Beck tagged me with this fantastic book meme. So here it is. If you want to do it, too, I’m always interested in what other people read.
1. Do you remember how you developed a love of reading?
I watched a lot of Sesame Street, which focuses on letters a lot (sometimes rather scarily), taught myself to read (by age 3! I know; I’m a stinking genius…haHAha!), and got heavily involved in the world of Bert, Nan, Flossie and Freddie.
2. What are some books you loved as a child?
- The Bobbsey Twins Series
- The Little House on the Prairie Series
- (rather unfortunately) The Babysitters’ Club Series
Are we noticing a trend here? Pretty much if it was a series, I read it. Trixie Belden, Boxcar Children, Sweet Valley Twins, and on and on. Barf.
- My one redeemable quality was that I was also in love with Roald Dahl. Matilda, James & The Giant Peach, The Twits, George’s Marvelous Medicine, Danny Champion of the World. He’s a great author. And you can’t beat his illustrator, either.
3. What is your favorite genre?
Right now? Probably non-fiction (is that a genre?). I read mostly manuals about how to operate a baby. When I have free time, I delve into fluff or my husband’s books, like A Conspiracy of Paper by David Liss or the Narnia books or C.S. Lewis.
4. Do you have a favorite novel?
Nothing notable, I’m sure.
5. Where do you usually read?
Anywhere I can. I bring books or other reading material with me all the time.
6. When do you usually read?
All the day long. Books? At night after Anja goes to bed.
7. Do you usually have more than one book you are reading at a time?
Rarely less than five.
8. Do you read nonfiction in a different way or place than you read fiction?
Well, yes…I’m usually looking for information from a non-fiction book. I don’t often read them for entertainment value. Place? Not so much.
9. Do you buy most of the books you read, or borrow them, or check them out of the library?
I buy most, check them out second (may as well buy them for the amount of overdue fees I accrue), and borrow last.
10. Do you keep most of the books you buy?
I try not to, but I’m one of those people who gets attached to material objects, especially ones that are made of paper and have WORDS on them. So the answer is yes, yes I do.
11. If you have children, what are some of the favorite books you have shared with them?
Since Anja’s at that “I like board books except for when I want to rip something up” phase, here’s what I plan to share with her as she gets older:
I’m with Beck on Ramona books and Archie comics (my mom had a vintage stack that I would read through almost every summer), but other than Roald Dahl (which she WILL read, even if she HATES it!), I rather hope she’ll take after her father and read something meaty. The Redwall series by Brian Jacques (yes, a series) and the Mortimer books by Joan Aiken (oh, how I LOVED them—how could I have forgotten?).
And I still love The Westing Game by Ellen Raskin. Even as an adult, if you haven’t read it, you MUST.
12. What are you reading now?
The Bible, Your Baby’s First Year Week by Week, Digital Photography by Eismann, Duggan and Grey (isn’t Grey a lovely word?), Shepherding a Child’s Heart by Ted Tripp and Camera RAW by Rob Sheppard.
13. Do you keep a To Be Read list?
Kind of, in my head.
14. What’s next?
I’d like to get my hands on Believing God by Beth Moore, and I own about 40 books I’ve not yet read. The Everlasting Man by G.K. Chesterton is in the running.
15. What books would you like to reread?
I simply salivate over the word pictures in Roald Dahl’s books (and sometimes, gag), so I might pick up one of those again sometime. Mere Christianity (C.S.) and The China Study by T. Colin Campbell, too.
16. Who are your favorite authors?
C.S. Lewis, Roald Dahl and Joan Aiken come to mind. Apparently, I’ve never grown up. I think I’m okay with that.