20 January 2011

Mini-Bibliophile Quiz!

My former Chipotle buddy, talented DIYer and Hello Kitty aficionado @LilMissTati posted this awesome book quiz a while back on her blog Tatiana Supports the Arts, inspiring me to do the same. SO, like a brownie, I snuck into her blog late one night and "borrowed" the quiz (she hasn't found out yet but methinks she soon will once I post this on Twitter, in which case, Hi Tati! When are we gonna hang out and get Chipotle like the good ol' days?) My goal for this year is to read 28 books in 12 months. Why 28? Because that's how old I'm turning in about two weeks (wah!)

After I finished the quiz, I realized that I haven't read enough:
  • books written by women
  • fantasy/sci-fi novels
  • graphic novels
  • historical fiction
  • steamy romance novels that I'm too embarrassed to buy at the store myself
I'm hoping to change all of this starting this year.

Oh and while you're at it, be sure to check out @LilMissTati's etsy shop, Babushka Designs on your way out...her beautifully hand-crafted goodies are made with yarn, love and no preservatives :)

1. What author do you own the most books by? Chuck Palahniuk
2. What book do you own the most copies of? NONE but I seem to have accumulated quite a few issues of Motor Trend and InStyle
3. Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions? I’ve learned to tune that kind of stuff out when I’m not on the clock    
4. a. What fictional character are you secretly in love with? I’m not entirely in love with him, but if I could have a fictional fling with him it’d be Oliver Mellors from Lady Chatterley’s Lover
4. b. What fictional character would you most like to be? Marla from Fight Club…that girl was absolutely crazy and lived life on the edge, something that I can’t really see myself doing  
4. c. What fictional character do you think most resembles you? Max from Where the Wild Things Are. To this day I still daydream about things that could be
5. What book have you read the most times in your life? To Kill A Mockingbird by Harper Lee
6. What was your favorite book when you were ten years old? D’Aulaires’ Book of Greek Myths by Ingri d’Aulaire and Edgar Parin d’Aulaire 
7. What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year? A Lion Among Men by Gregory Maguire…what a disappointing addition to the Wicked series  
8. What is the best book you’ve read in the past year? The year just started…the best book I read in 2010 was probably Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
9. If you could force everyone you tagged to read one book, what would it be? Tagging? Is this some sort of Facebook thing because I don’t have a Facebook. But I’ll ignore that first part of the question and say Dress Your Family in Corduroy and Denim by David Sedaris just to remind everyone that their family is not as dysfunctional and/or hilarious as Sedaris’
10. Who deserves to win the next Nobel Prize for literature? I don’t even know how to begin to answer this question…maybe the books I read aren’t sophisticated enough for such an award
11. What book would you most like to see made into a movie? Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides
12. What book would you least like to see made into a movie? Haunted by Chuck Palahniuk…this book was all hype, no substance which means a film adaptation would either save it or sink it even further
13. Describe your weirdest dream involving a writer, book, or literary character: Well, I’m currently reading The Lord of the Rings by J.R.R. Tolkien and dreamt that I was in the Shire blissfully lounging around when suddenly I started running…but from what??
14. What is the most lowbrow book you’ve read as an adult? Anything written by Chelsea Handler
15. What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read? Junky by William S. Burroughs
16. What is the most obscure Shakespeare play you’ve seen? Obscure?? I’ve only seen three: Romeo & Juliet, Hamlet, and A Midsummer Night’s Dream and they were all high school performances!
17. Do you prefer the French or the Russians? I’ll go with the French for now since I love Gustave Flaubert and Albert Camus. Although, I have Fyodor Dostoevsky’s Crime and Punishment waiting for my attention on my bookshelf
18. Roth or Updike? Neither...unfortunately I’m not as well-read as I’d like to think I am
19. David Sedaris or Dave Eggers? I’ve only read David Sedaris
20. Shakespeare, Milton, or Chaucer? Aw man fancy poetry and prose??  
21. Austen or Eliot? I’ve only read Eliot; I’m not interested in Jane Austen for some reason
22. What is the biggest or most embarrassing gap in your reading? How about my time during college? I was too busy reading text books to actually read any fun books. I’m definitely making up for it now
23. What is your favorite novel? It’s not really a novel, but it is one of my favorite little books because it’s so poignantly touching: The Little Prince (Le Petit Prince) by Antoine de Saint-Exupery. I first read this during my emotional pre-teen years and discover something new and different every time I pick it up again
24. Play? I really liked the Broadway adaptation of Wicked based off the book Wicked: The Life and Times of the Wicked Witch of the West by Gregory Maguire
25. Poem? How about a book of poems by one great Shel Silverstein, A Light in the Attic
26. Essay? Most of the essays I like are written by Chuck Klosterman, so Chuck Klosterman IV by default
27. Short story? The Masque of the Red Death by Edgar Allan Poe 
28. Work of nonfiction? I love memoirs, with The Glass Castle by Jeanette Walls being one of my favorites
29. Who is your favorite writer? I have so many! But a few of my top picks are Chuck Palahniuk, David Sedaris, D.H. Lawrence, and Chuck Klosterman
30. Who is the most overrated writer alive today? Stieg Larsson, even though he’s technically dead but he’s getting a lot of posthumous praise – he wrote The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo which is probably the most overrated book I have ever read, topping The Da Vinci Code by Dan Brown
31. What is your desert island book? The Little Prince – to give me hope
32. And … what are you reading right now? The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers by J.R.R. Tolkien. I’m totally getting into it and regret not reading it when I was younger

4 comments:

thomas said...

hi vicki. its' me thomas from detroit. nice page. "the library of congress" lol.

Vickipedia said...

@thomas hey Thomas! thanks for stopping by! come back and visit again soon; i always try my best to update my blog on a regular basis :)

Tatiana said...

Vicki! You are so awesome. Thanks for the shout out. I miss you and our Chipotle adventures!

Vickipedia said...

@Tatiana come back to SoCal soon my dear! Chipoodle awaits!