Sarah of All the Book Blog Names are Taken has tagged me in a survey/game thing! I’m tasked with answering her questions and then posing some of my own.
1. Would you have rather have been at court with Eleanor of Aquitaine during her estrangement from Henry II and chat with her on occasion, or be under house arrest with her for fifteen years until Henry II died and Richard I freed her?
If I’m stuck in 13th century England, I’d rather not be under house arrest. Court sounds more fun. I’d be reluctant to get too chummy with Eleanor, anyway. She’s not exactly safe!
2. Would you rather have lived at the court of Henry II or Henry VIII?
Henry II has St. Thomas Becket, but Henry VIII has St. Thomas More. It’s a hard choice, but I think I’ll go with ‘Enry the Eighth purely because I’m more familiar with Tudor England rather than Plantagenet England.
3. Would you rather have been Catherine of Aragon, Anne Boleyn, or Jane Seymour?
Definitely Queen Catherine. I’d be more likely to return to Spain than to hang around England being noble and miserable, though.
4. Would you rather be forced to read the last chapter first of every book you ever read for one year, or have the last chapter be missing entirely?
I read mostly nonfiction, so it wouldn’t matter too much — reading the last chapter first might actually be helpful, in terms of summarizing the book for me before I begin.
5. Would you rather have a friend who always loses books you lend them, or only returns them water-logged/with food or drink stains?
Oh, god. Lose the books rather than destroy them, please. At least a lost book can be found!
6. Would you rather have your favorite book turned into a movie/tv show, or your fave movie/tv show turned into a book?
I absolutely want to read Deep Six: The Continuing Adventures of L.J. Tibbs, the fictional novel that’s mentioned in NCIS, written by one of the detectives about the team’s cases. So if that counts — also, Breaking Bad would make an amazing novel.
7. Would you rather be a professional reviewer or famous author?
Famous authors make loads more money, provided they don’t pull a Jane Austen and become famous only after they’re dead.
8. Would you rather be able to visit your favorite book and talk to your favorite characters once, or visit whenever you wanted, but only as an invisible observer?
Most of the joy in visiting a place like Port William (Jayber Crow, Hannah Coulter, The Memory of Old Jack, etc) would be in the personal connections, so absolutely let me visit and talk. I could sit a spell in Jayber’s shop
9. Would you rather own a bookshop or work at a library?
I work at the library, and I imagine owning a bookshop is more stressful. On the upside, you’d get more people actually interested in books (most library visitors are after computers and services, at least here), and easier access to coffee.
10. Would you rather only read physical copies or ebooks for an entire year?
Ebooks, easy. 20 boxes of books given to Goodwill last year and they’re still all around me.
As part of the rules, I’m supposed to invent my own list o’ ten and then tag ten people. I don’t know that many who haven’t been tagged, though, and I can’t think of ten questions I actually like, so I’m just going to drop three and let Whosoever Wills answer them!
Here’s my list!
1. Would you rather read by yourself, or in a cozy crowd like at a coffee shop or bookstore?
2. If you were imprisoned by an eccentric and told you would only be released once you’d written a volume for their collection, would you rather write poetry or prose?
3. If you suddenly became the main character in a novel, would you rather it be one written by Stephen King or Dean Koontz? (Or, cheating from the format; if you could be the main character in anyone’s novel, who would be the author?)
