How many times have you participated in CBR?
I started with CBR4! So this is my 6th year, which is hard to believe. Time flies when you’re reading. I used to see Pajiba posts in my FB feed and especially enjoyed the book reviews. I thought it would be good for me to write about the books I read because I’d seen an article about warding off dementia by keeping your brain active with reading and writing. So far so good!
Has being a participant changed the way you read? If so, how?
I think so. I’ve branched out more with genres. I read more sci-if and fantasy than I used to, and thanks to Cannonballers, I’ve been turned on to writers like Rainbow Rowell and classics like Three Men In a Boat. Also, since I know I’m going to write a review, I think I read more carefully. I don’t want to be unfair with what I write, considering how much work must go in to writing a novel. I often read on my Kindle app so I can highlight and bookmark passages as I go, and I find it useful to go back and read through them before writing anything.
What books would you be sure to have with you if there was a possibility of being stranded on a desert island?
I would bring all my Harry Potters. I haven’t re-read them in a long time and I’m sure I would love to sit and read them all again. Sometimes I just pick one up and go to a random page. There’s always wisdom there! And I’d bring Pride and Prejudice, the first book I ever read and immediately started to re-read as soon as I finished. I’d bring all the novels by Toni Morrison, Louise Erdrich and Margaret Atwood that I haven’t read yet.
Do you reread favorites, or think life’s too short and there are too many new things to read?
I don’t reread favorites much any more because I have such a stack of “to be read” books.
How many chapters do you give a book to hook you before you give up?
Probably 2-3. I can only think of 2 books that I gave up on. One was because it just didn’t interest me (I can’t even remember the title) and the other (One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest) I gave up on because it was too intense. I might go back some day and try again. I mostly try to stick through to the end.
Board games, card games, or sportsball games?
Role playing games!! We have a 13-year-old who is into D&D now, and you know, we believe that the family that slays together stays together.
