Books Survey

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skimom2

Just moseyin' through...
Oct 9, 2013
15,683
92,168
USA
1.) Longest book you've read.
jeepers... IT=1116 pages and The Stand=1135 but the winner is actually The Far Pavilions by M.M. Kaye =1189 pages.
I forgot about that one! I read it years ago. THIS is actually the longest book I've read :)
6.) A book you read because King recommended it.
Paul Tremblay A head Full Of Ghosts. Was a bit disappointed.
Same
7.) Scariest non-horror novel.
Zombie was scary. No Horror but Horrific novel about a serialkiller by Oates. We always see the action through his eyes and always feel what he feels. That total absence of compassion, remorse and understanding is scary and she can write. You never see him from the outside, always the inside and that inside is a scary place. Dont know if it was good but it was scary.
I've never heard of this one! Going to look for it at the library tomorrow because it sounds like it's right up my alley
10.) Funniest book. (Fiction or Non-Fiction)
Jerome K. Jerome Three Men In A Boat. It is 130 years since it was written but laugh just as much still.
Another new one to me :) Thank you, Kurben!
 

Doc Creed

Well-Known Member
Nov 18, 2015
17,221
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United States
Book Survey: Part Deux

1.) Have you ever bonded with a friend or family member through a particular Stephen King novel? Which one? (I'm especially interested in hearing if you converted a non-horror reader).

2.) If you could live in a single book's universe, which would it be?

3.) Most shocking death of a character. (USE SPOILER. PLEASE PUT BOOK TITLE IN SPOILER).

4.) Is there a book you'd never read again not because it was poorly written but because it overwhelmed you? (Example: too violent, taboo subject, or too painful).

5.) Have you ever joined a bookclub? Consequently, did you discover a great book?

6.) Do you have a favorite sleuth or mystery series? (You may choose two).

7.) What are your top three favorite short story writers?

8.) Is their a certain person you'd like to see pen a memoir? (Anyone that has never written a memoir).

9.) Have you ever found a book left behind at a hotel or restaurant and took it and read it?

10.) A recent trend was classic books with genre-bending plots. For instance, Pride and Prejudice with zombies. What book would you like to see rewritten with a similar outrageous twist?
 

HollyGolightly

Well-Known Member
Sep 6, 2013
9,660
74,320
54
Heart of the South
Yer saving my life Doc (or at least my jiggle) - I'm in need of a brain break at work, and I was going to go around the corner to Steak & Shake for a half-off shake, but then I saw this and decided I'd rather play book survey.

Book Survey: Part Deux


1.) Have you ever bonded with a friend or family member through a particular Stephen King novel? Which one? (I'm especially interested in hearing if you converted a non-horror reader). I read parts The Stand aloud to the Ogre while we were courting. I think it moved him beyond thinking SK was just about The Shining with Jack Nicholson or the TV mini-series of IT. Plus my evocative voice helped cinch the deal. We were knocked up and married within months. I think he thought I was scholarly. Pft! Have I ever made a new friend due to our mutual love of SK? The entirety of the SKMB, friend.

2.) If you could live in a single book's universe, which would it be? I'd live a simple life just outside of Thunderclap, directing walk ins - and I'd ask Oy to stay with me.

3.) Most shocking death of a character. (USE SPOILER. PLEASE PUT BOOK TITLE IN SPOILER). Another thinker for me. Will be back. Time is short.

4.) Is there a book you'd never read again not because it was poorly written but because it overwhelmed you? (Example: too violent, taboo subject, or too painful). We Need to Talk About Kevin - that book was just hard. I didn't like anyone.

5.) Have you ever joined a bookclub? Consequently, did you discover a great book? I'm currently in one, but it seems we can never get our meeting time together. And I've only read one book in 10 months - Wonder (which was YA, but really, really good).

6.) Do you have a favorite sleuth or mystery series? (You may choose two). No - I'm not really a mystery reader. I like The Girl on the Train, and I loved The Thirteenth Tale, but those were stand alones.

