I don’t usually do these games. In fact, I haven’t done one in almost a year. I think the last time I did a blog chain or tag game was January of last year. But because I haven’t blogged much in a few months, and I’m trying to remember how to do it, I’m going to humbly thank AUTHOR DREAMS for getting me back in the game and tagging me in this Book Confessions blog chain.
I do hereby nominate my friends DARYL ROTHMAN and NILLU STELTER to share their book peeves and literary loves by answering these questions as well. Here they are, along with my answers:
1. Which book, most recently, did you not finish?
IRONWEED, by William Kennedy. It inspired a blog post about what one ought to do when one finds one hates a book that is generally recognized as literary masterwork: What Happens When You Don’t Like A Book You’re Supposed To Love?
2. Which book is your guilty pleasure?
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE, by Jane Austen. I try to think of this not as a guilty pleasure, but it definitely is. I come back to this book time and time again, charmed by the elegant yet feisty language, the spunky heroine, the enigmatic love interest.
3. Which book do you love to hate?
DIVERGENT, by Veronica Roth. I really love to hate that book. I can’t really explain why. I didn’t even really hate it that much when I read it, but I definitely hate it now. Maybe it has to do with the fact that I found Tris to be mostly boring and occasionally insufferable.
4. Which book would you throw into the sea?
THE OCEAN AT THE END OF THE LANE, by Neil Gaiman. Not because it’s a bad book. Not by a long shot. More because I feel that its rightful place is with its namesake.
5. Which book have you read the most?
A tie between HARRY POTTER AND THE PRISONER OF AZKABAN, which I must have had memorized word for word at one point in my life, and THE GOLDEN COMPASS by Philip Pullman, which has continued to influence me as an adult as I’ve tried to understand why fantastical stories, child heroes, and fierce heroines captivate me so powerfully.
6. Which book would you hate to receive as a present?
Anything sold at a grocery store.
7. Which book could you not live without?
CATCH-22 by Joseph Heller. Actually, I might have read this book more than either of the above. For about a decade, this book was essentially my Bible. I could open to any page in the novel and find a line to laugh at, ponder, or contemplate the grim realities of war and death. No other book has influenced me so much.
8. Which book made you the angriest?
THE LIGHT IN THE FOREST. I don’t even know who the author was, and I’m not going to do him/her the dignity of googling the title to find out. It was one of those books that was forced on me as a child – I had to read it in 7th grade English class – and it absolutely infuriated me, for reasons I can’t even remember now. I’m going to trust in my 7th grade self that my judgment was good and the book still sucks.
9. Which book made you cry the most?
THE BOOK THIEF by Markus Zusak. I’d actually never cried at a book – and I haven’t since – until I read this one. It slew me.
10. Which book cover do you hate the most?
There are so many bad book covers out there in the world, there’s literally no way to pick one single terrible book cover to hate.
THE END! What did you think of these questions? I’d love to hear from you in the comments what your answers would have been. And don’t forget to check Daryl’s and Nillu’s blogs in a few days to see what their answers were. Thanks for reading!
The Z-Axis 
Which book, most recently, did you not finish? – A thousand years of solitude, don’t know why but that book didn’t touch a chord. I’m still trying to find time to finish it.
Which book is your guilty pleasure? – Bartimaes trilogy, I love the humour in this fantasy series, never fails to pep up the mood. Another one is “Hotel” by Arthur Hailey. The detail in that book is amazing, every time I read it, I find something new.
Which book would you hate to receive as a present? – Anything with lengthy descriptions. Some dialogue makes a book interesting.
Which book made you cry the most? – Gone with the wind, the end of the story is truly heart-breaking. It is the only book which still pains me every time I think about it and wish no one should ever have to go through such a thing.
Thanks for sharing your answers. Gave me some interesting reads for future.
Thanks for sharing your books, Saya! I’m glad you enjoyed the post.
What is the Bartimaes trilogy? That sounds really interesting – a humorous fantasy series? Not that many fantasy books manage to hit the humor note just right.
Yes it is exactly dat..and the humor note is just right..doesn’t feel fake.. 🙂
Bartimaeus trilogy. It’s about a boy who conjures up a demon to steal an amulet from an asshole magician. (The first book, at least.) It’s great! http://www.bartimaeusbooks.com/
Fun reading about your likes and dislikes. I can’t believe you chucked Gaiman in the sea! I’ll have a think and post something in the next few weeks. Thanks for thinking of me x
Haha, yeah, but not because Gaiman’s a terrible writer or anything! It just seemed fitting 🙂 Looking forward to reading yours, if you get around to it!