Reader Problems Book Tag

I’m tired, sore, and ridiculously cranky. This translates to I’m not in the condition to write nor create anything out of thin air. Instead, I’m stealing another tag from Story and Somnomancy, and yes, it’s another book-ish one.

THE QUESTIONS

1) You have 20,000 books on your TBR. How in the world do you decide what to read next?

I can easily cut down the number based on what I’m planning to read next. I usually (sort of) know what I’m looking to read and if I can divide those books by genre the list should get way shorter. If I want to get super technical I can also do a selection based on how big a book is — if I know I don’t have the time to commit to a large book, I reach for the ones with less pages.

But I imagine at the end of all of it I’ll just pick something randomly. I have less trouble picking a book to read, I have more trouble getting through my TBR.

2) You’re halfway through a book and you’re just not loving it. Do you quit or commit?

I rarely drop a book for good. If I find it extremely dull I will likely just put a bookmark and leave it for another time. And by another time I mean some unknown point in the future when my brain goes “Hey, remember a while ago you were reading that book you didn’t quite like? I wanna give it another go.”

3) The end of the year is coming and you’re so close, yet so far away on your Goodreads Reading Challenge. Do you quit or commit?

This has already happened and I’ll be honest here, I quit. The thing is, if I had the time I would have devoured the books I’ve decided to read in that year. Plus, “the end of the year is nearing” is a period which tends to be rather busy for me, no matter what year it is. I know my strengths just as I’m aware of my weakness, I wouldn’t be able to do it (unless I had a magical item such as a Timeturner, which conveniently lets me go back in time and catch up).

4) The covers of a series you love DO. NOT. MATCH. How do you cope?

Ugh. Why would you put that thought in my head? I would most likely try to avoid the issue as long as I can, and separate the books on my shelf to avoid that horror show in my brain whenever I glance at it. Eventually, when the wallet allows it, I’d buy a set with matching covers and give away the old ones.

5) Everyone and their mother loves a book you really don’t like. Who do you bond with over shared feelings?

This rarely happens as most of the folks around here aren’t particularly fond of books. Didn’t you know, not reading is cool on the streets? It’s the worst plague humanity has seen in its existence, a fear and shame of books. Not to diminish the damage done by plagues in history, but I think this one will be the end of us.

Anyway, should this scenario take place, I have a number of online friends with whom I rant/complain about such things.

6) You’re reading a book and you’re about to start crying in public. How do you deal?

I don’t see that happening. I don’t read in public, the furthest I would take a book from my home is our yard. The only case where it could happen is if I was on the beach, but then it’s super easy — sunglass! Duh. SUNGLASSES!

7) A sequel of a book you loved just came out, but you’ve forgotten a lot from the prior novel. Will you re-read the book? Skip the sequel? Try to find the synopsis on Goodreads? Cry in frustration?

I would say that it depends on how much time I have available. I’d prefer re-reading the book, but if the odds are against me and I cannot make that happen, I would likely just look up synopsis online. Or, even better, if there’s an audio book of the same, I might just put that to play in the background while I’m doing another task.

8) You do not want ANYONE borrowing your books. How do you politely tell people nope when they ask?

I’d just straight-out tell them I’m clingy about my books and I cannot in good conscience borrow them to anyone due to fear of not getting them back or even worse, have them returned in a butchered state. You ruin my books, you be damn sure I’ll be haunting you in your dreams. Okay I may leave out the last part, I forgot we were aiming for a polite tone.

9) You’ve picked up and put down five books in the past month. How do you get over your slump?

I’d resort to munching on TV Shows or playing video games. Whenever I hit a hard time with anything, I know I just need an unhealthy dose of “bad entertainment” (tv, video games, vines, cat videos, etc.). Afterward it’s like someone has hit the reboot button and I’m back to functioning normally.

10) There are so many new books coming out that you’re dying to read! How many do you actually buy?

