The Reader’s Questionnaire

So I was having a read through the lovely Jessica’s blog over at Ever the Crafter, and I saw this questionnaire that was floating around a few weeks, well months, well years ago, and I decided to look at this post, and then do it. I am sure it has been passed from person to person, and I am not sure who originally did it, but whoever it was, thanks!

1. What is your favourite book?

My favourite book of all time is absolutely definitely To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. I read it when i was in my teens, and it blew my mind. I was pretty much exclusively reading, and re-reading, J K Rowling’s Harry Potter Series and the was the first proper book I read after it. I love Harry Potter too, but To Kill a Mockingbird is just something else.

2. What are your goals? For the year? For your life?

My aims this year are to actually fulfil my New Year’s Resolutions (which can be found here). I really want to read more books from different genres, visit new places in both the UK and the world, and to be healthier. I really want to lose weight and feel healthier. In the long run, I want to be content, I want to keep travelling, and I want to be happy.

3. Are you a writer? If so, tell me about your work.

 Eh, I mean, writer is a bit of a strong term. I attempted NanoWriMo last year, with a bit of an odd idea about brain chips, but I’m not a huge writer.

4. If you could go anywhere in the world, where would you go?

Right now, I would absolutely love to go to Peru and India. I really want to see Machu Picchu, and I want to stand in front of the Taj Mahal. I want to go to Chichin Itza in Mexico, and Petra in Jordan. I want to see the space needle in Seattle and the pyramids in Giza. I want to go back to Malaysia and New Zealand and Canada. I just want to travel everywhere guys. EVERYWHERE.

5. What was the last movie you saw in the theatre and was it worthwhile?

The last films I went to see were Beauty and the Beast and Kong: Skull Island. I went with Emma to both, and we enjoyed them both a lot, although for very different reasons. The first we have been waiting to see for ages, since we heard they were making it, and we saw it in the local one screen cinema. The latter Emma had been looking forward to more than I was (y’know, Tom Hiddleston ‘n’ stuff), we saw it in IMAX at the odeon, and it was actually boss.

6. I’m curious, are there any books that you’ve tried to read and simply couldn’t finish? This is a no judgement zone.

Erm, I am sure there are a few, but I am pretty set on finishing a book once I start it. I have been reading A Song of Ice and Fire for almost a year, and within that, A Storm of Swords: Part 2 since August 2016, and I am already really struggling with Great Expectations.

7. Are you currently working on a new book/project right now? If it’s secret, you don’t have to tell me about it. If so, however, I hope it’s going well. 

I’m not particularly working on anything at the moment. I am actively trying to complete some challenges reading wise, and I am still knitting squares for my long term patchwork blanket project, but other than that, not much.

8. If you could live in any of your favourite books, which one would you choose? 

I’d definitely pick the magical worlds from the Harry Potter Series if I had to choose. I love the idea of spending time in Diagon Alley, and Hogsmeade, and Hogwarts.

9. Are there any book-to-movie adaptations that you think are just incredible? That you absolutely hated? 

For me, one of the best film to movie adaptations if the Lord of the Rings. The books are pretty brilliant, but the film adaptations are something else. The attention to detail, the quality, the acting, they are so well done! As for hated, well, the list is probably too long…

10. What do you look for in a book that you want to read? What’s the first thing to capture your attention?

I am very much a sucker for a good cover/title. I don’t really mood read, I just see what catches my eye, so unique and pretty covers, and interesting titles, plus well known author names, grab my attention faster than anything else.

11. If you’re an author, what do you do when you first get an idea for a book?

I think about them, but as I am not really a writer, I don’t really pursue them much. I love the idea of being an author, and I have attempted NanoWriMo, but I haven’t ever got anywhere.

12. How do you feel about different genres? Romance? YA? Sci-Fi? Poetry? Do you have any favourites? Any least-favourites?

I really don’t care what genre I am reading, so long as something happens. I tend to float in and out of different genres as new books are released, or as I go on holiday, so there aren’t many I won’t read. I do like a good thriller or mystery, and they are genres I will eternally come back to. I don’t love anything that has nothing going on, so contemporary is not my favourite thing to read.

13. If you could meet any writer in the world, dead or alive, who would it be?

Oh jeez, erm, I think it would have to be Roald Dahl. I love J K Rowling and Harper Lee, but the variety and complexity of the stories and worlds that Dahl has created are just too brilliant, and I would have loved to have met him.

14. Do you prefer Fiction or Non-Fiction?

Fiction, absolutely, without a doubt fiction. I have dabbled with non-fiction and really liked the odd autobiography, but for me, the magic in reading it getting lost in another world or life that takes you away from your own mundane existence.

15. Are there any characters that everyone loves that you can’t stand? Or vice versa?

Right OK, I am ready for the onslaught, but, I don’t like the Bennets from Pride and Prejudice, especially Elizabeth. I am also pretty irritated by Frodo from Lord of the Rings.

16. What do you like to do besides reading/writing?

I really love sports and movies, so a lot of my spare time is spent watching my favourites teams play my favourite sports, and also watching both new and old movies. I like going to watch sports live (mainly football at Anfield, but I’ll watch almost any) and I love going to the cinema.

17. If you could be remembered for one thing, what would it be?

I would love to have something published/be in something/do something that in years to come people go, remember her. She did that. And wasn’t it great.

18. What is your favourite guilty pleasure book?

I don’t know if you can call Harry Potter a guilty pleasure, but I will always read them at least once a year, or when I have a particular wanting to. I think what now makes these a guilty pleasure is the sheer amount of times I have re-read them.

19. Do you have a reading goal set for this year?

Pfft, jeez, what reading goals don’t I have this year?! The easiest way to check is to follow the posts on my blog, or check out my New Years Resolutions Post.

20. Tell me anything about yourself that I haven’t asked. Random fact. Weird human trick. Whatever.

Erm, I have multiple tattoos and piercings, I am a qualified SCUBA diver with specialist qualifications in deep and NITROX diving, and I used to teach English in Thailand!

Fancy a go yourself? Well, consider yourself tagged! I’d love to hear more about all of you!