Two memes for the holidays

Ok, it's really just one meme, but for both books and comics! Separately.

1. What author do you own the most books by? I would have put my money on Tolkien, but he comes in at number three! Two is Michael Moorcock, and numero uno is Robin Hobb, since I have all three of her Farseer, Liveship and Lord Golden trilogies.

2. What book do you own the most copies of? Don’t think I have more than two copies of any book, but there are many that I have two of. Usually in both English and Finnish, sometimes it’s because I’ve found a really old printing or something.

3. Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions? They did?

4. What fictional character are you secretly in love with? If I tell you, it won’t be a secret anymore. But there have been several. Man, I have to do this meme for comics as well...

5. What book have you read the most times in your life? Not counting children’s books, as I’ve no recollection, it’s probably Martin Millar’s Milk, sulphate and Alby Starvation.

6. Favorite book as a ten year old? As if I can remember. There was a Finnish book called Sapotillit, but I can’t remember the author, or whether I was exactly ten when I read it. Several times.

7. What is the worst book you’ve read in the past year? Usually, if I find that I don’t like a book, I stop reading it. But I’m happy to say I haven’t come across any bad ones this year.

8. What is the best book you’ve read in the past year? I’ve actually been thinking about that for a few days now. I’m going to go with the Fingersmith by Sarah Waters. She rocks my little world.

9. If you could force everyone you know to read one book, what would it be? Something by Chuck Palahniuk. Maybe Lullaby. Or Michael Ende’s Neverending Story.

10. What book would you most like to see made into a movie? And the Ass Saw the Angel by Nick Cave. I have a list of books here in alphabetical order by author, and that’s the first that came up that I’d like to see.

11. What is the most difficult book you’ve ever read? Try by Dennis Cooper. I try to read it, but it feels like it keeps fighting against me.

12. What is your favorite book? Just one? You really expect me to be able to decide on just one?

Ok, to name a few: Fingersmith by Sarah Waters, Lullaby by Chuck Palahniuk, The Well of Loneliness by Radclyffe Hall, Lord of the Rings by J.R.R.Tolkien, Ennen päivänlaskua ei voi by Johanna Sinisalo…

13. What is your favorite play? Shomething by Shakespeare. Maybe 12^th Night. I haven’t been in a theatre in years.

14. Poem? Ohh I don’t know anything about poems. Okay, so I do know some Shakespeare, and there is this one truly beautiful poem I learned from a Puerto Rican man over an internet RPG a decade ago, but I don’t know its name. And it’s too long to be written here.

15. Essay? Wahh!

16. Who is the most overrated writer alive today? Stephenie Meyer.

17. What is your desert island book? Maybe Ken Follett’s Pillars of the Earth. It’s good, it’s long, and it’s heavy enough to be used against possible hostile dwellers of the island if it’s not so deserted after all.

18. And . . . what are you reading right now? Right now, nothing. Finished The Little Stranger by Sarah Waters yesterday, and am still figuring that one out. Santa brought me Nick Cave’s latest, though, so maybe that’ll be next.

And comics!

So, this was originally a book meme, but I replaced every ‘book’ with ‘comic’, so now it’s a comic meme! Yay!

1. What creator do you own the most comics by? Wendy and Richard Pini, since I have a great big ElfQuest collection. No, wait. It has to be CLAMP. ElfQuest tops any one series easily, but I have several CLAMP series, so they must number more than the Pini’s. So CLAMP first, Pini’s second. Third might be Neil Gaiman or Drew Hayes.

2. What comic do you own the most copies of? As with books, there are some which I own in more than one language, but no more than two copies of any comic, apparently. I found this very out of date list I did some two years ago, so I can actually check quite easily!

3. Did it bother you that both those questions ended with prepositions? They did?

4. What fictional character are you secretly in love with? It’s seeeeec~reeeeet. No, it really is. He he, it’s a pun. It is! Kind of. Or a trick answer. I don’t go telling my secrets to just anyone, you know.

5. What comic have you read the most times in your life? Ohh man, I’ve no clue. Comics are faster to read than books, even if time is taken to appreciate the art, and therefore I have read pretty much all my favourites very many times. But to name one, From Hell by Mr. Moore and Mr. Campbell.

6. Favorite comic book as a ten year old? I was very fond of the Turtles around that time. And Ghostbusters! And Lucky Luke.

7. What is the worst comic you’ve read in the past year? Ahaha. The Caterer. It is so un-be-LIEvably bad it’s utterly brilliant. Of course I had to buy a copy.

8. What is the best comic you’ve read in the past year? I could say From Hell here as well, but maybe I’ll try to find something I read for the first time… like, oh, I know! Roberta Gregory’s Bitchy Bitch!

9. If you could force everyone you know to read one comic, what would it be? …From Hell. Or maybe Watchmen. Or Maus, or Barefoot Gen. Anyone who thinks war is a good idea should read those last two. The first two are just plain kickass.

10. What comic would you most like to see made into a movie? One of the Ralf König’s that have already not been made into movies. Ooooooh, Bull’s Balls. Yes. Bull’s Balls.

11. What is the most difficult comic you’ve ever read? David Boring by Mr. Clowes. Difficult as in difficult to understand. Maybe that’s not what the question was referring to, but this puppy was like reading a Lynch movie.

Oh wait, now I know! Jimmy Corrigan by Chris Ware! It is utterly brilliant, but the urge to slap Jimmy around a little, and the discomfort that just oozes from it… ouch.

12. What is your favorite comic? Yeah, I’m gonna have to go with From Hell again. I could explain further, but I already did a few months back, on this very blog.

13. What is your favorite play? What’s this got to do with comics? I guess it’s ok to ignore this and the following two.

14. Poem? ‘Tis easy enough to be twenty-one, ‘tis easy enough to marry. But when you try both games at once, ‘tis a bloody big load to carry!

15. Essay? Don’t really read any. Well, I sometimes do, but couldn’t name one.

16. Who is the most overrated comic creator (writer, artist, inker etc.) alive today? Jim Davis. I was going to write something about pushing out the same superhero/mutant comics year after year after year, but Jim Davis.

17. What is your desert island comic? Can’t you guess already? FROM HEEEEEEEEEELL! Wheeeeeeee!

18. And . . . what are you reading right now? Just finished a collection of above mentioned Bitchy Bitch. Also, Death: the Time of Your Life, written by Neil Gaiman. And Preacher, for maybe the third time.