20 Fun Questions about Books
Hi,
It has come to my attention that I’m allowed to use this fun quiz designed by Emily of “The Girl in Red Rubber Boots.” She visited my roomie an age ago and I got in on the fun. Emily is a keen and cool bird; she is witty, intelligent, and I loved the questions she dreamed up.
Disclaimer: I’ve linked many of the books with my Amazon Associates account, which means I get a tiny, lil’ kickback if you click on the link and purchase something.
1. What’s the last book that made you cry?
It’s not unusual for me to tear up in just about any book. Little girl watches ants, I get misty-eyed remembering ants I used to watch. It’s official, I’ve turned into my father. Almost anything touches me, but the last book to actually make me cry was probably “Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.” The book touched on a nerve for me, not because I am an abandoned foster kid, but because for many years I was the girl who didn’t know how to not be ok. It’s really crazy how we shape our reality to fit the narrative we want.
And because… I’m dishy for friendships, and the book showcases one of the finest friendships I’ve read in literature. It left me feeling like if one has friends who pursue each other through thick and thin, something will be ok even if everything isn’t.
I’ve linked the book here, and cannot recommend the audio book highly enough. It’s probably one of the best readings I’ve ever heard. Keep in mind it does have swearing.
2. What’s the last book that made you laugh out loud in public?
We’re all social distancing - ok, I’m not really - but there’s still not a whole lot of reading going on in public. I’ll go with “Belles on Their Toes” and the chapter where Tom Grieves, the Handyman, whacks a British woman across her substantial bottom with a stout stick when she bends over at the beach. I know it sounds suspect but just trust me and read the book. Henk Henk.
(Based on a true story)
3. What’s a book that people make fun of but you secretly love?
Boxcar Children, the first book. Maybe people don’t make fun of it, per se, but it’s one of those kids books that are looked on askance by the lit community. I love how innovative and independent they are, but in the end they find a home.
4. What’s the longest book you ever read?
Les Miserable, for sure. My boss at the time challenged me to read the book, and I one-upped myself and bought the unabridged version. It may have taken me a few years to slog through all the extra chapters on the French sewer system and the convent, but I made it! Now I love the story.
5. What’s a genre that you love so much that you’ll read even sub-par books so long as they’re in that genre?
Anything in the psych/self help category. I love anything to do with the inner workings of man and his journey to find God, and the subsequent successes and failures.
6. What’s the last book you purchased?
Small Wonder by Barbara Kingsolver, The Radical Pursuit of Rest: Escaping the Productivity Trap by John Koessler, and The Hawk and the Dove by Penelope Wilcock. They were all bought in the same order because Thrift books is my kryptonite.
Copy the code, and click the button for a discount at Thrift Books.
7. What was your favorite book as a pre-teen?
Jane of Lantern Hill, by L.M. Montgomery. It’s still a favorite!
“It's the fools that make all the trouble in the world, not the wicked.”
Jane was such a refreshing, straightforward character who, plot twist! Was a sensitive little soul. It’s a suspicion of mine that there are many people in the world who think they are too sensible or practical to have many feelings and emotions but what is actually going on is 1. it doesn’t look like they think it will look so they don’t recognize it for what it is, or 2. they didn’t know what to do with their sensibilities so they cover them in pragmatism and cynicism.
It’s a story to satisfy pragmatists and dreamers alike.
8. What was your favorite book in your late teens/early 20s?
Jane Eyre, hands down. I loved the complexity of characters, the forward thinking, the dialogues, and the way she rose up to speak of her own legitimate claim to love.
“Do you think I am an automaton?–a machine without feelings? and can bear to have my morsel of bread snatched from my lips, and my drop of living water dashed from my cup? Do you think, because I am poor, obscure, plain, and little, I am soulless and heartless? You think wrong!–I have as much soul as you,–and full as much heart! And if God had gifted me with some beauty and much wealth, I should have made it as hard for you to leave me, as it is now for me to leave you. I am not talking to you now through the medium of custom, conventionalities, nor even of mortal flesh;–it is my spirit that addresses your spirit; just as if both had passed through the grave, and we stood at God’s feet, equal,–as we are!”
9. What’s your current favorite book?
Horrible, awful question. As if I could choose! But as with most questions that are terrible, they are also ones we very much want to answer, so… probably “Pilgrim’s Inn.” It has everything: light-heartedness, beauty, tragedy, forbidden love, descriptions of nature, family, hospitality, the feeling of home…
You know how in a lot of literature the moral choice is pitted against ever being happy? In Pilgrim’s Inn, one of the characters struggling with this choice finds in that end, the moral choice is the one which brings her peace and joy. She laid down herself, and rose up a better, more beautiful woman, because her beauty is now refined through fire.