7.) What are your top three favorite short story writers? Oh so many: George Saunders, T.C. Boyle, Alice Munro - this is excluding SK, of course - I'm trying to think outside the SK box for these answers. This is a tough question for me because Short Stories are my favorite and my best (Joyce Carol Oates, Anne Beattie, Eudora Welty, O. Henry, Poe, Salinger).

8.) Is their a certain person you'd like to see pen a memoir? (Anyone that has never written a memoir). Tim Gunn

9.) Have you ever found a book left behind at a hotel or restaurant and took it and read it? No

10.) A recent trend was classic books with genre-bending plots. For instance, Pride and Prejudice with zombies. What book would you like to see rewritten with a similar outrageous twist? That's a tough one. I'll think on it.

Thanks for the break! I'm going to make a cup of coffee to get thru - or maybe see if I can find that bottle of bourbon I saw in the choir room during Holy Week. Whatever it takes, eh?
 

Doc Creed

Well-Known Member
Nov 18, 2015
17,221
82,822
47
United States
Yer saving my life Doc (or at least my jiggle) - I'm in need of a brain break at work, and I was going to go around the corner to Steak & Shake for a half-off shake, but then I saw this and decided I'd rather play book survey.

Book Survey: Part Deux


1.) Have you ever bonded with a friend or family member through a particular Stephen King novel? Which one? (I'm especially interested in hearing if you converted a non-horror reader). I read parts The Stand aloud to the Ogre while we were courting. I think it moved him beyond thinking SK was just about The Shining with Jack Nicholson or the TV mini-series of IT. Plus my evocative voice helped cinch the deal. We were knocked up and married within months. I think he thought I was scholarly. Pft! Have I ever made a new friend due to our mutual love of SK? The entirety of the SKMB, friend.

2.) If you could live in a single book's universe, which would it be? I'd live a simple life just outside of Thunderclap, directing walk ins - and I'd ask Oy to stay with me.

3.) Most shocking death of a character. (USE SPOILER. PLEASE PUT BOOK TITLE IN SPOILER). Another thinker for me. Will be back. Time is short.

4.) Is there a book you'd never read again not because it was poorly written but because it overwhelmed you? (Example: too violent, taboo subject, or too painful). We Need to Talk About Kevin - that book was just hard. I didn't like anyone.

5.) Have you ever joined a bookclub? Consequently, did you discover a great book? I'm currently in one, but it seems we can never get our meeting time together. And I've only read one book in 10 months - Wonder (which was YA, but really, really good).

6.) Do you have a favorite sleuth or mystery series? (You may choose two). No - I'm not really a mystery reader. I like The Girl on the Train, and I loved The Thirteenth Tale, but those were stand alones.

7.) What are your top three favorite short story writers? Oh so many: George Saunders, T.C. Boyle, Alice Munro - this is excluding SK, of course - I'm trying to think outside the SK box for these answers. This is a tough question for me because Short Stories are my favorite and my best (Joyce Carol Oates, Anne Beattie, Eudora Welty, O. Henry, Poe, Salinger).

8.) Is their a certain person you'd like to see pen a memoir? (Anyone that has never written a memoir). Tim Gunn

9.) Have you ever found a book left behind at a hotel or restaurant and took it and read it? No

10.) A recent trend was classic books with genre-bending plots. For instance, Pride and Prejudice with zombies. What book would you like to see rewritten with a similar outrageous twist? That's a tough one. I'll think on it.

Thanks for the break! I'm going to make a cup of coffee to get thru - or maybe see if I can find that bottle of bourbon I saw in the choir room during Holy Week. Whatever it takes, eh?
:D
Lol...glad to be of service. Great answers, Holly, especially one and two. I wish you liked mysteries...as an incurable book-matchmaker I'm often finding books I think people on here would like. There are a few mysteries that are tailor made for you, I think. One day I will send you some. Easy on the bourbon, you may end up in my Karaoke thread and there's no coming back after that. Ha.
 

