This week a bookish meme rolled around tumblr. I thought my response would make an interesting (entertaining?) blog post, so here it is.Survey post can be found at: The Perpetual Page Turner.
Questions chosen for me by my buddy Jenn Burke: K, E, L, W, R, A, D, T, O, M, U, C, H (Kel, we read too much).
Yes, we do.
K. Kinds of Books You Won’t Read
I generally avoid books that are designed to make the reader cry—excruciatingly sad stories that don’t promise a happy ending of any sort, or books about bad situations. I like happy and/or thoughtful endings.
E. E-Reader or Physical Books
No preference. As a professional reviewer and library volunteer, I come by books and ebooks too easily either way.
L. Longest Book You’ve Read
Probably something by Robert Jordan. Longest book I’ve read recently would be Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie. Weighs in at 880 pages, but you know what? It didn’t read like 880 pages. It took me about a week to read and I probably ploughed through the last half in a couple of days. And I didn’t skim much at all, which brings me to…
W. Worst Bookish Habit
If I’m not interested in a point of view or if the book is taking just too damned long to get there, I skim. I have three levels of skim.
1) I read the first sentence of each paragraph, which usually gives me enough information to decide between diving in or skipping to the next paragraph.
2) I scan the page for keywords that pull me back into the narrative.
3) I skip entire chapters.
I also often read the last page first. Yeah, I know.
R. Reading Regret
As in I regret reading this book? Too many to name. I’ve been reviewing books for over ten years. I’ve read a LOT of crap.
A. Author You’ve Read The Most Books From
R.A. Salvatore. At last count there are twenty four books in the Legend of Drizzt. I’ve also read the Canticle Quintet and the Sell Swords trilogy. So, that’s, what, over thirty books by the same author.
D. Drink of Choice While Reading
Tea.
T. Three Of Your All-Time Favorite Books
Dune, Frank Herbert
Glasshouse, Charles Stross
Stranger in a Strange Land, Robert Heinlein
(I actually sorted my top ten for a recent blog post.)
O. One Book That You Have Read Multiple Times
I don’t actually reread books. I have reread Earth Abides by George Stewart, though, and it was worth the effort.
M. Major Book Hangover Because Of
Today, I’m suffering a bit of withdrawal for the world of Wool by Hugh Howey. I finished the book this morning. Last major book hangover was from Best Served Cold. I pined for those characters and if I hadn’t had reading commitments for the magazine, I’d have picked up the next book right away.
U. Unapologetic Fangirl For
Post-apocalyptic fiction. I LOVE IT.
C. Currently Reading
Malice by John Gwynne.
H. Hidden Gem Book
God, I read so much. I’ve stumbled across a lot of books that have surprised the socks off of me. Okay, how about The Catch Trap by Marion Zimmer Bradley. She’s better known for The Mists of Avalon and the Darkover novels, but this? This is an amazing book. It’s on my best ever top ten list.
That’s it! If you post a set of answers, let me know! I’d love to read through.
Kelly Jensen 
Jumping ahead? I’ll confess that if a plot seems to be developing conventionally and with few strong insights, I might go from the halfway point to the final chapter. If everything still makes sense, I’ll finish the book from there. If it doesn’t, well, I go back because it’s obvious a lot’s going to happen in the interim.
Or am I the only one who finds that the third quarter of most novels is mostly padding?
Depends on the book, of course, but there often seems a logical jump, doesn’t there?