10. Have you ever read a book so many times that you ruined your copy of it?
It’s more likely I ruin it by dropping mustard or coffee on it because it’s a book I pick it up to read select parts out of while eating. That being said, it would probably be “All of a Kind Family,” a fun book about a Jewish family living in New York City the turn of last century. Great characters and adorable illustrations. The runner up would be “The Secret Garden.” Secret Garden, the very words thrill my fingertips. Who hasn’t wanted to discover a secret place?
11. Tell a story about something interesting that happened to you in a bookstore.
One time, I locked eyes with a handsome man in the law and history section and… I never saw him again.
Probably my favorite memory of a book shop was in Paris, at the Shakespeare Book & Co right by that charming bend in the Seine, where the lilacs grow — you know the place?
My friend and I sat there for an evening, listening to a man play jazz on the piano and writing letters to tuck into books for stranger somewhere in the world to discover (this shop ships worldwide). The moon shone in through an open window and life was perfect in every way. Those moments are rare, and to this day I wonder if a little of the peace of that night was captured for the person who decided to purchase the Gothic romance, into which I tucked the letter.
I remember it was the “Letters of Udolpho” which I chose only because it was referenced in “Northanger Abbey” by the naive Catherine. I wanted to write a letter to the person who would buy this particular book, so though I’ll never meet this person, I like to think it was the secret guilty pleasure of the man in the law/history section of the bookstore in NYC, and that maybe our lives intersected one more time — never to meet again.
12. If you could forget the entire plot of one book, just so you’d have the chance to read it for the first time again, which book would you choose?
Definitely “The House on Garibaldi Street” about the capture of the notorious Nazi, Adolph Eichmann. It’s one of the first books I actually could not put down. I would pick it up even if I just had a spare five minutes. Also, “Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine.” I’d like to experience that ending again.
13. Have you ever read a book all the way through, thinking you loved it, but the ending just destroyed it for you?
Yes. Anna Karenina. To this day I loathe and despise that book. I loathe and despise her, her skeletal husband, her empty-headed lover, and her life. Horrible story.
14. Do you prefer fiction or nonfiction? Why?
No way to choose, they occupy such different places in my heart and mind. Typically I read non-fiction for when I need help or comfort or sustenance on earth, and fiction when I need to be reminded that Heaven is coming, and no eye has seen nor ear has heard.
15. What book has given you advice that still sticks with you?
Strangely, it’s a business book called “Good to Great.” In many ways it’s a dry read, but if you really grasp the concepts driving things from good to great, the ideas presented in the book will never leave you. One of the things that will never leave me is the Hedgehog concept:
The fox knows many things, but the Hedgehog knows one big thing.
It takes a ridiculous amount of work to distill our various drivers and values in life down to “that one thing” and let this clear vision and understanding help make all our decisions, but those who achieve often go from good to great — even if the world never sees it.
Think of it this way, if I was trying to figure out who to marry I would immediately defer back to the one thing above all else that drives my life: God. If the other person doesn’t have a similar understanding and relationship with God, then it’s an immediate no. Another place of consideration would be if I was offered a job that would take me into questionable moral and ethical territory according to my faith. Again, hard pass. See how knowing that one thing really helps in major life decisions?
If it helps all the way from deciding on a second date to figuring out career, think what it could do for every other area of your life.
16. Which fictional man would you most like to marry?
Mr. Knightley, hands down. Humorous, steady, truthful, a rich farmer. Yes, yes, that’s not very likely in these days, but I’d settle for the farm without the riches. That’s an ok kind of settling.
Plus, any person who is never unreasonable in any way, shape or form is probably lying to themselves. I am sometimes unreasonable, and in such cases, it would be nice to have someone who loved me unconditionally to say, “what nonsense!”
17. Which fictional woman would you most like to be friends with?
Sookie St. James, in the TV show, “Gilmore Girls.” She’s a brilliant chef so of course there would always be good food to try, and more than that she’s just this kind of delightful absentminded and warm heart that would be a hoot to have around.
18. Which fictional house would you most like to live in?
The inn in “Pilgrim’s Inn” hands down. I’ve never wanted to live anywhere so much as I want to live there. I found an image awhile ago that kind of fits how it is described in the book, and I’ve been a mushy pile of dreams over it ever since. Of course the inn was probably a little more grand and straight than this, but this captures a little of the feeling.
19. Has anyone ever read a book over your shoulder on public transportation?
I don’t think so, but then again, it’s hard to know! I’ve certainly done it to others.
20. What book(s) are you currently reading?
“Truman” by David McCullough (he’s one of my favorite authors), “The Radical Pursuit of Rest: Escaping the Productivity Trap” by John Koessler, and “The Cricket in Times Square” which I am reading aloud to my nieces and nephews via YouTube.
