Booktags #17: NY Times by the book tag

Time for another book tag, yay! This time it’s a tag that I literally had never heard of. And then I came across it Portal in the Pages‘ youtube channel and I was like… Yes. I need to do this. STAT. The NY Times by the book tag!

What book is on your night stand now?

There’s three of them, actually: The Cosy Tea Shop in the Castle, the 7 Habits of Highly effective people and Voor het zeggen. I’m not technically reading any of them right now, but hey, they’re there, right? Ready for when I have time!

What was the last truly great book that you read?

De tragedie van Swerthout-Wittebeek. It’s a debut from a Belgian author describing the last days of WW2 in a small Belgian village. Basically, the entire male population almost got annihilated. I wish I were exaggerating, but I’m not. It had me ugly crying in the car and obsessing over it on Twitter and in general as well. I think I’ve recommended it to like 9 people in 7 days. And I don’t think I’ve actually encountered more than 9 people (that weren’t my students) in those 7 days :p

If you could meet any writer – dead or alive – who would it be? And what would you want to know?

Astrid Lindgren. Mainly just to see what she was actually like. Oh, or Jane Austen. Or Agatha Christie. Or for the same reason!

What books might we be surprised to find on your shelves?

I don’t know that you would be necessarily surprised at any of the books on my shelves. Maybe just at the amount of children’s literature? Cuz I act like a pretty well-functioning adult for most of the time, right :p

How do you organize your personal library?

Well, as you would have it, for #40DaysOfBlogging, I actually wrote an entire post on that in my Book Shelves Tour!

What book have you always meant to read and haven’t gotten around to yet?

A lot of classics. Like Anne of Green Gables. and some more Jane Austen’s. And the rest of the Agatha Christies. And all these benchwarmers 🙂

Anything you feel embarrassed never to have read?

Maybe LOTR? Actually, no. I only semi-like the movies, but at least I know the story from that. And I’ve tried starting the series a couple of times and didn’t like it each and every single time. So you know, not that embarassed after all 🙂

Disappointing, overrated, just not good: what book did you feel you were supposed to like but didn’t?

Probably The Great Gatsby. But again, I wrote an entire post on books I should’ve liked but didn’t a long time ago. Like, probably one of my first posts ever!

Do you remember the last book you put down without finishing?

That doesn’t really happen too often, although some books do take me ages to finish. Like, again, I wrote a post on it, but also, I’m currently on month 9 of reading a book. So there’s that.  Most recently, though? Primates of Park Avenue. I just could not get into it!

What kinds of stories are you drawn to? Any you stay clear of?

Romance. Some history, some drama, … You can always do me a favour with those.

Anything thriller or horror, though? Thanks but no thanks!

If you could require the president to read one book, what would it be?

The entire HP-series. See if he recognizes himself in some of the characters. Or just anything that teaches basic empathy. Th eordinary stuff.

What do you plan to read next?

Voor het zeggen. Because I’m supposed to lead an event on that one in like, oh, you know, 3 days. I guess I’m a bit of a procrastinator? :p

So, quick question: have you done this tag yet? If so, do leave me your link below! If not: feel free to consider yourself tagged now!

-Saar