Today’s Book Blogger Hop question is:  What’s your favorite horror book-to-movie adaptation?

I don’t read much in the way of horror books, or watch much in the way of horror movies.  But, just one comes to mind that I’ve both read and seen: Secret Window, based on the novella Secret Window, Secret Garden.  The movie is from a very good era in Johnny Depp movies, and the writer/director David Koepp does some really nice storytelling in it.  There’s some bloody bits, though it’s pretty tame as far as horror movies go, and the creepiest parts aren’t involving blood at all.  It’s probably more of a creeper than a horror movie.

After seeing the movie, I read the Steven King novella, which I think is still the only fiction I’ve read from Steven King (though I also read On Writing).  A lot is very much the same, except that the ending is completely (like, 180 degrees) different.  And here’s the funny thing: I actually think Steven King tried to a do a more interesting thing with his ending, but David Koepp achieved his ending better, which I’d have to say gives him the edge.

Anyone else more of a horror book/movie fan than me?  What’s your favorite adaptation?

Today’s Book Blogger Hop question is:  You’re spending a night in a haunted house.  What book would you bring with you?

Firstly, I would not spend the night in a haunted house!  I jump and freak out in fake haunted houses, when I know perfectly well it’s all actors and effects, so even a hypothetically-haunted house is completely out the window.  Absolutely nothing supernatural could happen and I’d still be freaked by every sound!  In fact, I recently beta-read Audrey Murphy by Karen Blakely (due to be published this December!), in which the heroine accepts a dare to spend the night in a haunted house.  I swiftly learned that I would fail this dare, as I offered frequent advice that the heroine ought to be more scared…

Now that all of that is out of the way, let’s try to imagine a situation where I do in fact spend the night in a haunted house.  What book would I bring?  If I thought the house was actually haunted by malevolent spirits, I’m going to have to go with a Bible as the most likely to be helpful and protective under the circumstances.

If we’re theorizing that it’s not really haunted, just creepy, then I’m leaning towards something comforting that doesn’t require too intense of concentration.  Probably either L. M. Montgomery’s journals (because I’m weird that way 🙂 ) or maybe Winnie-the-Pooh.

Is there any hypothetical possibility that I might want to bring something atmospheric, like Dracula or something by Steven King?  No.  No, there really isn’t!

Today’s Book Blogger Hop question is:  Have you ever wished that there were official government bookish holidays, and that, by law, employers HAD to give their workers a paid day off? If so, what kind of bookish holiday would you like to have?

I’ve rather thought that Shakespeare’s birthday (April 23rd) would make a nice holiday.  In college, I was in a Renaissance-but-heavily-Shakespeare class that happened to meet on Shakespeare’s birthday (and since we only met once a week, it was actually a pretty lucky chance).  I brought cookies in to celebrate. 🙂  Mostly just because, but also a little bit because I’m a Stratfordian (I believe William Shakespeare of Stratford, who was born on April 23rd, wrote the plays), and I knew my professor was decidedly not…  Nothing like fighting a literary war with cookies!

If Shakespeare’s birthday was an official holiday, obviously it should be celebrated with Shakespearean plays.  And maybe something to do with dragons, considering it’s also St. George’s Day.

November 30th would make a good writing holiday–it’s the birthday of L. M. Montgomery, Mark Twain and Winston Churchill (prime minister, but also a writer).  Plus, it’s the last day of National Novel Writing Month, so a final-day celebration seems both appropriate, and helpful to all the writers who need a day off to get their final words written.

I tried to think of a fictional holiday in a book that I’d like to see really celebrated, but I came up blank.  The only one I thought of was Hogswatch from Discworld, but that’s very close to Christmas (with more meat pies).

Are there any bookish holidays you’d like to see celebrated?  Any holidays from books, or holidays celebrating books?

Today’s Book Blogger Hop question is:  How long does it take you to finish a book?

This varies wildly depending on the book–both its length, and how much I enjoy it!  I used to go through books very quickly.  Even a longish book (say, 400 pages) would be finished in about three days.  My pace has slowed dramatically with life changing.  I don’t have as much built-in reading time in my schedule anymore, and (perhaps because it used to be built in) I don’t tend to think of reading when I have free space and am thinking of what to do (I more often write or blog).

I’m probably averaging something like a book a week now, for what I would consider my “proper” book that I’m reading–the paper one that I read over meals and when I feel like picking something up.  I read nonfiction for two hours a week, and could spend a few weeks on one, or finish it in just that time, depending on the length (which probably varies even more for nonfiction than fiction).  I also listen to an audiobook whenever I’m in the car, and probably get through most audiobooks in a week or two.  And I have a book just to read before bed–when I was reading L. M. Montgomery’s journals, it would take months to get through a volume.  Now that I’m reading her short stories, it’s a bit faster.

If I’m particularly enjoying a book, I’m more likely to pick it up more often and therefore I finish it faster.  If it’s just okay, I can get bogged down for weeks.  There is a definite and unfortunate irony at play there…

I always feel I’d like to read more and finish more books faster, but I suspect that feeling is shared by most readers!