10.14.2010

Thursday Book Questions: Part 5

Five questions a week. Eleven weeks. Post your answers in the comments (or on your own blog if you prefer, just link back in the comments) and I'll do the same thing.

Last week we had strong opinions on marginalia and dog-earing, a general comfort with English (though most of us non-multilinguals wished we could read in other languages), and a variety of answers to the question of what made us love a book. That, I thought, was a great question with great answers, which covered everything from the weight and feel and smell of a book to humor and lovable characters to having ourselves affected, even changed, by the content.

This week's questions:

21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?
(answer here)
22. Favorite genre?
(answer here)
23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)
(answer here)
24. Favorite biography?
(answer here)
25. Have you ever read a self-help book?
(answer here)

I can't wait to read the answers.

7 comments:

  1. 21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?
    It needs to have some kind of redemptive value--anything from humor to virtue to something that helps us know ourselves and each other better.

    22. Favorite genre?
    Young adult fantasy, urban or otherwise.

    23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)
    Having loved Orson Scott Card's work so much, I wonder if I should read more sci-fi.

    24. Favorite biography?
    Brother Andrew's God's Smuggler is more of a memoir, but I loved that. I have a bad habit of forgetting that biographies exist.

    25. Have you ever read a self-help book?
    I did read The Purpose-Driven Life some years back. :)

    ReplyDelete
  2. 21: If it has some redemptive value or if it deals honestly with human struggles or if it expresses Christian thought or devotion well.

    22: High fantasy; young adult fantasy; dystopian or post-apocalyptic fiction

    23: Adult fiction & I don't wish I read more of it.

    24: I really don't read biographies. But if auto-biographies count, then Lewis's Surprised by Joy and St. Augustine's Confessions.

    25: Yes, I have lots of Dummies or Complete Idiot's Guides.

    ReplyDelete
  3. 21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?
    If, after a week, I'm still thinking about it, I'll probably recommend it. If it's so forgettable that it hasn't stayed with me that long then never mind :).

    22. Favorite genre?
    Oh that's impossible to answer! But I do tend towards books with strong moral protagonists and clear delineations between good and evil... or good pioneer stories.

    23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)
    I haven't read many autobiographies, but I usually find them very enjoyable.

    24. Favorite biography?
    Hah! I hadn't read this one before the previous question. Well... I really liked Soul of a Lion about Dietrich von Hildebrand. I haven't read too many others, though (as I said), I enjoy the genre (along with autobiographies).

    25. Have you ever read a self-help book?
    Um.... yes. Probably more than I'd care to admit. They're helpful :).

    ReplyDelete
  4. Here are my answers for this week:
    http://donnarosemary.blogspot.com/2010/10/thursday-book-questions-pt-5-knitting.html

    Jenna, I am so happy you're enjoying the rest of the Ender/Bean books. Like you, my foray into the Ender universe this year has whetted my appetite for sci fi.

    George, I really need to read Augustine's Confessions. It has been on my "To Read" list for way too long...

    ReplyDelete
  5. 21: If I feel that a book I like will be enjoyable, thought-provoking, comforting, or an experience of beauty to someone I'm talking to.

    22: Folklore, Fantasy, and Fairy Tale.

    23: Hard SF.

    24: Probably Surprised by Joy, although Humphrey Carpenter's Tolkein changed my life.

    Actually, scrap that answer to 24--I just remembered:

    24: Nelson Mandela, The Long Walk to Freedom. Read it. Read it, read it, read it. Everyone needs to read this book.

    25: The best, How to be Funny: An Extra-Silly Guidebook, by Jovial Bob Stine. (Yes, that Robert L. Stine.) A send-up of the genre that's actually funny. Though the "I learned a lot from this book!" reviews are frankly worrying. (The activities in the book call for items commonly found in any home, such as a wet llama.)

    The worst, Winnie-the-Pooh on Management: In which a Very Important Bear and his friends are introduced to a Very Important Subject, by Roger E. Allen. Don't read this book. It will make you cry. Please.

    ReplyDelete
  6. George, I love your answer to 23. And I, too, need to read--that is to say, finish reading--the Confessions.

    FCW, good point about books that stick with the mind for extended periods of time. I agree.

    Mr. Pond, I like your answer to 21. And the Stine book sounds awesome. :)

    Donna, I'm totally hooked on Ender. Wonderful, wonderful books. I'm looking forward to more!

    ReplyDelete
  7. 21. What will inspire you to recommend a book?
    Really, really liking it. If I have read it more than one, I will DEFINITELY recommend it to you.
    22. Favorite genre?
    That is hard to say, I like a lot of different ones.
    23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)
    More non-fiction...ever since graduation, however, I have really only wanted to read fiction.
    24. Favorite biography?
    Gorillas in the Mist
    25. Have you ever read a self-help book?
    Yes, and I honestly think I have only read one..."Emotional Purity:An Affair of the Heart" Heather Arnell Paulson

    ReplyDelete

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