A to Z Bookish Survey

I’ve decided to kick off posting again with this survey created by Jamie @ Perpetual Page Turner, which I found via Adam @ Roof Beam Reader.

• Author You’ve Read the Most Books From
• Lemony Snicket – he’s an easy winner, having penned a 13 book series. I’ve read 17 books by Snicket.
• Best Sequel Ever

•  Inkspell by Cornelia Funke (book two in the Inkworld trilogy) – I adored the first book but love this one even more. My favourite novel by Funke.
• Currently Reading

• The Swallow: A Ghost Story by Charis Cotter
• Drink of Choice While Reading
• Hot chocolate or Coke
• E-reader or Physical Book
• Physical book! Though, now I’ve moved overseas and will have to start relying on e-books… I don’t mind reading non-fiction, YA, or comics on an e-reader because they feel like they fit the medium, but heaven forbid I have to read Tolkien digitally.
• Fictional Character You Probably Would Have Eventually Dated in High School
•  Tough question – I don’t think there’s any! There’s never been a character I thought I would have dated, let alone one I even had a crush on.
• Glad You Gave This Book a Chance
• The Great Gatsby – I did not have to read it in school, but I knew many people did and that it was the ‘great American novel’. I didn’t think such a book could be truly interesting to me, but vlogbrothers convinced me to finally give it a shot once I realized it was a small book. I read Gatsby for the first time in August 2012 and loved it!
• Hidden Gem Book

•  White is for Witching by Helen Oyeyemi – one of my all-time favourite books. I’m sometimes reluctant to share it, but if the description appeals to you definitely check it out. 
• Important Moment in Your Reading Life
• Finishing LotR for the first time. I fell in love with the story when I was 12 after seeing the films. I devoured The Hobbit and parts of LotR but it was a long time before I felt I ready to tackle the entire thing. Now I plan to read it once every year (finished the third read-through this year!)
• Just Finished
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•  The Word Changers by Ashlee Willis
• Kinds of Books You Won’t Read
• Books that have romance (esp. unhealthy romance or love triangles) front and center
• Detective mysteries (nothing against them, just no interest)
• There are probably more books you might suggest I read but that I would refuse, but it’s difficult to think of them off the top of my head.
• Longest Book You’ve Read

• 50th anniversary one-volume edition of The Lord of the Rings  – 1,178 pages
• Since LotR is more commonly counted as three books, the next longest I’ve read is The History of the Hobbit by John D. Rateliff – 938 pages
• The longest novel is 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami – 925 pages (I’m continually amazed I ever made it through this one =.=)
• Major Book Hangover Because Of
• The Lord of the Rings – you can read about the first time I finished the book here.
• Number of Bookcases You Own

Shelfie taken during Dewey’s 24 Hour Read-a-thon (April 2014)

• As I live at home with two parents and a sibling, I only technically own the one bookshelf in my room. But, I’ve taken over the bookshelf in the upstairs hallway and the bookshelf in the den. 
• One Book You Have Read Multiple Times

• The Hobbit – I’ve read it at least once every year since my first reading 11 years ago.
• Preferred Place to Read

• My reading corner by the window in my room. This space will be sorely missed while in Japan!
• Quote that Inspires You/Gives You All the Feels from a Book You’ve Read
• Gosh, I’m not really a quote collector, as odd as that sounds…I always write down passages in books but I’ve never had one that really really stuck to me, or that inspires me. One extremely moving quote that comes to mind, though, is Frodo speaking to Sam near the end of Lord of the Rings: “‘Poor Sam! It will feel like that, I am afraid,’ said Frodo. ‘But you will be healed. You were meant to be solid and whole, and you will be.'”
• Reading Regret
• Hm, I don’t really have too much reading regret. Sometimes I regret not reading a great-sounding book right when it’s released (has Mr. Penumbra’s 24-Hour Bookstoree really been out for two years already?!) but I’m always reading something so I don’t mind too much. Not finishing LotR at speed this year is also a bit of a regret, but I hate having the story end!
• Series You Started and Need to Finish
• None (I rarely read series. Two I am reading currently are ongoing – Unwind dystology by Neal Shusterman and Fairyland by Cahterynne M. Valente)
• Three of Your All-Time Favourite Books
• Here are three I haven’t mentioned yet:
• The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman
• Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami
• The Orphan’s Tales: In the Night Garden by Catherynne M. Valente
• Unapologetic Fangirl For
• Tolkien (surprise, surprise ;))
• Very Excited for This Release More Than All the Others

• Undivided by Neal Shusterman (October 2014), the final book in the Unwind dystology. I never expected more than one book set in the Unwind universe (I think Unwind was originally meant to stand alone) but each book has totally blown me away, no disappointments here.
• Worst Bookish Habit
• Probably signing out lots of library books, only reading a few, then renewing the other (sometimes for months!) only to return them without reading. Also, for someone who likes to keep her books as pristine as possible (I want them to have long lives), I sometimes take big risks with them while bathing or eating.
• X Marks the Spot: Start at the top left of your shelf and pick the 27th book

• Hitching Rides with Buddha by Will Ferguson
• Your Latest Book Purchase
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• Colourless Tsukuru Takazaki and His Year of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami – I finally purchased the ebook last week. Can’t wait to read it once I’m finished catching up on ARCs! I keep hearing about an edition with stickers? Want!
• ZZZ-Snatcher Book (last book that kept you up WAY late)

•  The Strange and Beautiful Sorrows of Ava Lavender by Leslye Walton – I got in late one night and just had to finish reading this book.

Please let me know in the comments if you do this survey!