Ten Bookish Questions

Arthur Graham infected me with this meme. And syphilis.

1. What book is on your nightstand now?
I don't have a nightstand.  My coffee table is currently occupied by 'Salem's Lot and the Poison Artist.

2. What was the last truly great book that you read?
The last truly great book I read was Misery by Stephen King.  Prior to that, it was True Crime Addict by James Renner, coming to better book stores near you in October.

3. If you could meet any writer – dead or alive – who would it be? And what would you want to know?
I'd like to meet George Pelecanos and I'd probably bug him about ska and reggae bands.

4. What books might we be surprised to find on your shelves?
People are usually surprised that I've read Three Kingdoms by Luo Guanzhong and 40-something books by P.G. Wodehouse.

5. How do you organize your personal library?
I don't have much of an organizational scheme these days.  The unread books go on shelves apart from the read ones.  Books in a series are grouped together.  Beyond that, it's every book for himself.

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 read what I want to read so there's no embarrassment.  I've been meaning to read Moby Dick, War of the Worlds, and The Time Machine but my life will be complete if I don't.

7. Disappointing, overrated, just not good: what book did you feel you were supposed to like but didn't? Do you remember the last book you put down without finishing?
Dan Brown is overrated, which leads me to my next point: Just because thousands of other people got hoodwinked into reading a shitty book doesn't mean you have to.  Bestseller status does not equal quality.

I've got a pretty good bullshit detector so it's very seldom I pick something out that I don't like or don't feel like finishing.

8. What kinds of stories are you drawn to? Any you stay clear of?
The stories that hook me are ones that I don't feel like I've read a hundred times before.  I steer clear of multi-volume fantasy quest stories, romance, mysteries that star an ex-military guy, and anything with the words 'conspiracy', 'constitution', 'American Way of Life', 'patriot', 'assassin', 'FBI', 'CIA', or 'terrorist' in the synopsis.

9. If you could require the president to read one book, what would it be?
The president is pretty busy.  I'd probably push The Man from Primrose Lane on him, though.  That was a bad ass book.

10. What do you plan to read next?
That's a very personal question.  I should actually start the Poison Artist at some point and I've got Drunk Driving Champion by Eric Hendrixson on deck.  Beyond that, I'll probably burn through a few detective books.