My Book Challenge

Book Challenge
@MALUSE (69428)
Germany
July 18, 2018 2:28pm CST
This is a challenge I’ve composed for myself. You can join in if you feel like it. Question: What is your favourite genre? Answer: I'm not faithful to a particular genre. At the moment I'd say it's intelligent contemporary fiction with thrilling plots and a quirky sense of humour. What I've never liked is what I call 'lament literature' about horrible childhoods and abuse. Angela's Ashes, A Child called It, The Room - go away! Apart from that I read virtually everything, from the text on the back of cornflake boxes to the latest Booker Prize winner. ____________________ Q: Do you read the classics, i.e., the great authors of the 18th and 19th century? A: Name them, I've read them. Had to at uni. But that's not the reason why I don't read them any more. I've found that their pace is too slow for me. Page after page of descriptions bore me. "Get to the point!" is what I want to tell them, but the authors don’t/didn’t listen to me. :-( ____________________ Q: Are you interested in thrillers? A: This is the genre I've read most of. I'd rather not know how many tons of thrillers I've read in my life. My interest has dwindled, though. Here the ratio of 'rotten apples' is quite high and money and time badly spent annoy me more nowadays than they did before. I still read and enjoy so-called capers, funny, bizarre stories which don't take things too seriously. _____________________ Q: What about horror stories? A: Never! I don't understand how people can enjoy horror in the shape of books or films; horror horrifies me and I need my sleep! _______________________ Q: Do you read Science Fiction? A: I've read all of Stanislaw Lem's books many years ago (the author of 'Solaris' which has been turned into a film). They fascinated me. A good Science Fiction story may be set in the future, but deals with the problems humankind has here and now. Yet now I prefer to read about humankind's problems dealt with in a realistic way and set in the here instead of in a parallel universe. ____________________ Q: Have you ever read and enjoyed biographies or autobiographies? A: I've tried to find out why I'm not interested in this genre, but to no avail. I'm just not interested. ______________________ Q: Do you remember any of the books you read and loved as a child? A: Oscar Wilde: The Canterville Ghost, Mark Twain: Tom Sawyer, Rudyard Kipling: The Jungle Books. Not a long list, but I didn't grow up in an English speaking country. It wouldn't make sense to mention German children's books here. ______________________ Q: Have you re-read these books as a grown-up? A: No, I'm afraid they may lose the magic charm I associate with them when I read them again with an analysing grown-up mind.  ______________________ Q: Is there a book of which you can say it has influenced you? A: No, there isn't *one* book, but I think I can say all the books I've read (except the trash [what can you get from a book with the title 'Wedding Night In A Hearse'?]) have influenced me somehow. They've become part of my subconscious. The fictional characters people my mind, some more, some less. Some disappear completely just like real people I've met. Some stay with me for a long time. _____________________ Q: Which are your favourite authors? A: There are many (not only those of the English tongue, of course). Let me just mention some names: Arundhati Roy, Zadie Smith, Alan Isler, Jonathan Lethem, Jonathan Safran Foer. Read them, you won't regret it! ________________________ Q: Which book would you take with you on a desert island? A: How long would I have to stay there? What with my reading speed you'd have to rescue me after a week at the latest. Could I take the Encyclopaedia Britannica with me? I'm sure it contains enough reading matter even for a life sentence. _________________________ Q: What is your attitude towards translations? A: Even if you belong to a people whose mother tongue is *the* or one of the world languages, you shouldn't be so arrogant as to despise translations. If you don't want to live with a limited view of the world, you should either learn foreign languages or read translations as well. ______________________ Q: Do you buy your books/get them from the library/borrow them from friends/steal them? A: I buy most of my books at Amazon, preferably used if the offer is good. Occasionally I go to the library, but I can't take a book home with me which too many readers before me have already handled. They fill me with revulsion. Some friends share my taste and I exchange books with them (and write down their names, just in case. . . !) So far I haven't stolen any. ______________________ Q: When you buy books, do you prefer hardcover editions or paperbacks? A: Hardcover editions look nicer and age better, but the answer is: paperbacks. They're cheaper, don't need so much space on the shelves and can be better read in bed. I also own a Kindle now but that's a different topic. ______________________ Q: Have you ever tried Audio Books? A: No, they don't appeal to me, I like reading at my own pace. Should I ever have severe problems with my eyes (and I do hope that that never will be the case!) I would turn to them, but not before.
