Smithereens’ Bookish Questions

Smithereens very kindly tapped me for an award that involves answering some questions, and I thought I’d give them a shot:

1. What’s your most recent favorite book? I can’t give just one, can I? So in the memoir category, it’s Vivian Gornick’s Fierce Attachments, general nonfiction is Phillip Lopate’s To Show and To Tell: The Craft of Literary Nonfiction, literary fiction is Jeff in Venice, Death in Varanasi, and mystery is All Mortal Flesh by Julia Spencer-Fleming.
2. Name a writer you would blindly follow and buy any new book of? Nicholson Baker. I don’t love every book he writes, but I’ve loved enough to make him a favorite author. Also, Geoff Dyer.
   
3. What book would you like to re-read? At this very moment, I’d like to re-read Middlemarch, as a friend of mine is reading it for a book group, so it’s on my mind. In other moments, I think about re-reading a Jane Austen novel. Just about any one would do.
   
4. What favorite book would you read to your 5 year-old child (or relative)?
   Uh, I’m not sure. What’s appropriate for five year-olds? I’m sure I’ll know by the time my own kid is five, but for now, we read board books he can chew on.
5. Have you ever regretted posting something on your blog? I think occasionally about things I’ve written here that now seem a little silly (I’m not going to point them out to you, obviously), but overall, I don’t regret postings things here. Generally, what I post isn’t controversial enough to regret.
   
6. How do you manage nasty comments on your blog? I don’t get nasty comments, thank goodness. The worst I’ve gotten is some slightly rude ones. But I have no problem deleting nasty comments were I to get them. This is my blog, and I decide what goes on here.
7. Have you read and enjoyed Tolkien’s books? No. I read The Hobbit a long, long time ago, but that’s it, and it didn’t do much for me. I might feel differently were I to pick up The Lord of the Rings now, but I’m just not that interested. Now, if Cormac ever wants to read the novels, I’d be open to reading them with him. But that’s probably the only reason I’d ever do it.
   
8. If someone offered you a free air ticket, which destination would you choose? Ireland. My one visit there made me want to see more. I’d love to do a very slow tour of the coast, see Dublin, and then hop over to Scotland and tour around there.
9. What is the weirdest food you’ve ever eaten? I’m a very boring eater. The students in the Culinary Arts program at my school tried to offer me frogs’ legs recently, and I just couldn’t do it. You won’t catch me eating anything weird.
10. What’s your favorite post on your own blog? I don’t really know … I don’t re-read my archives much to develop a favorite. So I’ll just say this one.
    
11. What website do you visit for a 1mn break? I wish it were something interesting, but I’m afraid it’s just Facebook or Twitter, or maybe Feedly, my feed reader, or perhaps Goodreads, to see what my friends are reading.