Literary Guilt and Inferiority Quiz

This quiz was taken from the book blog On The Literary Sofa and can be found here. The picture below is a snapshot of my uni days when I was definitely a guilty and inferior reader!

1. Do you have an English degree?

I do, but actually I feel like that makes very little difference to my reading life. I managed to go through higher education specialising in books and feel as though I had the opportunity or encour

agement to read very little of the cannon and absolutely none of everything else. 

2. How many lines of the Will Self article did you read before encountering an unfamiliar word?

I stole this quiz from a book blog that stole it from a newspaper so I didn't read the article. Perhaps I'll go back and read it. 

3. Have you ever read a novel by Will Self cover to cover?

I haven't. In fact I have never even picked up one of his books. I had Umbrella  on my amazon wishlist when I still used the website, but I've forgotten why now. I shall have to look it up again.

4. Do you find long novels off-putting?

I do. I get bored if I'm reading the same book for a long time. I know it's completely illogical, but I feel as though it's unproductive if I'm reading the same books for a long time. By a long time I mean over a few weeks. I like to marathon longer books, especially at the weekend. 

5. Have you ever tried to estimate how many books you have time to read before you die?

No! I like the idea though. Say I read an average of 50 books per year and I live until I'm 75 (hopefully conservative estimate) and we count this year then that would be... 2600 books! That somehow feels depressing. 

6. Do you skim-read novels or skip pages?

I try not to. Sometimes I'm reading, but I'm not really concentrating and when I drift back in I don't bother to reread so possibly could class that as skimming. 

7. Do you feel bad about giving up on a book?

I do because I always feel as though I'm being snobby or rude, but some things you just can't get into. 

 8. Have you ever purposely watched the film version of a novel instead of reading it?

Not with a novel. I usually resist until I've finished the book. I did watch the film instead of reading Romeo and Juliet back at school. 

9. Have you ever been embarrassed by your taste in fiction or to admit you enjoyed a particular book?

I think that I have had a huge internal debate with the New Adult genre and my feminism so I can sometimes be skittish about admitting that. I did also feel a little embarrassed about liking Josephine Cox novels, but not any more. 

10.  Do you have a physical TBR list of titles you want to read?

Yes. It is the combined wishlists on the library website and my readitswapit account. There are also a couple that are in my head, but I also have a TBR so there are references for me everywhere. 

11. Have you ever felt alone because you didn’t enjoy a book everyone else seems to love?

I had this feeling a few times in university seminars. I spent every seminar of my Beat Writers class feeling like this because everyone else were major fans and I had just been placed in that class. I mean Junky was ok.

12. Did you tell people you read Fifty Shades of Grey ‘just to see what the fuss was about’?

Nope, I actually read it because I wanted to. It was a big fuss in America it seemed before it exploded in the UK and I jumped on the bus quite early on. It is nice to be part of the conversation though and I enjoy being part of 'the fuss'. 

13. Have you ever read a Russian novel?

I have read one Russian novel and it was The Master and Margarita and I absolutely loved it. I look forward to reading much, much more. 

14. Have you ever pretended to read a novel you haven’t read?

Well sort of. I am quite familiar with Cormac McCarthy's The Road as I actually attended the seminar even though I hadn't read it and so last summer I said yes when someone asked if anyone had read it. I can sort of chat about it. It's still on my TBR.

15. Have you ever embarrassed yourself whilst discussing books?

I don't think so. I'm not sure what there is to get embarrassed about. We all read them differently and interpret different things. I think that all reading and book discussions should be shameless. 

So now it's your turn. What are some of your answers to these questions? Comment below and let me know!