11 people like this
12 responses
@noni1959 (9842)
• United States
18 Jul 18
This is an awesome post. I'm an avid reader and don't have just one genre I stick to though mostly read thrillers, serial killer, and quirky humorous. Right now I'm reading the Joe Pickett series (he's a game warden in C.J. Box's novels) and it's full of crime, killing, poaching and other things to keep you on the edge. I'll read an autobiography or biography if the person appeals to me like Loretta Lynn or Mark Twain but don't read many. I can't get into audio books either and I prefer a book I can hold and flip the pages though I do own a very old Kindle. I give away my paperbacks but keep my hardbacks (most.)
1 person likes this
@MALUSE (69428)
• Germany
18 Jul 18
Thanks for your elaborate comment! I don't expect many comments. Not as many as I'd get for a 'What I had for breakfast' post. :-(
2 people like this
@Mike197602 (15489)
• United Kingdom
18 Jul 18
I've read all the joe pickett books and really like them. He did a couple of stand alones with cody something which has turned into another series with a female lead character that I like.
1 person likes this
@MALUSE (69428)
• Germany
18 Jul 18
@Mike197602 I don't know this author. Which genre does he write?
2 people like this
@Kandae11 (53596)
19 Jul 18
I have never tried Audio books. My favorite authors include Danielle Steele, Philipa Gregory and Elizabeth Chadwick. I like light romance and novels based on life in the 19th century and further back. I buy my books or my sister usually sends me some she has read.
1 person likes this
@MALUSE (69428)
• Germany
19 Jul 18
I only know one person who listens to audio books. It's a vet who sometimes has to travel far to reach his 'patients'. He passes the time listening to audio books.
3 people like this
@MALUSE (69428)
• Germany
19 Jul 18
@noni1959 I know that my problem would be to listen to the voice and the accent of the speaker. I'd try to find out from which part of the country the speaker is from and things like that instead of concentrating on the text.
1 person likes this
@noni1959 (9842)
• United States
19 Jul 18
@MALUSE My son listens to them. He used to read books but gets distracted too easy now. I've listened to one before to try it out but just wasn't the same and the person talking distracted me from my quiet that I like when reading.
@AKRao24 (27427)
• India
18 Jul 18
That is a wonderful post! But you have left no room to add anything further as far as I am concerned! Nice share and i sincerely appreciate that!
@MALUSE (69428)
• Germany
19 Jul 18
"...you have left no room to add anything further..." --- I don't understand what you mean. Please explain.
1 person likes this
@AKRao24 (27427)
• India
19 Jul 18
@MALUSE , You have presented your discussion so nicely that for except appreciating it I have got nothing more to add!
@MALUSE (69428)
• Germany
19 Jul 18
@AKRao24 Well, you could add *your* answers. I'm sure they are different from mine. Other members have done that.
1 person likes this
@funkeyguhl (1743)
• Philippines
3 Aug 18
Question: What is your favourite genre? Answer: Don't have any but if there is one genre I won't read - it's horror / thriller. Q: Do you read the classics, i.e., the great authors of the 18th and 19th century? A: To be honest, I haven't since I left school. I tried but it's like I am not inspired to continue not sure if this is because I am always stimulated to read a classic if I know there's a grade equivalent to it. Q: Are you interested in thrillers? A: Tried it really with a Stephen King book and then for a few days, I could not sleep so I just completed the book in broad daylight and never again Q: Do you read Science Fiction? A: Not a lot because I want to always have a light read so I end up reading romance and chick lit books Q: Have you ever read and enjoyed biographies or autobiographies? A: Yes! Especially if the subject is interesting. I think this is as far as I can go... because I have not read a book for a long time. The last book that I have read is the Magnolia Story (a biography) and now re-reading Harry Potter books. I have tried Audiobooks before but it's just way different when you read it at your own pace. However, if it's a collection of poems, I don't mind turning into an audiobook for that.