Depends on the money I can spare. Yes, deep down I’ll probably want to buy them all and maybe even buy myself a large library while I’m at it. Both so I can have a place for them and so I can read with peace and quiet. But in reality I know I’ll just make a list of all of them and then see how many I can cross off that list. Whatever I’m unable to buy at that time will eventually find itself on a future book shopping list.

11) After you’ve bought the new books you can’t wait to get to, how long do they sit on your shelf until you actually read them?

Some don’t make it to the shelf as I get to them right away, others are still sitting on the shelf and waiting their turn. Hey, I’ll get to the poor books right after someone makes my day last 25 hours. Not that I don’t want even more hours than that, but I’ll be fair and settle at 25.

THE TAG-EES

I’m tagging anyone reading this. Mostly because, as mentioned at the beginning, I’m in no state or mood to come up with lists of names. Plus, ain’t it more fun when we can all chime in on a topic?

Lists & Liebsters

A while ago I got tagged for a Liebster award by Story and Somnomancy. The scope of it is you give a shout out to newer bloggers or older bloggers who seem to be flying under the radar, as a way of promoting them and bringing bloggers together. I intended on doing this sooner but I got distracted. Then I was reminded about it when I won the Rafflecopter Giveaway hosted at Story and Somnomancy of the 2015 Young Explorer’s Adventure Guide. It’s an anthology of middle grade science fiction which features a story of her own. “Robot Sister Number Phi” tells the tale of a girl trying to replace her own sister with a robot.

Now, I know some bloggers don’t do these type of awards. We all know the best blog award one can ask for are readers and visitors, and I agree with that, but this one features lists and I have a weakness for lists. So, let’s give this a go!

Rules:

1. Thank the person who nominated you and link their blog.

2. Give your readers 11 random facts about yourself.

3. Answer the 11 questions from the blog who nominated you.

4. Nominate 11 bloggers to receive this award.

5. Come up with 11 questions for your nominees.

The Random Facts

1. No matter the type of coffee I’m drinking, I prefer it with a few drops of milk.

2. Even though I love both reading and writing, sitting down to do either of the two is always hard.

3. I used to love sugar and used it with everything, but recently (read: the past year or so) I’ve been avoiding it. Which doesn’t mean I don’t use it, but for example instead of using 2 teaspoons of sugar with my coffee I now use just a fragment of a teaspoon, if I use any at all.

4. I hate sorting music files. I hate it so much that even though I have my music on the cell and the computer, I tend to just play a radio instead of playing my music (which is clearly outdated and could use some spring cleaning).

5. I’m very easily distracted no matter what I’m doing.

6. I hate crowds in general, which also means that I do not particularly enjoy holidays and family gatherings. Thank goodness there’s food and drinks to get me through those.

7. I enjoy swimming and I like watching basketball, handball, and volleyball; but otherwise I’m not a huge sports fan (read: I don’t mind watching sports, just in most cases I’d rather watch a tv series as things tend to happen there).

8. I try to use clothes as long as possible, mostly because I hate shopping and I hate changing appearances. If a piece of attire is in a good state, still fits on me, and it’s good for the weather outside, why the hell do I need to waste money on buying a new one?

9. I’ve always been rather short and skinny for a guy from my generation, till 2014 when I got somewhat chubby. Which resulted in a huge self-esteem drop because apparently a guy with a tummy and moobs is the perfect start for a joke.

10. I always try to do things on my own, even if it means consulting with Youtube tutorials more than with actual other people.

11. A few years back I had a temporary allergy or skin issue of some kind. Whenever I’d be exposed to the sun too long or I’d do some exercise and I’d start sweating, I’d get a ridiculous red rash over my chest. Never got around to testing what exactly caused it. But eventually it stopped so yeah.

The Answers

1. If you can assign a theme song to your favorite book, what would the theme song be?

My favorite book tends to change just as much as my mood, and currently that would be George Orwell’s 1984. I think Gary Jules’s and Michael Andrews’ cover of Mad World would be a fitting theme for it.

