The A-Z Book Survey from The Perpetual Page-Turner.
A-Z Book Survey
Author You’ve Read The Most Books From:
Michael Connelly. I’ve read 22 books of his. Next in line would be Vince Flynn and Jim Butcher, who I’ve read 15 each from.
Best Sequel Ever:
Hmm. I really might have to say The Return of the King, here. There’s also several other book series like the Harry Potter books, the Dresden Files, Vince Flynn’s Mitch Rapp series, A Song of Ice and Fire, Artemis Fowl, etc. I can’t really think of any single sequel that specifically stands out from the rest in a series.
Current Reading:
I started reading Anansi Boys, by Neil Gaiman, a few weeks ago, but haven’t picked it up since (not because of any fault of the book—it’s amazing—I’ve just been busy [and in an extremely odd non-reading mood…]).
Drink of Choice While Reading:
Coffee. Black.
E-Reader or Physical Book?
Definitely physical books. I don’t mind e-books at all, but I do love holding an actual book in my hands (or better yet, displaying them on my shelves).
Fictional Character You Probably Would Have Actually Dated in High School:
I can’t really think of any…but if Emma Watson counts as Hermione Grainger than definitely her, just because she’s adorable. =P I know there’s probably more, but my mind is blanking right now…
Glad You Gave This Book a Chance:
The Hunger Games. I thought it’d just be another Twilight, but it was actually pretty good. I also should mention A Monster Calls. I took me a while to finally read it, but when I did, I regretted waiting so long, as it was amazing and is now one of my favorite books.
Hidden Gem Book:
Again I’d say A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness. It’s an extremely well-acclaimed book, yet I feel like it’s also not nearly as popular as it should be. It’s one of those books that, once you find out about it and read it, it truly is a gem and instantly becomes a favorite.
Important Moment in Your Reading Life:
A few months ago there was a weekend where I read five books in five days. That was pretty awesome. I’d say also when I finally read LOTR and Harry Potter for the first time (a few weeks ago and last August, respectively).
Probably the most important moment, though, was discovering Vince Flynn. Before I read one of his books, I didn’t read all that much (with the exception of Artemis Fowl and Agatha Christie—they also got me reading). But once I read Term Limits (Flynn’s first book), I began reading books very quickly and very frequently, starting my book-a-week streak. So it’s really thanks to him that I’m the reader I am today, which is just one of the many reasons he’s one of my favorite authors.
Just Finished:
American Gods, by Neil Gaiman, was the last book I finished.
Kind of Books You Won’t Read:
Erotica, some types of YA (Twilight type things), most Romances, etc.
Longest Book You Ever Read:
Probably A Storm of Swords, by George R.R. Martin, or so Goodreads tells me. Either way, I’m sure it’s one of GRRM’s books.
Major Book Hangover Because of:
Several books, really: The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern; A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness; and The Book Thief, by Markus Zusak all left me with a hangover of sorts after finishing them, as I just had that “wow, that was amazing” feeling. A Storm of Swords, by George R.R. Martin, also deserves a mention because it left me with one around the middle of the book (those who’ve read it know what I’m talking about…).
Number of Bookcases You Own:
I’m up to 7 currently. I may have to get another one sooner than later… (what can I say, I have an awesome bookstore near me [Book Off] where I can get hardbacks for a dollar…which makes me want to own every book I read, instead of using a library.) =P
One book you have read multiple times:
A Monster Calls & The Hobbit. I mention both because I’m going to try to start reading them both yearly, and have already read them multiple times.
Preferred Place to Read:
My awesome reading nook. Though that was taken almost a year ago…there’s another bookshelf under there now. =P
Quote that inspires you/gives you all the feels from a book you’ve read:
Oh, man, so many. But I’ll just list one (this one “gives me feels” because oh my gosh it is written so epicly) that I read recently and has been stuck in my head since I read it about a month and a half ago (actually, the quote is a full two pages, because every single word on those pages is completely awesome, so I’ll just have a few fragments):
“The drums rolled louder. Fires leaped up. Great engines crawled across the field…”
“Grond crawled on. The drums rolled wildly. Over the hills of slain a hideous shape appeared…”
“Horns, horns, horns. In dark Midolluin’s sides they dimly echoed. Great horns of the North wildly blowing. Rohan had come at last.”
~ The Return of the King, by J.R.R. Tolkien (last two pages of “The Siege of Gondor”).
As for inspiring quotes…again, so many. But I’ll just say one from one of my favorite books:
“You do not write your life with words…You write it with actions. What you think is not important. It is only important what you do.”
~ A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness.
Reading Regret:
I regret not reading LOTR and Harry Potter earlier, as they are both great series. As for books that I actually regret reading…I’m not sure if I have one. There’s been books that I haven’t really liked, sure, but none that I can think of that I absolutely hated and regret reading.
Series You Started and Need to Finish:
A Song of Ice and Fire…as soon as the paperback version of A Dance with Dragons comes out, I’ll definitely be finishing what’s out so far. I also really need to finish Artemis Fowl, as I haven’t read the latest two books.
Three of Your All-Time Favorite Books:
A Monster Calls, by Patrick Ness; The Night Circus, by Erin Morgenstern; and The Hobbit/LOTR, by J.R.R. Tolkien.
Unapologetic Fan Girl For:
*fanboy. Can’t really think of any books specifically, oddly enough…but just because I want to say something: Definitely Nolan’s Batman trilogy, Les Misérables (unfortunately I have not read the book yet, so I’m talking about the musical), and other things. I guess you could count A Monster Calls under this.
Very Excited for This Release More Than All Others:
I’m definitely excited for the next Dresden Files book by Jim Butcher, and Michael Connelly’s next book, The Gods of Guilt. Also really excited for the next two books of A Song of Ice and Fire, by George R.R. Martin, whenever he gets those finished. More than any of these, though, I’ll be more excited if another book by Vince Flynn is ever released. The publisher has said no so far, but he was working on a co-authored novel with Brian Haig, so I’m hoping that’ll be finished and released sometime.
Worst Bookish Habit:
I’d have to say it’s judging books by their covers. I mean, not always–the most important thing is always the story itself, and if something sounds interesting I’ll pick it up regardless of the cover. However, I do really love nice covers, and they’re what often make me pick up a book in the first place.
X-Marks The Spot (Start at the top-left of your shelve and count to the 27th book):
I have my bookshelves relatively organized by genre, with four main separations and a few sub-separations within that (a large bookshelf that contains my leatherbound collectible editions as well as my fantasy, sci-fi, and YA; my thriller/mystery/general fiction novels spread throughout 4 bookshelves; my classics on one bookshelf; and my mystery classics on one). So, I started at the beginning of each of those:
- Academ’s Fury, by Jim Butcher.
- Agent X, by Noah Boyd.
- The Great Gatsby, by F. Scott Fitzgerald.
- Five Little Pigs, by Agatha Christie.
Your Latest Book Purchase:
Technically my latest book purchase would be Raylan by Elmore Leonard. I’ve really enjoyed the TV show Justified, so naturally this book caught my interest (and it was bargain priced at B&N). Earlier that day, I had also bought a couple of Jim Butcher’s Codex Alera books, a series that I hope to start reading soon.
ZZZ Snatcher Book (A book that kept you up wayyy late):
Many books, especially thrillers as they’re easy to just keep reading and reading and reading, without thinking about being tired. No single book really stands out specifically, but I do remember back around Christmas when I was reading a lot of Michael Connelly books back-to-back (I think I ended up reading something like 8 in 10 days or something like that?), and stayed up late many nights in a row doing that.
A. Page in the Stacks 
