I Dare Ya Book Tag

I found this tag through a bloglovin search. The version I saw was posted by blogger  https://audielou.com/2019/ who saw it at https://theelderbooksblog.wordpress.com/ blog. I have no idea who started it as it is too time consuming to go search for it. 

1) What book has been on your shelf the longest?
One book from my childhood that I kept was 'Bears in the night' by Stan Berenstain. It's not related to the books with Brother and Sister Bear. This book features a whole tribe of young bears going out for a midnight adventure. I love it!

 
2) What is your current read, your last read and the book you'll read next?
My last read was Plain Jane, a novel based on Henry VIII's third wife Jane Seymour. I'm just about ready to start Robert Boren's The Plan, a prequel to the Bug Out series. Next up for me will be Origin by Jack Kilborn.

3) What book did everyone like but you hated?
My book tastes are not the same as most bloggers I come into contact with. I'm not a fan of romance, contemporary, crime, YA and kids, and epic fantasy. I read only certain types of fantasy and SF, limited types of thrillers. I'm more about Indie horror, creature feature and apocalypse books, political memoirs and diaries, mountain expeditions, The Tudors. So really most of the popular books amongst bloggers never hit my radar! Lots of people seem to like Neil Gaiman, Terry Pratchett, Patrick Ness, Holly Black, Seanan McGuire, Gregory Maguire, Joseph Heller but I never liked their work.

4) What book do you keep telling yourself you'll read but you probably won't?
I either want to read it or I don't, plain and simple. At the moment I have too many awaiting my attention but what I have I do intend to read at some point, otherwise I'd get shot of it.

5) What book are you saving for retirement?  
I'm trying to get through as many of the buggers as I can right now so my future self can enjoy re-reading lots of favourites! I'm not trying to save anything!
 
6) Last page: read it first or wait 'til the end?  I've never seen the point in reading the end of the book to see if the ending was worth reading a whole book for. My gran's sister used to read mysteries and always needed to know who the killer was before reading the book. Surely that just spoils the whole book! I want to be excited and entertained and not know what is coming next!

7) Acknowledgment: waste of paper and ink or interesting aside?
I don't regard it as a waste of paper. It gives the author a chance to thank people for helping them get that book out and promoted. I have been surprised to be included in a few acknowledgment sections and it does feel great to be mentioned, so it serves a purpose!

8) What book character would you switch places with?
With the favourite genres of mine being horror and apocalypse, you really don't want to swap with any of those characters unless you want trauma, pain, death and disaster in your life!

9) Do you have a book that reminds you of something specific in your life?
Yes, Harry Potter. I'd loved reading while I was a kid and student  but stressful jobs ended my reading around 1995. In 2003 I went off work with depression and had to give up my job. On a whim I joined a book club that sends those magazines every month and the joining offer had the first four Harry Potter books for about £3 or £4. I decided to try them as something different and hoovered them up! It sparked off my love of reading again and I've never looked back.  Thank you JK Rowling!

10) Name a book that you aquired in an interesting way?
I don't think I really get my books in exciting ways! Most purchases are Amazon, gifts or charity shops! I don't go to book conventions or author signings. My dad did queue up at a shopping centre to get a local footballer's book bought and signed for me. 

11) Have you ever given a book away for a special reason/to a special person?
I never give away my beloved books other than donating the books to charity shops when I'm finished with them. I have in the past bought books to be gifts for people but not second hand from my collection.

12) Which book has been with you to the most places?
I don't carry the same book around with me. I take whatever book I happen to be reading but I might have taken this on holiday a couple of times.

13) Any required reading you hated in high school that wasn't so bad years later?
I hated pretty much all of the required reading at school-DH Lawrence, George Orwell, George Bernard Shaw, Arthur Miller...it turned me off the so called classics. I tried a few others but just didn't like the style of them and I still don't go near them.

14) Used or brand new?
There is nothing like getting that shiny brand new book in your hands, the soft rustle of new pages, that new book smell...I love it! But I enjoy browsing second hand bookshops and charity shops to find a bargain or buying second hand on Amazon. A lot of my political books were published in the 70's and 80's so most of them are used books.  

15) Have you ever read a Dan Brown book?
Yes. I very much enjoyed the Da Vinci Code. I thought Digital Fortress was a decent read too. I DNFed Angels and Demons as it hit a slow patch in the middle but I still might give it another chance as I enjoyed the film.

 
16) Have you ever seen a film you liked more than the book?
I always think of Jaws. It was a poor book overall with all that stuff about Ellen having an affair with Hooper. Had it stuck to the shark story, it might have been recent. I totally love the film and watch it all the time. It's probably the most watched film in my collection. There are others where the film was better like 

17) Have you ever read a book that's made you hungry?
I do get a bit hungry and jealous when I'm reading Harry Potter and see all those descriptions of the feasts they have! I also really want to try Butterbeer and some of the tasty sweet treats that they have!

18) Who is the person whose book advice you'll always take?
I don't ask for book advice generally. I look at book blogs I follow and decide for myself if a book interests me or not. I know my book tastes better than anybody. I do like looking at blogs I follow for suggestions about new books coming out or good backlog books. I then research the books on Goodreads to find out about tropes and plot devices before I decide. I have found some great books through my blogging friends reviews.

19) Is there a book out of your comfort zone that you ended up loving?
I'm not interested in robots and space conspiracy type things but reviews by blogger friends brought me to Murderbot. Finding a robot programmed to kill to defend humans, with a love for space based drama series and a social anxiety issue was a lot of fun. I'm not a gamer but I really enjoyed Ready Player One with the 80's retro vibe. I don't like romance in my books but I seem to love it in Tudor fiction about Henry and his Queens for some reason!

Want to take part? Consider yourself tagged!