Good morning!  I saw the 10 bookish questions tags around the blogosphere and thought it might be fun to share my answers.  OK here we go.

1) What book is on your nightstand now?

A Court of Mist and Fury by Sarah J. Maas.  This is the second in the Court of Thorns and Roses series.  I’m only a few pages in, but to be honest, so far it’s not really grabbing my attention.  I know that’s probably an unpopular opinion right now, but personally I’m far more engaged in Maas’ Throne of Glass series.  I’ll probably continue to give it a go, though.

2) What was the last truly great book that you read?

I’m currently also leafing through George R.R. Martin’s A Feast for Crows and A Dance with Dragons, inspired to do so mainly by the TV show.  I’m reminded just how deep and complex Martin’s characters are, and how beautiful his writing is, a trait that is, sadly, not always shared by the show.  The show is wonderful in its own way, but Martin’s books are a whole different ball game.  Incidentally, I have been swapping chapter by chapter from Feast and Dance, which works remarkably well.  

3) If you could meet any writer – dead or alive – who would it be? And what would you want to know?

I think I’d have to go with George R.R. Martin so that I could hassle him for spoilers on the rest of A Song of Ice and Fire.  I’d love to know more about the White Walkers and what their story is.  Martin is not the kind of writer who goes in for a purely black and white, good vs evil perspective so I think we have a lot more to learn about them.

4) What books might we be surprised to find on your shelves?

Hmmmm, let me think.  Opera for Dummies by David Pogue and Scott Speck, perhaps?  Although I have for a long time been passionate about musicals, it’s only in the last couple of years that I’ve started to follow opera, sparked mainly by my friend Natasha and the New York Metropolitan Opera’s streaming operas live in cinemas.  I know very little about opera still, and like most Dummies books, Opera for Dummies gives a decent if superficial overview into the genre.  As a bonus, it comes with a free CD of some of the main highlights, showcasing a variety of composers and styles.

Another surprise might be Le Francais au Bureau by the Office de la Langue Francaise here in Quebec aka the French Language Police.  I learned French back in the UK so it was French from France I learned rather than Quebecois.  I invested in this book not long after I arrived to help me through the differences in a work environment.  

5) How do you organise your personal library?

To be honest, I don’t.  Most of my books are in Kindle format so I rely on good old search to find any book I’m looking for.  I do also have a program on my Mac called Delicious Library which I use to display my ebooks.  I wrote a blog post on it a couple years back.  It doesn’t link up to my Kindle library automatically, unfortunately, so if I buy a new book I have to remember to go in to add it manually.  I have set it up to display by author, then subdivided by series.  The nice thing about Delicious Library is you can switch how the library is organised at the touch of a button.  Sometimes, for the fun of it, I switch it to order by cover colour which looks really nice, too.

6) What book have you always meant to read and haven’t gotten around to yet? Anything you feel embarrassed never to have read?

I think I should have read A Scot’s Quair by Lewis Grassic Gibbon.  This is a Scottish classic and tells the story of Chris Guthrie, a young woman living in the rural north east of Scotland not long before the first World War.  It deals with the changes in Scottish society at that time.  Many Scots read this in school, but I didn’t.  Or at least if I did, I don’t remember!

7) Disappointing, overrated, just not good: what book did you feel you were supposed to like but didnt? Do you remember the last book you put down without finishing?

As I mentioned in my last reading roundup, I was rather disappointed by The Star Touched Queen by Roshani Chokshi.  I did finish it, but I struggled – I just couldn’t get into it.  A lot of people seem to have enjoyed it though.

8) What kinds of stories are you drawn to? Any you stay clear of?

I am drawn to stories with good character development.  Any book in which the characters are changed by their experiences will suck me in.  George R.R. Martin is a master of this.  I am likely to be frustrated by books in which the main characters barely change throughout or, worse, sequels which ignore any character development.

Psychological horror/thrillers are one genre I tend to steer clear of.  I’m thinking Silence of the Lambs or Before I Go to Sleep.  I know that these books get under my skin far more than more supernatural horrors.

9) If you could require the president to read one book, what would it be?

I’m in Canada, so we don’t have a President! 

10) What do you plan to read next?

I will probably listen to the audiobook of Illuminae by Jay Kristoff and Amie Kaufman.  I received an Advance Reader Copy of the sequel, Gemina at BEA, so I plan to refresh my memory of the first book before picking it up.

Thanks for reading!  Have a great day.