Everything you ever wanted to know about my reading life, from A to Z

A while ago, I stole borrowed this questionnaire from Melissa Sarno (who, to be fair, had borrowed it from someone else and gave me permission). Since I'm having a hard time coming up with my usual long-winded brilliantly insightful looks into life and literature, I thought you might enjoy this. (Do you share any random literary tastes with me?)

Author You've Read the Most Books From:

I’m sure you’re all going to be terribly surprised: L. M. Montgomery.

Best Sequel Ever:

Unlike movie sequels, book sequels are often amazing, so this is tricky. But I’ll go with Tolkien’s Return of the King. (To you die-hard Tolkien fans, I know it’s not technically a sequel. But most people don’t...)

Currently Reading:

The Complete Stories, by Flannery O’Connor; The Real Boy, by Anne Ursu; The Long Winter, by Laura Ingalls Wilder.

Drink of Choice While Reading:

Lady Grey Tea with sugar and milk. Or mulled apple cider.

E-reader or Physical Book:

Go to “N” and see if you can guess.

Fictional Character You Probably Would Have Actually Dated in High School:

I didn’t date in high school. But Hilary Gordon (from Pat of Silver Bush) and I would have been very good friends.

Glad You Gave This Book A Chance:

Hmm. Wives and Daughters, by Elizabeth Gaskell. It just looked so...long. But the characters are so real and wonderful, and the emotions are so spot-on that it seemed to fly by. (But be warned: Mrs. Gaskell died right before she wrote the last chapter! Missing that romantic denouement was definitely a disappointment.)

Hidden Gem Book:

The Kitchen Madonna, by Rumer Godden. Brilliant, beautiful writing. You should go discover it. (As an added plus, it’s short and easy to read in a day or so, even if you’re a busy mother.)

Important Moment In My Reading Life:

The first book that introduced me to the joy of story-telling was, oddly enough, one with no words: Tomie DePaola’s Pancakes for Breakfast. I “read” it to my little sisters when I was no more than 5, and realized how thrilling it could be to find the words to tell a tale. (Do you remember that, Rose and Regina?) Now I “read” it to my own girls, and listen to them tell their own versions to each other...and it’s amazing.

Just Finished:

C.S. Lewis’s Letters to Children.

Kind of Books You Won't Read:

Adult romance. As in the genre, not romantic books in general. I also tried to swear off Disney Princess books, but somehow they manage to eek into our story time every so often.

Longest Book You've Read:

Not sure... the longest relatively recent one was Wives and Daughters, by Elizabeth Gaskell. I wish I could say The Bible, but there are still a few chapters in Numbers or Deuteronomy that I haven’t tackled.

Major Book Hangover Because Of:

Code Name Verity. I couldn’t get that out of my head for weeks.

Number of Bookcases You Own:

Over a dozen, and about to put in a couple more. Who needs wall space?

One Book You Have Read Multiple Times:

The novel I’ve read the most is Anne of Green Gables.

Preferred Place To Read:

The wingback chair by my fireplace in the cold weather, and outside on a picnic blanket under a tree in the warm weather.

Quote that Inspires You / Gives You All the Feels From A Book You've Read:

“If you dare nothing, then when the day is over, nothing is all you will have gained.” --The Graveyard Book

Reading Regret:

I only regret that I have but one life to give to...um, that is, to finish all the books I want to read and haven’t got to. (I’m looking at you, giant Dostoevsky volumes.)

Series You've Started and Need To Finish:

I really want to read the rest of The Scarlet Pimpernel books--I loved the first.

Three of Your All-Time Favorite Books:

Thank goodness for that non-committal “of”! Here are three that haven’t come up in other answers already:

Pride and Prejudice, by Jane Austen

The Blue Castle, by L. M. Montgomery

Mrs. Mike, by Benedict and Nancy Freedman

Unapologetic Fangirl for:

L.M. Montgomery. J.R.R. Tolkien. C.S. Lewis. And Madeleine L’Engle. (What was she thinking, not using her initials? ;) Ooh, and I should probably add Laura Amy Schlitz and Kate DiCamillo to that list.

Very Excited For This Release More Than All The Others:

Dangerous, by Shannon Hale.

Worst Bookish Habit:

Probably pushing books I love on family, friends, and strangers. (I am super-introverted, yet if I see someone in the bookstore who can’t decide what to give her niece for a birthday present, you’d think I was Oprah.)

X Marks the Spot: Start At the Top And Pick the 27th Book:

So I guess this means I go to my “A” answer... I don’t actually know the number I’ve read or what the 27th would be (I’m sure she never wrote that many novels...but there are short story collections, poetry, autobiography...), but the most recent read has been her marvelous journals, thanks to Caroline Starr Rose and her LMM journal read-a-long!

Your Latest Book Purchase:

Flannery O’Connor’s The Complete Stories

ZZZ-snatcher book (last book that kept you up WAY late):

I don’t stay up too late these days (I have to get up early to write before the kiddos are awake!) but Code Name Verity was the last that just HAD TO BE FINISHED.