Tagged book quiz

I have been tagged by my daughter to answer questions related to my reading habits.  I also have to tag others to do this too.  Here are the rules

The Rules:

1. Post these rules

2. Post a photo of your favourite book cover

3. Answer the questions below

4. Tag a few people to answer them too

5. Go to their blog/twitter and tell them you've tagged them

6. Make sure you tell the person who tagged you that you've taken part!

This is my favourite book cover because I just love this painting so much.

What are you reading right now?

I am re-reading Driving Over Lemons by Dave Stewart.  I read his three books (about his life in Andalucia after retirement from being a drummer with Genesis) many years ago and fancied reading them again.

Do you have any idea what you’ll read when you’re done with that?

I have to read Kate Chopin's The Awakening for my book group.

What 5 books have you always wanted to read but haven’t got round to?

Catch 22 by Joseph Heller

Crime and Punishment by Fyodor Dostoevsky

Sylvia's Lovers by Elizabeth Gaskell

Bleak House by Charles Dickens

Anything by Virginia Woolf

What magazines do you have in your bathroom/lounge right now?

Country Homes and Interiors, the English Home, Country Living, Homes & Antiques, Period Homes (do you detect a theme here?)

What’s the worst book you've ever read?

Catcher in the Rye by J D Salinger.  I didn't enjoy it at all and had great expectations since it is given so much acclaim.

What book seems really popular but you actually hated?

I had seen a lot of people in blogland say how much they enjoyed Miss Pettigrew Lives for a Day.  I thought it really boring and very dated so gave up on it.

What’s the one book you always recommend to just about everyone?

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins.  I have read it twice and just couldn't put it down.  Written in 1860 and serialized in a magazine it has so many cliff hangers and you have to keep reading to see what happens.

What are your 3 favourite poems?

Walking Away by C Day Lewis

To My Daughter by Stephen Spender

Last Wish by Betty Skewes (my Mum)

Where do you usually get your books?

I buy all my books from Amazon or charity shops.

Where do you usually read your books?

Mostly in bed as I always read before I go to sleep.

When you were little, did you have any particular reading habits?

I used to sit in the airing cupboard and read. 

What’s the last thing you stayed up half the night reading because it was so good you couldn’t put it down?

I probably haven't as reading quickly sends me to sleep.

Have you ever “faked” reading a book?

No.

Have you ever bought a book just because you liked the cover?

No, but it does have some influence on whether I pick it in the first place.

What was your favourite book when you were a child?

A book called Frankie and Jessie that I won as a Sunday school prize.

What book changed your life?

I can't think that any have but when I was a little girl I had a Mary Mouse book and because the girl was rather vain she was made to wear her lovely long wavy hair in tight plaits. I was afraid to look in a mirror in case this was done to me!

What is your favourite passage from a book?

I can't single any out but it would probably be from one of Hardy's novels.

Who are your top five favourite authors?

Thomas Hardy

Jane Austen

Elizabeth Gaskell

Mary Webb

Stefan Zweig

What book has no one heard about but should read?

The Post Office Girl by Stefan Zweig

What 3 books are you an “evangelist” for?

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Perfume by Patrick Suskind

To Kill a Mocking Bird by Harper Lee

What are your favourite books by a first-time author?

All the above three answers.

What is your favourite classic book?

Jude the Obscure by Thomas Hardy

5 other notable mentions?

Beware of Pity by Stefan Zweig

A Month in the Country by J L Carr

Precious Bane by Mary Webb

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

Enduring Love by Ian McEwan

My daughter added this to her answers which I have not heard before

.... and, on Joseph Heller, the story goes that he was once being interviewed, and the interviewer said - “Since Catch 22 you haven’t written anything nearly as good.” and he replied "No, but then neither has anyone else.”

I tag Random Jottings, Bloomsbury Bell and Overdue.