HollyGolightly

Well-Known Member
Sep 6, 2013
9,660
74,320
54
Heart of the South
:D
Lol...glad to be of service. Great answers, Holly, especially one and two. I wish you liked mysteries...as an incurable book-matchmaker I'm often finding books I think people on here would like. There are a few mysteries that are tailor made for you, I think. One day I will send you some. Easy on the bourbon, you may end up in my Karaoke thread and there's no coming back after that. Ha.
That sounds like a deal Doc - make me a match. The priest came back into the office just as I was heading bourbon's way. At least the end of the day in sight.
 

prufrock21

Well-Known Member
Jun 2, 2011
2,956
12,657
The Caribbean
1. Longest book you've read. Moby Dick/The Dark Tower

2.) Best book by foreign author. One Hundred Years of Solitude

3.) Book you've probably recommended the most. The Gunslinger

4.) Most heartbreaking book. The Dead Zone

5.) A book others may be surprise you've read. The Mind of Adolph Hitler

6.) A book you read because King recommended it. The Great God Pan

7.) Scariest non-horror novel. In Cold Blood

8.) Book you thought you'd hate but ended up loving. (Someone recommended) Jonathan Livingston Seagull
9.) Best book featuring an animal. Animal Farm

10.) Funniest book. (Fiction or Non-Fiction) Candide

11.) Favorite book over a century old. The Odyssey

12.) Favorite Shakespeare play (or any play). Hamlet

13.) Favorite Speculative Fiction. War With the Newts/Dune

14.) Favorite Western. Hondo

15.) Book with best twist. (If you describe, please use spoilers, thanks.) The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo
 

Zone D Dad

Well-Known Member
Apr 17, 2017
359
1,829
Chicago Suburbs
1.) Longest book you've read. - It's gotta be The Stand.

2.) Best book by foreign author. - The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Steig Larsson (whole trilogy)

3.) Book you've probably recommended the most. - American Tabloid by James Ellroy

4.) Most heartbreaking book. - Shrapnel in the Heart - Letters Home from Vietnam by Laura Palmer (not Twin Peaks...)

5.) A book others may be surprise you've read. - The Awakening by Kate Chopin

6.) A book you read because King recommended it. - The Haunting of Hill House by Shirley Jackson

7.) Scariest non-horror novel. - Red Dragon by Thomas Harris (I wouldn't call it horror) or The Road by Cormac McCarthy

8.) Book you thought you'd hate but ended up loving. (Someone recommended) - Swan Song by Robert McCammon

9.) Best book featuring an animal. - Not sure I can name one. Does Grendel by John Gardner count?

10.) Funniest book. (Fiction or Non-Fiction) - The Rants (non-fiction)by Dennis Miller or Missing Links by Rick Reilly (fiction)

11.) Favorite book over a century old. - Dracula by Bram Stoker

12.) Favorite Shakespeare play (or any play). - Julius Caesar

13.) Favorite Speculative Fiction. - The Road by Cormac McCarthy

14.) Favorite Western. - Lonesome Dove by Larry McMurty

15.) Book with best twist. (If you describe, please use spoilers, thanks.) - I'll take some heat for this but Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane.
 

skimom2

Just moseyin' through...
Oct 9, 2013
15,683
92,168
USA
Book Survey: Part Deux

1.) Have you ever bonded with a friend or family member through a particular Stephen King novel? Which one? (I'm especially interested in hearing if you converted a non-horror reader).
Both of my girls absolutely love Dolores Claiborne and have read it multiple times. Neither started as a big reader of horror, but that was the gateway book--lol. DD#2 has since read a lot of King, and DD#1 claims Joe Hill as her favorite author :)

2.) If you could live in a single book's universe, which would it be?
I'm assuming you mean non-contemporary America? Little House on the Prairie.

3.) Most shocking death of a character. (USE SPOILER. PLEASE PUT BOOK TITLE IN SPOILER).
Cedric Diggory in The Goblet of Fire. The good guy DIED?! In a 'kids' book'?! This was the strongest indication that Ms. Rowling was no longer writing pure MG novels.

4.) Is there a book you'd never read again not because it was poorly written but because it overwhelmed you? (Example: too violent, taboo subject, or too painful). The Girl Next Door. Nope. No way. Oh, and I could not read A Child Called It--I tried, but the continual abuse of a child turned my stomach too badly to finish the book. I know it all turns out well, but again... Nope. No way.

