. Most of the good books have been made into movies already.

12. What book would you least like to see made into a movie? ~Again, I don’t have an answer for that, because a lot of bad books have also been made into movies. I’d have to say The Bell Jar, although they already made it into a movie back in the seventies, and, from what I heard, they’re planning a remake with Julia Stiles as the star. Ick.

13. Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character. ~Haven’t had one yet. “Yet” is the key word there.

14. What is the most lowbrow book you’ve read as an adult? ~Hmmm…….Lowbrow as in guilty pleasure – Phantom by Susan Kay. Lowbrow as in lowbrow – Innocence by Jane Mendolsohn. Really dumb book. I only read it because I liked her book I Was Amelia Earhart.

15. What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read? ~Dune by Frank Herbert. Didn’t get through it at all. I dislike sci-fi.

16. What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you’ve seen? ~Sorry, there’s no such thing. Shakespeare is everywhere. I think I saw or read them all in high school.

17. Do you prefer the French or the Russians? ~You have the likes of Victor Hugo and Alexander Dumas (French) versus the likes of Leo Tolstoy and Fyodor Dostoyevsky (Russians). No question, the Russians.

18. Roth or Updike? ~Neither. Actually not familiar with either one.

19. David Sedaris or Dave Eggers? ~Dave Eggers. A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius was okay.

20. Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer? ~Well, not Shakespeare, because my brain goes numb with Shakespeare. The other two, I haven’t read yet. Yes, I know, I haven’t read The Canterbury Tales yet. Shame on me. I’ll borrow it from Amy.

21. Austen or Eliot? ~Edith Wharton.

22. What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading? ~Right now. As I’ve grown up, I’ve discovered I’m not as well read as I would like to be. I want to change all that, by following Kendall Hailey’s lead and becoming an autodidact by way of reading everything ever written. So. I vow to work on that. (How I Became An Autodidact by Kendall Hailey is a good book, too; it’s hard to find, but well worth the search.)

23. What is your favorite novel? ~The Language of Goldfish by Zibby O’Neal, hands down. Sure, it’s a young adult novel, but it’s really really good. It would tell you more about me than any other source.

24. Play? ~Haven’t ever seen a play for my own enjoyment, so I don’t have one.

25. Poem? ~I own poetry books by Sylvia Plath, Anne Sexton, Sara Teasdale, Dylan Thomas, Robert Lowell, Nikki Giovanni, Edna St. Vincent Millay, Jane Kenyon, Robert Frost, and Langston Hughes, among others. My favorite poem is “Tulips” by Sylvia Plath.

26. Essay? ~Probably anything by Thoreau or Emerson, I guess. I don’t know. I haven’t read them all.

27. Short story? ~”The Public Hating” by Steve Allen, only because of the visceral reaction I experienced when I first read it. I was a junior in high school, and I went on a three and a half hour crying jag after I read that story the first time. No joke. It’s a good story.

28. Work of non-fiction? ~Assassination Vacation by Sarah Vowell. Highly recommended.

29. Who is your favorite writer? ~Sylvia Plath. She’s a literary goddess.

30. Who is the most overrated writer alive today? ~Huh! Like I said, I’m not well read, but I’d have to say either Dan Brown or that chick who writes the Twilight novels, Stephanie Meyer, I think.

31. What is your desert island book? ~Either The Virgin Suicides by Jeffrey Eugenides or Midwives by Chris Bohjalian.

32. And … what are you reading right now? ~The 3 AM Epiphany by Brian Kiteley. It’s a book of unique writing prompts. I’m working up the courage to try some of them.