I found this meme on a Swedish book blog and I thought I'd do it too. It turned out to be more fun than I thought to begin with. I thought I'd have trouble finding the answers to many of the questions, but I do wish I'd had a better reply to the one about the president.
1. What book is on your nightstand now?
A Swedish non-fiction book about a 17th century book (and the man behind it) about grand buildings and monuments in Sweden (which was at the time a rather big power in European politics).
2. What was the last truly great book that you read?
Hm. Tough question. I'm not really sure. Lately, I've read several different books that I liked a lot, but 'truly great'? The past year has been a very difficult one in my life so I'm probably not remembering correctly, but I have to go back several years to think of anything that I can describe that way. So I'll pick either Shadowbridge (and its sequel Lord Tophet) by Gregory Frost or The War of the Flowers by Tad Williams. No, wait, (LOL), I do think Eliot Pattison's mysteries set in Tibet are also truly great and the French historic mysteries about Nicholas Le Floch set in pre-revolutionary France. I'll shut up now. :)
3. If you could meet any writer – dead or alive – who would it be? And what would you want to know?
Again, that was a tough one. I have so many 'favorite' authors. And even if I love the author's books, it doesn't mean I'd want to meet him or her in real life. I guess I'll randomly pick Diana Wynne Jones because her books were awesome and she was brilliant and even a bit magical. Or Agatha Christie. Since she was into archaeology and I am too (and history as well), it would be interesting to meet her. I'd like to ask her about that incident when she went missing and everyone thought she might be dead. Anyone who's seen one particular episode of Doctor Who (The Unicorn and the Wasp) will know what I mean. Or if you're familiar with Agatha Christie's life history.
4. What books might we be surprised to find on your shelves?
Possibly all the children's and (old-fashioned) YA books and the non-fiction. Maybe. II'm not sure what will surprise other people.
5. How do you organize your personal library?
Usually alphabetically, with the exception of books either too big or too small to fit onto the ordinary shelves.
6. What book have you always meant to read and haven’t gotten around to yet? Anything you feel embarrased never to have read?
Jane Eyre. But I'm not embarrassed. Everyone's taste in books (or anything really) is individual so what is embarrassing for someone, may not be for someone else.
7. Disappointing, overrated, just not good: what book did you feel you were supposed to like but didnt? Do you remember the last book you put down without finishing?
I really don't remember. Out of all the internet freebies I download, the great majority are disappointments, and some are too gruesome or sad for my taste.
8. What kinds of stories are you drawn to? Any you stay clear of?
I'm drawn to old-fashioned (I almost said 'real', sorry about that. LOL) fantasy, mysteries/puzzles, science fiction, historic fiction, children's books, YA (again, old-fashioned ones) and finally non-fiction. Put another way, I like well-written engaging books that have happy endings. I stay clear of vampire, werewolf, demon and zombie books plus romances (that are exclusively romances). Also, naturally, badly written books or ones that have unhappy endings or are simply too gruesome or sad or both. Finally, I'd like to mention that I hate unpleasant characters. That's usually a reason for me to not finish the book.
9. If you could require the president to read one book, what would it be?
Which president? Any president in any country? Hm. Any type of well written fiction with nice, pleasant characters, I think. Or maybe some good historic book. Reading is good for you and learning about the past is too.
10. What do you plan to read next?
The Inner Circle by Carmen Caine/Madison Adler.
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