2. What was the most recent book that’s made you grin like a giddy schoolgirl/boy?

That would The Thing on the Doorstep by H. P. Lovecraft, but mostly because I had been hoping to read it for a while and it finally ended up in my hands.

3. What types of books do you normally read?

I’m in love with horror as a genre, but most books I read tend to lean toward fantasy. Anything that goes beyond this ordinary world, but preferably something that avoids common themes (love triangles, the funny friend, the friend love interest, etc.). I like when my books surprise me, when it features something I wouldn’t have expected. There’s little enjoyment about reading the third page if I know what will be there after I’ve read the first page.

4. What author do you get excited over when a new release has been announced?

I’ll be ridiculously excited when I hear George RR Martin’s release of a new book has been announced, but in general I’m mostly excited about new releases by Neil Gaiman.

5. If you hosted a tea party, which book characters would you like to have sitting at your table?

The Mad Hatter from Alice in Wonderland, it’s a tea party so there’s no one better for it. But also Bilbo Baggins and Gandalf from Lord of the Rings, maybe Luna Lovegood from Harry Potter. I’ll leave it at that because as mentioned previously I’m that big about crowds.

6. Any books that have made you angry lately?

Not that I remember.

7. Do you fully read book reviews before or after you’ve finished the book?

I like skimming reviews beforehand, especially if I’m not sure which book to read next. Sometimes I read whole reviews after I’ve finished a book, but usually not before so I can avoid spoilers.

8. What book(s) are you currently reading?

I’m currently in between books, but I have the following books lined up for next: Premium Harmony by Stephen King, Aesop’s Fables translated by George Tyler Townsend, and Alone (part of the The Girl in the Box series) by Robert J. Crane.

9. What book would you like to see adapted in a different medium (graphic novel, game, movie, anime, TV series, etc.)?

I would love to see various series, such as A Song of Ice and Fire and even Harry Potter, turned into anime.

10. Do you have any other geeky hobbies besides reading?

Would playing video games be considered geeky? I do some amateur writing, that’s quite geeky. I enjoying taking photos but I haven’t had the tools to do that in a while so I’ve grown distant to it. Nowadays I prefer editing images digitally.

11. Zombies or unicorns?

Zombies. I love unicorns, but not as much as I love me a good old dead no-brain human. Plus zombies keep others away so I could put a few in my yard. Can’t do that with unicorns, it would draw too much attention and would bring everyone and their mother to my garden.

The Nominees

So it shouldn’t be a secret but I haven’t been around that much lately so I’m sadly at a lack of folks to nominate here. It was one of the reasons I delayed posting this. Thus if anyone wants to do this, leave a comment and I’ll add a link to your blog up here. Otherwise I’m nominating whoever reads this!

An Adventure in NaNoWriMo

The Book Review Directory

Eric Schlehlein

Write Me a Book, John!

YadaDarcyYada

Daily (w)rite

Poems & Poemes

Storyshucker

SinghCircle

Sidekick Reviews

The Questions

1. How do you pick what book you” be reading next?

2. Do you have any books that have surprised you — whether you were expecting them to be good and they weren’t, or you were expecting them to be bad and they weren’t?

3. Are there any movies or TV series you’ve seen merely because you enjoyed the books the story is based on?

4. Do you have a least favorite or a favorite book-to-other-medium adaptation?

5. You need to pick yourself a partner and a best friend from the pool of fiction characters. Who will they be?

6. What’s the one thing that stands out to you the most when browsing books (covers, titles, description, etc.)?

7. A new system’s being put in place that ensures every person reads at least one book in their lifetime. You get to make the book choice, which one will it be?

8. What’s the last book you read in a single sitting?

9. What do you like doing when you’re not reading?

10. If you could adapt one book into a different medium, what book would that be and in what medium?

11. A Harpy or a Gorgon?