Reading, Part II

Here are the rest of the questions from the reading meme that I started last week (see part I here). Thanks to C in DC for giving me some content for the blog!

• Favorite reading snack? There's no eating or drinking in a library! But a hot cup of coffee and maybe a cookie?
  

• Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience. I can honestly say, I don't think that has happened to me - then again, I have avoided the Harry Potter books and the other, most recent overly publicized book series.
  

• How often do you agree with critics about a book? God, I remember how my mother used to read the NYT Book Review every Sunday and then write up her book lists and go off to the library with a stack of reserve slips. Today, you are lucky to find a decent book review, so if I do, I will usually read it and it might push me in a particular direction.
  

• How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews? If it's bad, it's bad. Move on.
  

• Most intimidating book you’ve ever read? I don't think that I have ever been intimidated by a book - although I am sure there was a college textbook here and there that I really didn't want to read for one reason or another - but it probably wasn't intimidation.
  

• Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin? Isn't War and Peace like the benchmark for this question?
  

• Favorite Poet? Robert Frost. Period. End of Discussion.
  

• How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time? When I went to the library on a regular basis, 3-4 often came home.

• How often have you returned book to the library unread? On a rare occasion.
  

• Favorite fictional character? Ooh, tough question. But if we are sticking with Mr. King (see the next question), I'm going with Andy Dufresne and Red from "Rita Hayworth and the Shawshank Redemption."
  

• Favorite fictional villain? First one(s) that pop into my head would be the many, scary villains / monsters that populate Stephen King's stories. In the lead would be Randall Flagg from The Stand.
  

• Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation? paperbacks
  

• The longest I’ve gone without reading. I don't think I've ever really stopped reading, I just don't do it as often.
  

• Name a book that you could/would not finish. I don't know if I can identify one, although I am sure there was a college textbook in there somewhere that I could not get through, despite the requirements.
  

• What distracts you easily when you’re reading? I don't really get distracted too . . . hey what's that over there?
  

• Favorite film adaptation of a novel? The Shawshank Redemption
  

• Most disappointing film adaptation? The Stand
  

• The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time? I'm not at liberty to say. But on myself, probably too much, on others, not enough.
  

• How often do you skim a book before reading it? I do not adopt the Billy Crystal approach (see "When Harry Met Sally") but I will usually read the leaf pages to see if it is something that I might enjoy.
  

• What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through? See my earlier answers about if it is not good, it's not worth the time.
  

• Do you like to keep your books organized? Hi. Have we met? You all know what I do for a living right? The Brave Astronaut library is even online through Library Thing. Here's a story. Before I moved in with Mrs. BA (back when we were dating), I would visit her and would visibly twitch at her serendipitous arrangement of the books in her apartment. She would repeatedly tell me, when you move in, you can rearrange the books. The day I moved in, before I unpacked a box or a suitcase, I was emptying those shelves and arranging them according to subject, genre, and author.
  

• Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them? There are a lot of books in my home and there always will be. But I also have a large inventory of books up on Half.com.
  

• Are there any books you’ve been avoiding? No, although Mrs. BA would probably tell you she avoids The Giving Tree.
  

• Name a book that made you angry. Mrs. BA would probably say The Giving Tree makes her angry, too.
  

• A book you didn’t expect to like but did? That's sort of a bonus for me. I have been given books as gifts and given them a shot. In most of the cases, it has worked. But it will always come back to if it's bad (or I don't like it), I'm not going to read it anymore.
  

• A book that you expected to like but didn’t? I attempted to get through the few collaborative works that Stephen King wrote with others, but couldn't. It was too clear to me where his writing ended and the other started up.
  

• Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading? Not necessarily a book, but I still enjoy reading the comics in the newspaper. Last thing in the paper I read everyday.