5.) Have you ever joined a bookclub? Consequently, did you discover a great book?
Yes! Our library has a book club that meets once a month, and I've attended a few times. One of the books was Me Before You. I expected to dislike it and had a pretty solid opinion about assisted suicide going into the novel, but Moyes' book made me reexamine. I ended up with a more open mind. I love books like that.

6.) Do you have a favorite sleuth or mystery series? (You may choose two).
Not much of a mystery fan at all. Of those I've read, I liked Galbraith's Cormorant Strike novels quite a bit!

7.) What are your top three favorite short story writers?
Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Ray Bradbury

8.) Is their a certain person you'd like to see pen a memoir? (Anyone that has never written a memoir).
Can't think of one. Famous people either talk too much or I'm just not interested. My favorite memoirs are by people who seem average, I've often not heard of them at all, who have fascinating lives and backstories. OH! I know! My great great grandmother who came from Sweden in the mid 1800s: she was only 16 or 17, came over on a ship with an infant boy, and ended up marrying an English mountain man. WHY?! HOW?! No one in the family knows. I'd like to! Unfortunately, she died before I was born.

9.) Have you ever found a book left behind at a hotel or restaurant and took it and read it?
I know I have, but I can't remember which one!

10.) A recent trend was classic books with genre-bending plots. For instance, Pride and Prejudice with zombies. What book would you like to see rewritten with a similar outrageous twist?
I must be dull today, because I'm drawing a blank! Maybe Moby Dick from the whale's perspective: he's swimming around, minding his whale business, and this INSANE sailor keep coming around to harass him! :D
 
Last edited by a moderator:

skimom2

Just moseyin' through...
Oct 9, 2013
15,683
92,168
USA

Book Survey: Part Deux


1.) Have you ever bonded with a friend or family member through a particular Stephen King novel? Which one? (I'm especially interested in hearing if you converted a non-horror reader). I read parts The Stand aloud to the Ogre while we were courting. I think it moved him beyond thinking SK was just about The Shining with Jack Nicholson or the TV mini-series of IT. Plus my evocative voice helped cinch the deal. We were knocked up and married within months. I think he thought I was scholarly. Pft! Have I ever made a new friend due to our mutual love of SK? The entirety of the SKMB, friend.


I read The Stand aloud to Mark on our honeymoon trip!


4.) Is there a book you'd never read again not because it was poorly written but because it overwhelmed you? (Example: too violent, taboo subject, or too painful). We Need to Talk About Kevin - that book was just hard. I didn't like anyone.


Ooh, good one! After I read the author interview in my copy, I also decided that I couldn't read anything else by her. Very off-putting author!
 

Kurben

The Fool on the Hill
Apr 12, 2014
9,682
65,192
59
sweden
1.) Have you ever bonded with a friend or family member through a particular Stephen King novel? Which one? (I'm especially interested in hearing if you converted a non-horror reader).
IT because its describtion of the children. Magnificent characterization.
2.) If you could live in a single book's universe, which would it be?
The real interesting universes i wouldn't survive long in soooo, dont know. I'll consider it.
3.) Most shocking death of a character. (USE SPOILER. PLEASE PUT BOOK TITLE IN SPOILER).
Hmmm...
Rob Starks Death at The Red Wedding in Game of Thrones. I actually thought he would hang on for a little longer.
4.) Is there a book you'd never read again not because it was poorly written but because it overwhelmed you? (Example: too violent, taboo subject, or too painful).
Difficult. The only one that comes to mind is Pet semetary. I've reread that one but it took me more than 30 years to work up the nerve.
5.) Have you ever joined a bookclub? Consequently, did you discover a great book?
No.
6.) Do you have a favorite sleuth or mystery series? (You may choose two).
Must i choose? Christies Miss Marple books and Peter Robinsons Alan Banks books.
7.) What are your top three favorite short story writers?
Conan Doyle (his short stories are way better than his novels), Poe and Oates.
8.) Is their a certain person you'd like to see pen a memoir? (Anyone that has never written a memoir).
No
9.) Have you ever found a book left behind at a hotel or restaurant and took it and read it?
No
10.) A recent trend was classic books with genre-bending plots. For instance, Pride and Prejudice with zombies. What book would you like to see rewritten with a similar outrageous twist?
Hamlet in novel shape with the prince of Denmark as the vampire of justice!
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Kurben