1 person likes this
@MALUSE (69428)
• Germany
3 Aug 18
Thanks for joining in. You could have posted this as a discussion of your own with a hint to my questionnaire in order to lure others to participate. :-)
@LadyDuck (454862)
• Switzerland
19 Jul 18
Thrillers and mystery books are my favorite. I am also not a fan of the great classics of 18th and 19th century. They are too slow, sometimes boring. It seems that they a lot of free time back in those days to enjoy those heavy books. I would never listen to an Audio Book, I want to go at my speed and take the time to imagine the characters and to draw the scene in my mind.
1 person likes this
@LadyDuck (454862)
• Switzerland
19 Jul 18
@MALUSE It was the same for Sherlock Holmes, the stories were published in "The Strand magazine". Our ancestors had no TV and no cinemas, but most important no computers and no smartphones. Those gadgets are time wasters.
@MALUSE (69428)
• Germany
19 Jul 18
"It seems that they a lot of free time back in those days to enjoy those heavy books." --- The amount of free time may have been the same but there were no other attractions. No cinemas, no TV, no computers. The fat novels by Charles Dickens appeared first in small 'booklets', one chapter at a time. When a new one came, the Man of the House gathered his whole family round the fire place and read the story to them. It happened once that the readers were not content with the way Dickens handled the plot. They complained and he changed the ending before the real book was printed.
2 people like this
@Spontaneo (14707)
• United States
20 Jul 18
Wow! You have every base covered! I have a challenge for myself in a way... For the on-line womens' magazine that I am a writer for, I always like to come up with the better non-sleazy topics that I can think of, compared to the sleazy stuff the other females do. Sure, the sleazy writers get more views, but atleast I know I have stayed clean.
@MALUSE (69428)
• Germany
21 Jul 18
Thanks for the comment!
1 person likes this
@Spontaneo (14707)
• United States
25 Jul 18
@Inlemay (17714)
• South Africa
20 Jul 18
I havent tried Audio yet, but I think I might like that - I used to love to listen to stories over the radio in the !970'S BEFORE SA got television
@Inlemay (17714)
• South Africa
20 Jul 18
I am a true-life-drama reader. I am not into other peoples fantasies at all. Not the Bibliography type
@xFiacre (12536)
• Ireland
18 Jul 18
Well as you know, @Maluse , I'm a Camus-Dostoyevsky-Kierkegaard man myself although my specialist area in my university degree (and what I spent my year in Paris studying) was the literature of colonial and post-colonial sub-Saharan Francophone Africa. Make of that what you will!! So far as translations are concerned I can only read fluently in French and English so I rely on translators for everything else. I'm prepared to accept that sometimes a translation can even be better than the original. I do find classical English literature a bit difficult though, but of course some of the giants of English literature were in fact Irish - Joyce, Wilde, Swift, Beckett etc. A big gap in my reading is German literature. I can't ever remember having read a book by a German author. I don't think you have given any thought to poetry in your article - perhaps it doesn't interest you? I think 'Intelligent Fiction' might best describe the book I would be drawn to.
@MALUSE (69428)
• Germany
18 Jul 18
You've spotted the gap. I'm indeed not a poetry person.
1 person likes this
@sallypup (57302)
• Centralia, Washington
19 Jul 18
You've written an inspiring post. I admit that I do not read as much as in my younger years. Folks like the poet Walt Whitman have influenced me. My hubby has shown me that audio books, especially young adult reader ghost stories, are fantastic for road trips. Those audio books keep me awake and alert.
@MALUSE (69428)
• Germany
19 Jul 18
Glad you like my post!
@Missmwngi (12927)
• Nairobi, Kenya
18 Jul 18
This is so great, i am reading and answering them in my head lol
@MALUSE (69428)
• Germany
18 Jul 18
Thank you!
1 person likes this
• India
19 Jul 18
Great post! I like thrillers and mysteries to read. When it's science fiction, I rather enjoy watching it maybe because I miss unaware of many scientific terms. Romantic genre makes my best companion during journey. The only biography I have ever read is Wings of fire- It's of former Indian president Dr APJ Abdul Kalam and I am a great fan of it. I tries audio books but they are not for me..