Borrowed from Marian, and remixed a little bit with more borrowing from The Edge of the Precipice. If you like the questions, climb aboard and remove/add your own!

1.  If you had to go into the witness protection program, and they gave you the option of moving inside a book, where would you like to go?

Oh, easy. The Awakening of Miss Prim, in which the main character takes the post of librarian in an idyllic little village where society is arranged along distributist lines, where  everyone has their own home and small business, works just enough to take care of their needs, and spends the rest of the time cycling, drinking tea,  puttering about in gardens, and discussing  the classics and philosophy. 

2.  Have you ever claimed to have read a book you actually hadn’t read?

I claim to have read Hunchback of Notre Dame when I read an abridged version of it. I will atone for my sin eventually. 

3.  What author have you read the most books by?

Isaac Asimov (a hundred, at least, from fiction to nonfiction), followed by Bernard Cornwell. 

4.  Do you ever buy fun bookish merch like mugs, shirts, artwork, etc?

No,  though I do enjoy looking at them. 

5.  Do you usually read only one book at a time, or do you have several going at once?

I usually have at least two, a ‘serious’ read and a fun read.  This isn’t as simple as fiction or nonfiction, because the ‘fun’ read for me might be a book on transportation.

6.  Are you a mood reader, or do you plan out your reads?

Yes. 

7.  If you could meet the author of your favorite book and ask them one question, what would you ask them?

“Can I live on your farm, Mr. Berry?” 

8.  Have you ever tried a new food or drink because you read about it in a book or story?

“Scotch and soda for a dying man!” was Thomas Trumbull’s usual greeting when he arrived a meetings of the Black Widowers in Asimov’s mystery series of the same name, and it’s why one of the first drinks I ever tried was Scotch. 

9.  Have you ever named a pet after a book character?

Yep! My first dog, Barkley (from Sesame Street, which I read books of) and my current dog Idgie (Fried Green Tomatoes). 

10.  What book are you reading right now?

Finishing Fr. Dwight Longenecker’s Romance of Religion, steadily working on Sarah Dry’s Waters of the World, on  our air and oceans. 

11. If you could spend a day with your favorite author, what would you do with them?

Wendell Berry would just want to work, and if I chose Bill Kauffman we’d just sit in a bar and tell stories all day,   so I’m going to go with Tony Esolen and a visit to a classical art museum where hopefully he will begin lecturing and bringing the artists’ dreams alive with his words. 

12. What is the longest book you’ve ever read, and did you like it?

The Gulag Archipelago, approximately two thousand pages across its three volumes. If we’re not counting multi-volume books, then War and Peace followed by The Age of Faith (Will Durant).     I loved Gulag & Durant, and enjoyed War and Peace. 

13. Have you ever cried over a fictional death scene, and if so, which one(s)?

The Pigman,  in The Pigman. I remember vividly as the first book that made a dramatic impact on my emotions.    Since we’re being more broad about ‘fiction’, though, the best example would be that of Arthur Morgan in Red Dead Redemption 2.      I’ve played it numerous times and it’s never lost its impact.