The Book Lover´s Tag

 

I´ve been nominated for The Book Lover´s tag and am perfectly thrilled about it because books are the one thing I could talk about for hours. Really, I mean it. I have caused many people to regret their foolishness by asking me any question related to that matter. 😉

Many, many thanks to my dear friend Annika from over at Annika Perry´s Writing Blog for tagging me for this! I sincerely hope she won´t regret it 😉

 

And now to the questions!

1.Do you have a specific place for reading?

Not really, I read where- and whenever I can. But there is a specific place where I never have or ever will read a book, magazine or whatever, and that´s when you´re sitting on the loo. I know many people do this, but I get the creeps just thinking about it. It kind of feels like a sacrilege to me.

The bathtub though, that´s an entirely different matter… 😉

2. Bookmark or random piece of paper?

I used to be obsessed with book marks when I was a kid and could never get enough of them. I still have them but rarely use them. For example, I had a matching pair featuring Scarlett O´Hara and Rhett Butler respectively. 😉

Scarlett and Rhett (Sept. 2017)

Nowadays I prefer to use postcards either sent to me by friends or bought in a museum shop. Curiously enough I nearly always make sure that the color of said card matches the book cover in some way, either by matching the color or the theme/feel of the book.

3. Do you eat or drink whilst reading?

Oh, yes! Definitely! Is there anything better than sipping at your tea/coffee, tucking into a lovely cake whilst emerged in a different place or time? It´s perfect bliss!

4. Music or TV whilst reading.

I used to listen to music whilst reading when I was in my teens, and sometimes still do but rarely. I prefer it to be quiet now, so that nothing can distract me from my book. That said I have to admit that since I read – nearly – everywhere possible, I can tune out most sounds when reading out of doors.

As to reading whilst watching TV, I´v never really tried it because I usually only watch things I really want to and reading would distract me too much. But I do love to knit, or eat or talk whilst watching TV. 🙂

5. One book at a time or several?

Always several. This had always been the case for me, and always will be. I tried once to read one book after another and couldn´t stand it. I like switching books during the day, like from something serious in the morning to something light-hearted in the evening.

I try to avoid reading thrillers at night because I don´t seem to be able to put them aside (this happened again two weeks ago when I was reading „The Store“ by James Patterson in two consecutive nights and the rings under my eyes the next days would have made even a raccoon jealous!).

6. Do you prefer to read at home or elsewhere?

At home mostly, but I love reading in a park or by the sea if possible.

7. Read out loud or silently?

I like to do both actually. Though it depends of the book and where I´m reading it of course. Most of the time I read silently but every now and again, when the language of a book is too beautiful not to be read aloud (like with Shakespeare) or if I read a book in a different language, then I like reading it aloud to simultaneously practice my pronunciation.

 

One of my books that need to be read aloud. This is one of similarly leather bound books by Shakespeare that I got as a birthday present when I discovered my love for the Poet at age 14. Unfortunately they´re written in German, but I bought myself an English edition of his complete works a couple of years later.  (Sept. 2017)

 

8. Do you read ahead or skip pages?

I almost always read a book from the first page until the last without skipping any passages or even whole pages. The book would have to be unbearably boring for me to do that, and I normally make a point of avoiding reading those books anyway.

9. Break the spine or keep it like new.

I used to try to keep the spines like new, but not anymore. Now I like it when a book looks read and tells an additional story to the one already embedded on its pages.

That doesn´t imply that the books should look in any way damaged or stained – that´s a thing I can´t bear at all. A couple of years ago I lent a book to a friend and when she gave it back, I had to force myself not to cringe away from it and take it back. Needless to say that she never saw a book from me again. That has taught me not to lend certain books anymore.

I prefer to give them away now if I don´t want to keep them, that way the books can hopefully bring happiness to many more people and it prevents me from having to deal with more similar shocks. 😉

10. Do you write in books?

Never in novels, but during my studies I did write in my non-fiction books or underlined certain passages.

11. What books are you reading now? 

The first book I´m reading now is „A Thousand Splendid Suns“ by Khaled Hosseini. It´s the second book by this author I read, the first one was „And the Mountains Echoed“ which I loved.

His books are, as far as I can tell, always (at least partly) settled in Afghanistan and bring not only the fates of his characters nearer to his readers´s minds and hearts, but also the rich history and beauty of the country.

I kind of fell in love with his stunning narrative, which feels to me like a fairy tale being told for grown-ups.

I used the opportunity and did a drawing of the book:

 

“A Thousand Splendid Suns” by Khaled Hosseini (micron ink and water color on paper, Sept. 2017)

 

The second book is „So Long and Thanks for all the Fish“ by Douglas Adams. It´s the fourth book of his wonderful „Hitchhiker´s Guide Through the Galaxy” – series which I am rereading at the moment.

It´s fun, it´s hilarious, it´s brilliant – and if you haven´t already read it, I can only recommend that you do!

Douglas Adams is one of the authors who make it difficult to me to refrain from underlining bits I find awesome, like this one:

„He lay, panting heavily in the wet air, and tried feeling bits of himself to see where he might be hurt. Wherever he touched himself, he encountered a pain. After a short while he worked out that this was because it was his hand that was hurting.“

– Douglas Adams, Life,The Universe and Everything

The third book is in French „D´un combat à l´autre“ by Beátrice Nicodème and is about the two daughters of Pierre and Marie Curie who are caught in the ravages of the first World War and try to find ways to make themselves useful by either assisting their mother x-raying wounded soldiers right on the front so that pieces of bullets and shrapnels can be removed much faster and with less loss of blood (Irene, age 17), or by writing encouraging letters to soldiers in the trenches (Eve, age 12).

 

This book I borrowed from my local library in order to practice French (Sept. 2017)

 

12. What is your childhood favourite book?

My first book was „The Island of Adventure“ by Enid Blyton which is why it will always have a special place in my book lover´s heart. But my favorite by the same author was „The Valley of Adventures“ which I have read countless times.

 

Both, my first and my favorite book by Enid Blyton (Sept. 2017)

Also one of my absolute favorites were „The Hobbit“ and „The Lord of the Rings“ by J.R.R. Tolkien, as well as The Narnia books by C.S. Lewis.

My treasured “Lord of the Rings” books (in German) and “The Hobbit” (in English). (Sept. 2017)

 

There´s also „Ronia, the Robber´s Daughter“ and „Pippi Longstocking“ by Astrid Lindgren both of which I adored.

 

One of the many beautiful illustrations in my copy of “Ronia, The Robber´s Daughter” by Astrid Lindgren. These illustrations made a huge impact on me when I was a child, and may well have been one of the many triggers that brought me to drawing and painting. (Sept. 2017).

All these books are still in my book shelves and are reread occasionally.

 

13. What is your all-time favourite book?

That´s a question I always dread because I simply can not answer it and I silently envy those who can.

There are of course books I like more than others but to pick just one out of them… no, it´s impossible. Also I fear reprisals from the books I wouldn´t mention. 😉

 

Like Annika, I would like to invite all readers who enjoyed this Book Lover’s post to please consider themselves tagged! 🙂