The Fool on the Hill
Apr 12, 2014
9,682
65,192
59
sweden
Book Survey: Part Deux

1.) Have you ever bonded with a friend or family member through a particular Stephen King novel? Which one? (I'm especially interested in hearing if you converted a non-horror reader).
Both of my girls absolutely love Dolores Claiborne and have read it multiple times. Neither started as a big reader of horror, but that was the gateway book--lol. DD#2 has since read a lot of King, and DD#1 claims Joe Hill as her favorite author :)

2.) If you could live in a single book's universe, which would it be?
I'm assuming you mean non-contemporary America? Little House on the Prairie.

3.) Most shocking death of a character. (USE SPOILER. PLEASE PUT BOOK TITLE IN SPOILER).
Cedric Diggory in The Goblet of Fire. The good guy DIED?! In a 'kids' book'?! This was the strongest indication that Ms. Rowling was no longer writing pure MG novels.

4.) Is there a book you'd never read again not because it was poorly written but because it overwhelmed you? (Example: too violent, taboo subject, or too painful). The Girl Next Door. Nope. No way. Oh, and I could not read A Child Called It--I tried, but the continual abuse of a child turned my stomach too badly to finish the book. I know it all turns out well, but again... Nope. No way.

5.) Have you ever joined a bookclub? Consequently, did you discover a great book?
Yes! Our library has a book club that meets once a month, and I've attended a few times. One of the books was Me Before You. I expected to dislike it and had a pretty solid opinion about assisted suicide going into the novel, but Moyes' book made me reexamine. I ended up with a more open mind. I love books like that.

6.) Do you have a favorite sleuth or mystery series? (You may choose two).
Not much of a mystery fan at all. Of those I've read, I liked Galbraith's Cormorant Strike novels quite a bit!

7.) What are your top three favorite short story writers?
Neil Gaiman, Stephen King, Ray Bradbury

8.) Is their a certain person you'd like to see pen a memoir? (Anyone that has never written a memoir).
Can't think of one. Famous people either talk too much or I'm just not interested. My favorite memoirs are by people who seem average, I've often not heard of them at all, who have fascinating lives and backstories. OH! I know! My great great grandmother who came from Sweden in the mid 1800s: she was only 16 or 17, came over on a ship with an infant boy, and ended up marrying an English mountain man. WHY?! HOW?! No one in the family knows. I'd like to! Unfortunately, she died before I was born.

9.) Have you ever found a book left behind at a hotel or restaurant and took it and read it?
I know I have, but I can't remember which one!

10.) A recent trend was classic books with genre-bending plots. For instance, Pride and Prejudice with zombies. What book would you like to see rewritten with a similar outrageous twist?
I must be dull today, because I'm drawing a blank! Maybe Moby Dick from the whale's perspective: he's swimming around, minding his whale business, and this INSANE sailor keep coming around to harass him! :D

This means you are Practically a Swede!!!
 

skimom2

Just moseyin' through...
Oct 9, 2013
15,683
92,168
USA
side story (forgive the thread sully): years ago I had a friend ask me out of the blue if I had Swedish ancestors. I was surprised and answered yes, but a few generations back, then asked why she would think so. Turns out her mother is Swedish and she thought I resembled her relatives--lol.
 

skimom2

Just moseyin' through...
Oct 9, 2013
15,683
92,168
USA
Read this many years ago. Think I read the second book (The Lost Boy ??) but don't think I finished the trilogy. If I did, I don't remember. Could never do a reread, I seem to get more sensitive and emotional the older I get.
I do, too. Not a lot of tears over my real life stuff, but anything about child/elder/animal mistreatment gets me going every time, and books/movies/TV stuff.
 

