A to Z Blogger Book Survey

Over on Brummie’s blog (link), he posted another blogger survey as part of “getting to know you better” for readers that are not familiar with the blogger.  I decided to take up the challenge and answer this survey on the ‘A to Z Blogger Book Survey.’


Now, I will admit that I am a disadvantage for two reasons.  One, I am working away from home, so I don’t have complete access to my library.  But I did start working on a Master Log of all of the books I own, so I will be able to look up a large percentage of what I own.  Two, I read well over 75-85% non-fiction.  Several of these questions are more geared to mass market fiction books, but I will do my best.  So let’s get on with the survey!

Author you've read the most books from: This is sort of hard since most authors I read only write out a small number of books, and I have read most of what they released.  I guess just by number, it would probably be either H.P. Lovecraft or Clive Cussler.

H.P. Lovecraft

Clive Cussler

Best sequel ever:  I don’t know if they count as sequels or not, I really enjoy the Continental Op’s stories by Dashiell Hammett.  ("You can only hang him once" the Op replies.) I also enjoyed the Harry Potter series, so it is sort of a toss-up.

It is not the Continental Op, but it has all of the feel of the Op

Currently reading: Second World War Infantry Tactics – The European Theatre by Stephen Bull

Drink of choice whilst reading:  As I normally read while I am eating, then it will be ice tea, un-sweet  

 E-reader or physical book:  E-reader!  I love my Kindle Fire!  However, most of my books are not available for e-readers, so this is a double edge sword of a question.

Fictional character you would probably have dated in high school:  Since most of the books I read are non-fiction, it is hard to answer this one.  But if Emma Watson is what Hermione Granger is suppose to be liked, I would like to have tried dating her.

Glad you gave this book a chance: In the Heart of the Sea: The Tragedy of the Whaleship Essex by Nathaniel Philbrick.  This is not a subject that I am really interested in, but found it a very good read.

Hidden book gem:  Isn’t that sort of same as the previous question?

Important moment in your book life:  Getting my Kindle Fire for Christmas

Just finished:  With Utmost Dispatch by Aaron Rosenberg 

Kind of book you won't read:  One in a language I can’t understand!  Seriously, most mass market fiction books.

Longest book you've read:  I really don’t know.  I am afraid to guess as I am where I can't look at my books.

Major book hangover because of disappointing endings:  I can’t think of one

Number of bookcases you own: ‘Ah, mmmm, er…(whisphers) ten, and more still in boxes and not including all of the electrical versions.'

One book you've read multiple times:  At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft.  I have read this in many different books as well as reading some of those books again.

Preferred place to read:  As I read mostly while eating, I will have to stay at a dining table

Quote that inspires you/gives you all the feels from a book you've read:  “The most merciful thing in the world, I think, is the inability of the human mind to correlate all its contents. We live on a placid island of ignorance in the midst of black seas of the infinity, and it was not meant that we should voyage far.  The sciences, each straining in its own direction, have hitherto harmed us little; but some day the piecing together of dissociated knowledge will open up such terrifying vistas of reality, and of our frightful position therein, that we shall either go mad from the revelation or flee from the deadly light into the peace and safety of a new dark age.” – H.P. Lovecraft, The Call of Cthulhu

Reading regret: Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne; I had to read it multiple times for school and I still hate this book.

Series you started and need to finish:  War against the Chtorr by David Gerrold, but the reason I have not finished it is because David Gerrold gave up on it after writing 75% of it in 1993.

Three of your all-time favorite books:  This will be hard as my opinions vary from day to day, but I will state these three for now

At the Mountains of Madness by H.P. Lovecraft

Razor's Edge: The Unofficial History of the Falklands War by Hugh Bicheno

Connections by James Burke

Unapologetic fanboy for: H.P. Lovecraft

Very excited for this release:  Guerrilla Warfare in Missouri Vol. III, January-August 1864 by Bruce Nichols

Worst bookish habit:  Buying more books than what I can read

X marks the spot - Start at the top left of your bookshelf and pick the 27th book:  I am not near my bookshelves, so I am going to use my Shelfari listing to find the 27^th book:

My Mission in Finland and the Baltic by Rüdiger von der Goltz

Major-General Rudiger von der Goltz

Your latest book purchase:  (Yes, seriously – I bought this a few days ago before I saw this blog survey!) The Effects of Nuclear War: Tutorial on a Nuclear Weapon over Detroit or Leningrad: Civil Defense, Attack Cases and Long-Term Effects, Economic Damage, Fictional Account, Radiological Exposure by the Office of Technology Assessment, & the Congress of the United States   

(Lord, do I sound like I am a bundle of joy! I bought the following five books the day before and realized I forgot to buy the previous one mentioned.  I bet you will think that there is a theme going with my purchases!)

The Pentomic Era: The U.S. Army Between Korea and Vietnam - Eisenhower Era Battle over Military Strategy, Atomic Weapons, Battlefield Nuclear Bombs, General Maxwell Taylor, & the Nike Program by the U.S. Army

15 Minutes: General Curtis LeMay and the Countdown to Nuclear Annihilation by L. Douglas Keeney

One Minute to Midnight: Kennedy, Khrushchev, and Castro on the Brink of Nuclear War by Michael Dobbs

Britain on the Brink: The Cold War's Most Dangerous Weekend, 27-28 October 1962 by Jim Wilson

Survival City: Adventures Among the Ruins of Atomic America by Tom Vanderbilt

Zzz snatcher book (the last book that kept you up waaay too late:)  Because of my job, I tend not to read at night as I am too tired.  But the one book that kept me up years ago until I finished it was Kon-Tiki: Across the Pacific by Raft by Thor Heyerdahl