Wednesday, March 02, 2016

Would you rather? Book edition ("Borrowed" from Kezzie)

Being something of a bookworm, I thought it might be worth answering the questions I saw posed on Kezzie's blog for myself. (She in turn "borrowed" it from someone else, who it seems "borrowed" it in turn. Perhaps, one day, an inquisitive soul will track this back to its originator, at which point they will declare that they would have gotten away with it...)

1. Read only trilogies or stand alones?

Standalones. I've read more good books that get everything wrapped up on one volume than I have good trilogies. (And I've ranted about the open-ended fantasy epic before...)

2. Read only male or female authors?

Like Kezzie, I genuinely don't care either way. However, if I absolutely had to choose, I'd choose male authors, but only because there are more men than women working in my favourite genre (fantasy) and Bernard Cornwell, Neil Gaiman, and Conn Iggulden (my three favourite living authors) are all men. But I sure would miss Robert Galbraith's work, or finding out how J.V. Jones finished her series.

3. Shop at a book shop or Amazon?

Amazon. These days I tend to find it hard to find the books I want in a real shop - because so much of what I want is fairly obscure, or is Part N of a long series, or because I'm looking for a very specific title, the odds of it being in stock at any given store at any given time are quite small. Amazon, for all their faults, basically have everything.

4. All books become films or TV shows?

Ick. Neither, really - the book is better. But, again, if I absolutely had to choose then I'd go for TV. Film is good for mediorce novels or good short stories, but is a poor format for translating a good full-length novel.

5. Read five pages a day or five books a week?

Ouch, this is a difficult one! I'd have to go for five pages a day, as I simply don't have time to read five books a week. But five pages a day is nowhere near enough.

6. Be a professional reviewer or author?

Author. Actually, if I were to win the lottery, that's what I'd do with my time. (But I have no illusions that I could actually make a living at it, and I don't have time to try my hand at it in addition to everything else.)

Of course, since I don't actually play the lottery, that's all rather unlikely.

7. Only read your top 20 books or only ever read new books?

I assume that by "new books" it means "new to me"? In any case, since I very very rarely re-read a book (and, indeed, have reread fewer than 20 books ever), I'd have to go for new books, every time. It would be a shame to never again revisit Middle Earth or Discworld, but I would regret never visiting other places even more.

8. Be a librarian or book seller?

To be honest, neither really appeals. But if I had to choose, I guess librarian. Ook!

9. Only read you favourite genre, or read every genre except your favourite?

Every genre except my favourite. Despite fantasy being my favourite genres, almost all the best books I have read have not been fantasies.

10. Only read physical books or only read e-books.

Physical. No contest.

1 comment:

Kezzie said...

Oooh, great responses!!! I like your reasoning!! I see what you mean about the best books being outside of your favourite genre, me too! Your Amazon reason is v important too!