Doc Creed

Well-Known Member
Nov 18, 2015
17,221
82,822
47
United States
1.) Have you ever bonded with a friend or family member through a particular Stephen King novel? Which one? (I'm especially interested in hearing if you converted a non-horror reader). I wouldn't say bonded, but about ten years ago I convinced my mother (who hates scary books/movies) to read a Stephen King book. She chose The Shining. She said she was absolutely terrified and said she'd never read another of his books. In a way that's sort of a compliment to King and to me, too. Heh heh.

2.) If you could live in a single book's universe, which would it be? Since I'm currently reading Empire Falls by Richard Russo, I'll say Empire Falls, Maine. It's a small New England milltown that's somehow lost its luster but not its charm. It is not as cynical a town as Peyton Place but neither is it populated with people you'd find in Mayberry. The book jumps from locale to locale (The Empire Grill, the donut shop which still has an old-fashioned cigarette machine, and a cozy tavern called Callahan's) and I find myself not wanting to leave.

3.) Most shocking death of a character. (USE SPOILER. PLEASE PUT BOOK TITLE IN SPOILER).
Some books prepare you for an upcoming demise of a character but the suicide of John Singer came almost out of the blue and was devastating.

4.) Is there a book you'd never read again not because it was poorly written but because it overwhelmed you? (Example: too violent, taboo subject, or too painful). Child of God by Cormac McCarthy or August: Osage County by Tracy Letts.

5.) Have you ever joined a bookclub? Consequently, did you discover a great book? No.

6.) Do you have a favorite sleuth or mystery series? (You may choose two). Fever Devilin from the Philip DePoy mysteries, they're rooted in folklore and weirdness and settled in the Appalachian mountains of Georgia. I like James Lee Burke, too, but he's more a crime fiction writer.

7.) What are your top three favorite short story writers? Capote, Welty, and Breece Pancake.

8.) Is their a certain person you'd like to see pen a memoir? (Anyone that has never written a memoir). Stephen King. I know, he's written an auto-biographical book about his writing life but I'd like to see him write a gargantuan memoir before he shuffles of this mortal coil.

9.) Have you ever found a book left behind at a hotel or restaurant and took it and read it? I found a Grisham at a beach condo but didn't take it home.

10.) A recent trend was classic books with genre-bending plots. For instance, Pride and Prejudice with zombies. What book would you like to see rewritten with a similar outrageous twist? I don't know. How about The Great Gatsby with werewolves? I need to think of a better answer.
 

Doc Creed

Well-Known Member
Nov 18, 2015
17,221
82,822
47
United States
1.) Have you ever bonded with a friend or family member through a particular Stephen King novel? Which one? (I'm especially interested in hearing if you converted a non-horror reader).
IT because its describtion of the children. Magnificent characterization.
2.) If you could live in a single book's universe, which would it be?
The real interesting universes i wouldn't survive long in soooo, dont know. I'll consider it.
3.) Most shocking death of a character. (USE SPOILER. PLEASE PUT BOOK TITLE IN SPOILER).
Hmmm...
Rob Starks Death at The Red Wedding in Game of Thrones. I actually thought he would hang on for a little longer.
4.) Is there a book you'd never read again not because it was poorly written but because it overwhelmed you? (Example: too violent, taboo subject, or too painful).
Difficult. The only one that comes to mind is Pet semetary. I've reread that one but it took me more than 30 years to work up the nerve.
5.) Have you ever joined a bookclub? Consequently, did you discover a great book?
No.
6.) Do you have a favorite sleuth or mystery series? (You may choose two).
Must i choose? Christies Miss Marple books and Peter Robinsons Alan Banks books.
7.) What are your top three favorite short story writers?
Conan Doyle (his short stories are way better than his novels), Poe and Oates.
8.) Is their a certain person you'd like to see pen a memoir? (Anyone that has never written a memoir).
No
9.) Have you ever found a book left behind at a hotel or restaurant and took it and read it?
No
10.) A recent trend was classic books with genre-bending plots. For instance, Pride and Prejudice with zombies. What book would you like to see rewritten with a similar outrageous twist?
Hamlet in novel shape with the prince of Denmark as the vampire of justice!
I like the Hamlet with vampires idea, Kurben. Perfect.