Book Maven Quiz (yet another version)

1) What author do you own the most books by?
J.K. Rowling, Robert Jordan, Marcus Borg

2) What book do you own the most copies of?
The Bible. I probably own 8-10 bibles, in a variety of translations.

3) Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions?
Not particularly.

4) What fictional character are you secretly in love with?
Hermione Granger

5) What book have you read the most times in your life (excluding picture books read to children; i.e., Goodnight Moon does not count)?
A Walk in the Woods by Bill Bryson; The Mists of Avalon by Marion Zimmer Bradley; Zami: A New Spelling of my Name by Audre Lourde.

6) What was your favorite book when you were ten years old?
The Little House in the Prairie series.

7) What is the worst book you've read in the past year?
Actually, the last year has been a high-point of reading. Plus, ever since managing a bookstore, I've gotten very good at simply putting down a book I'm not enjoying.

8) What is the best book you've read in the past year?
Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson; A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini; The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan

9) If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be?
Three Cups of Tea. It's a wonderful and uplifting story about how one person can make a difference. It also gives amazing insights into what's happening in Pakistan and Afghanistan.

10) Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for Literature?
Margaret Atwood

11) What book would you most like to see made into a movie?
I really wish they would stop making books into movies.

12) What book would you least like to see made into a movie?
I am afraid that they will turn The Shack into a movie. I can't imagine how they could do this without trivializing, sentimentalizing, and ruining the book.

13) Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character.
I can barely remember my dreams, never mind one involving a writer, a book, or a literary character. I have had some lovely daydreams about Hermione Granger (as an adult!).....

14) What is the most lowbrow book you've read as an adult?
I have to start by saying that I find this question a bit elitist. Lowbrow by whose standards? Isnt reading lowbrow better than not reading at all? But, having said that, I have a secret addiction to lowbrow novels (or at least I used to). I had a serious Danielle Steel thing going when I was a teenager. I recently read one of her latest. HRH. Must say, it was very disappointing. Poorly written. Predictable. But still. Reading Danielle Steel, better than mindless internet gaming. (Which I also love, but that's another post!)

15) What is the most difficult book you've ever read?
The Confessions by Augustine

16) What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you've seen?
Haven't seen any of the obscure Shakespeare plays.

17) Do you prefer the French or the Russians?
I've read more Russian authors than French ones, but not enough of either to call it a preference.

18) Roth or Updike?
I've read more Updike than Roth, but again, not enough of either to call it a preference.

19) David Sedaris or Dave Eggers?
Eggers

20) Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer?
Hard one. If forced to make a decision, I probably prefer Chaucer, but it's realy a toss-up.

21) Austen or Eliot?
Austen.

Fran's Note: None of these choose one questions really do it for me (except the Shakespeare, Milton, Chaucer question, and then it was hard to choose). Not really a fan of Eggers OR Sedaris, of Updike OR Roth, of Austen OR Eliot. How about some other pairings:

21a) Sue Grafton or Sarah Paretsky?
Grafton in one quick minute.

21b) J. R. R. Tolkein or C.S. Lewis?
While I liked The Chronicles of Narnia, I loved The Lord of the Rings.

21c) Margaret Atwood or Louise Erdrich
Margaret Atwood

21d) Alice Walker or Toni Morrison
Alice Walker

22) What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading?
American classics. I've not read The Great Gatsby. Or The Grapes of Wrath. Or about a zillion other classics. Some days it might be shorter to list which American classics I have read.

23) What is your favorite novel?
Gone to Soldiers by Marge Piercy. I discovered I no longer own it - it's probably time to hunt down a used copy and re-read it.

24) Play?
King Lear

25) Poem?
I'm not sure I have a favorite poem. I really enjoy the Psalms.

26) Essay?
Anything by Wendell Berry. If I had to choose one, I'd say, "The Pleasures of Eating" which contains one of my favorite sentences, "I begin with the proposition that eating is an agricultural act."

27) Short Story?
Anything written by Lee Lynch (she's a lesbian writer who writes GREAT short stories - her characterizations are spot on).

28) Work of nonfiction?
God has a Dream by Archbishop Desmond Tutu; The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan; Three Cups of Tea by Greg Mortenson.

29) Who is your favorite writer?
Marcus Borg; Michael Pollan; J.K. Rowling; Tolkein; Alice Walker; I could probably go on for a while here.

30) Who is the most overrated writer alive today?
Rick Warren

31) What is your desert island book?
The Bible. Not because it's my job, either. I would choose The Bible because there are so many different kinds of literature there that I would never get bored.

32) And... what are you reading right now?
Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (again); Eldest (reading the first two again in preparation for the third); The Shack (for the St. B. Book Group)