27. Most inspirational book you’ve read this year (fiction or non-fiction)?
Everyday in Tuscany by Frances Mayes – whenever I feel like I need a break or a deep drink from the well, I turn to one of her Tuscany books. This one is her most recent travelogue, and it never fails to straighten me out.
28. Favorite reading snack?
Pumpkin seeds – sprinkled with lime juice and cayenne pepper, and roasted in the oven.
29. Name a case in which hype ruined your reading experience.
I am weird in that if a book gains a lot of hype, is everywhere, and everyone gets to read it before me, I often never get around to picking it up. A good example of this is The Kite Runner. It has been many years since it was popular, but here it sits on my shelf unread. It is not that I feel above reading popular books – I do this often, but it is possible that there is a “reading window” for a hyped book that once passed is hard to find again.
30. How often do you agree with critics about a book?
I find myself often liking critically acclaimed books – sometimes more often than most people who are more drawn to popular books, but then there are many deviations. For example, I just found out recently that Sarah Vowell’s Wordy Shipmates is her least loved history book. Even though I have not read everything by her yet, I find that I adore Wordy Shipmates – even more than some of her other work. When this happens, my friends and family chalk it up to my nerd factor.
31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?
I do not have a lot of experience with this, but there are a few books that are considered indispensable classics to which I would give a bad review. It makes me nervous to do this, however, since I know that they have their merit and that many colleagues would heartily disagree with my views.
32. If you could read in a foreign language, which language would you chose?
Hindi and Urdu – I have never had the opportunity to learn these languages, but I would love to be able to read some of my favorite stories in the original.
33. Most intimidating book you’ve ever read?
In the past I was extremely intimidated by many works of theory – probably the most intimidating to read (and I am not even through all of it yet) is Lefebvre’s The Production of Space. However, now I do not find it as intimidating.
34. Most intimidating book you’re too nervous to begin?
I am a little nervous about beginning A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth – do you know how large this thing is? My edition is 1474 pages in teeny-tiny print!
35. Favorite Poet?
The only poet that I have read for absolute pleasure and of my own free will is Pablo Neruda. I have one edition of his original works with translations. I have not picked it up in a long while, but he might be my favorite. Oh, and I also really like Rumi’s poems –especially the ones about wine.
36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?
I am at a low point right now with only two books checked out, but in a typical semester I have an average of 6 checked out at any one time.
37. How often have you returned book to the library unread?
When I had course work, I would often get 6 library books per class for term papers, but never get around to reading them all.
38. Favorite fictional character?
This is too difficult, but I will say that one of my favorite fictional characters is Beatrice in Shakespeare’s Much Ado About Nothing.
39. Favorite fictional villain?
Again, this is too hard, but I do love Milton’s Satan in Paradise Lost – best Satan ever.
40. Books I’m most likely to bring on vacation?
My guilty pleasure vacation books often consist of historical adventure novels in the likeness of Dan Brown’s books – I never can remember the authors and most of them are badly written, but I still love them.
41. The longest I’ve gone without reading.
Including newspapers, magazines, or blogs? Probably the eight hours that I sleep every night, but if we are talking about books alone – maybe a week.
42. Name a book that you could/would not finish.
Here comes a guilty confession: I never did finish Native Son by Richard Wright. This is one of the classics I mentioned above where I can absolutely see the merit, but I just could not make it to the end. This is odd, since I really enjoy his travel writing and some of his other works, but for some reason I just could not stand this novel.
43. What distracts you easily when you’re reading?
Talking or TV
44. Favorite film adaptation of a novel?
BBC Pride and Prejudice, of course
45. Most disappointing film adaptation?
The 2005 adaptation of P&P with Knightley – it was so bad.
46. The most money I’ve ever spent in the bookstore at one time?
Over $300, but that was back in college when I bought all my books at once.
47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?
Never really, unless it is a book that I am unlikely to buy/read.
48. What would cause you to stop reading a book half-way through?
I have to constantly snap back into focus to get through one page – I read for a living, so I don’t exactly have time to read books that cannot even keep my attention.
49. Do you like to keep your books organized?
My books are organized by period and/or geographic region, but they are not alphabetized – I know where they all are.
50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you’ve read them?
I prefer to keep them if I like them – you never know when you will need to consult them in the future.
51. Are there any books you’ve been avoiding?
My anthology of American Literature which I will need to consult soon so I can create my syllabus.
52. Name a book that made you angry.
I took a job to edit a book manuscript once – I cannot even remember the name of it now, but it was the most awful crap that I have ever read, and I am not even talking about the writing style. It was racist, xenophobic, and sexist. Of course I did not know this until I was half way through the damn thing, so I had to finish editing it.
53. A book you didn’t expect to like but did?
At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald. It is a children’s book that I had to read for a class and which I thought would bore me to tears, but it was a very beautifully crafted 19th century children’s book.
54. A book that you expected to like but didn’t?
This only happened once with Arundhati Roy’s The God of Small Things. I was embarrassed that I did not like this book since it was so widely loved and so relevant to my work, but I picked it up again almost a year after I first read it with new eyes. Now I love the book!
55. Favorite guilt-free, pleasure reading?
Any of the works from my favorite Diaspora writers are both pleasurable and guilt-free since I often use them for my work.
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