Fairytale book survey

Sometimes you don’t have anything worthwhile to post, so instead you do a silly survey. :) This one was found at Utterly Bookish.

Part 1: Classic Princesses

Pinocchio — The boy whose nose grows when he lies.
Is there a book you lie about, because you feel ashamed for liking it?

Sometimes I’m a bit ashamed to admit I really like shallow chick lit á la Jane Green and Sophie Kinsella. Which is actually pretty stupid. People shouldn’t be ashamed of what they like. Not everything has to be of Nobel price standard, humans need simple and effortless entertainment too.

Beauty and the Beast — The girl who fell in love with personality.
Which book do you love that has a hideous cover?

My Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy collection. It looks so cheap, and old. Looking at it, nobody could guess it contains 900 pages of pure gold.

Snow White — Hunted down for her beauty.
Do you ever buy a book based on the cover alone and if so, what is the last one?

Of course the eyes wanders first to the nice looking books when walking through libraries and stores. Herrarna i Skogen (The Lords in the Forest) by Kerstin Ekman is a book I picked up mainly because of its prettiness. It’s all medieval and embellished, even the inside of the cover!

Sleeping Beauty — Cursed to sleep, awakened by true love’s kiss.
What is your favourite book couple?

Oh, I don’t know if I have one… Despite reading chick lit I’m actually not very romantic. Bridget Jones and Mark Darcy are the first that springs to mind, so I say them.

Little Mermaid — Gave up on her old life for love.
Do you ever branch out to new genres or do you like to stick with the ones you know and love? If you try new things out, what is the latest book?

I’m really bad at branching out. I’m not a fan of crime novels, so I never pay them any attention, regardless of how good the reviews are. I’m not much of a biography fan either, so I tend to walk past that section without even looking. Although I did like I Am Ozzy, an Ozzy Osbourne biography which I got for my birthday last year.

Cinderella — Who lost her shoe after midnight.
What is the last book that made you stay up all night?

A Clash of Kings by George R.R. Martin. I’m in the middle of reading the Game of Thrones series for the first time, and I’m starting to realize there is no way I’ll make it out of this with my heart still in one piece… :cry:

Rapunzel — Locked up in a tower.
What is the worst book you’ve read recently?

Mad About the Boy by Helen Fielding. I love Bridget Jones, and was so excited to read the new and last book in the series, but sadly it fell flat. Bridget was still Bridget, but the story wasn’t nearly as funny as the previous books, and none of the love stories felt believable. Mostly it just felt sad and lonely, which I wasn’t expecting at all. :(

Part 2: Mix-Match

Aladdin — The poor boy who found a genie.
What is the latest book treasure/gem you found?

Last time I went to a flea market I found a book about John Bauer! He was a Swedish illustrator, famous for his eerie and enchanting fairy tale depictions, and one of my all-time favourite illustrators! Now I don’t have to google every time I want to look at his amazing drawings.

Alice in Wonderland — The girl who fell through a rabbit’s hole.
Which book made you really feel like you landed in another world?

The Neverending Story by Michael Ende. As a child, I loved the movie (who didn’t have a little crush on Atreyu?) but the book is a bloody masterpiece. Only a few chapters in it takes real effort to step back into reality. The world of Fantasia will grip you and swallow you whole.

East of the Sun and West of the Moon — Where a girl embarks on a journey to save her love.
What is one of your favourite kick-ass heroines?

Éowyn from The Lord of the Rings has been a favourite of mine since childhood. “No living man am I!” gives me the chills every time.

The Frog Prince — Where an enchanted prince becomes human again.
What is a book you thought you would hate, but ended up loving?

A Thousand Splendid Suns by Khaled Hosseini. I don’t know, it just didn’t sound like a story that would appeal to me. Seemed kinda pretentious and dusty from the description, but it was actually very gripping.

Hansel and Gretel — Left alone in the woods and captured by a witch.
Which duo (sister/sister, brother/sister) is your favourite and why?

Am I too cliché if I say Fred and George from the Harry Potter series?

Little Red Riding Hood — Almost eaten by a wolf dressed as her grandmother.
What book disappointed you after falling in love with the cover and blurb?

Fear Nothing by Dean Koontz. Loved the title and the description, but only found it ok-ish. I guess I expected more of a horror story, or at least something more… spooky. Might give it another try sometime as I still have the book on my bookshelf.

Rumpelstiltskin — Nobody knows his name.
Which book do you love that doesn’t get enough attention?

I started to write an answer and then realized those particular books haven’t been translated to English, so it’s kinda pointless telling you about them.

Just for the record: I was going to say Sagan om Valhalla by Johanne Hildebrandt, a series of three books titled Freja, Idun, and Saga. The story takes place in bronze-age Scandinavia, and the characters are based on the Nordic gods/goddesses but rewritten as ordinary humans. I found the series very interesting, pity they haven’t been spread outside Scandinavia.