Olga Godim

Bookloving Writer started this meme. It’s been fascinating reading the others' answers. Here are mine.

1. What book is on your nightstand now?

I’ve been re-reading books recently. The one I’m in the middle of now is Jayne Castle’s futuristic romance After Glow.

2. What was the last truly great book that you read?

Again, a couple of re-reads. Lois McMaster Bujold’s Komarr and A Civil Campaign. Both are from a short list of my favorite books of all times. Both are romances, or rather one romance that started in Komarr and continued in A Civil Campaign. Both feature Miles Vorkosigan, one of my beloved literary heroes. In addition to romance, there are space travels, politics, a murder mystery (Komarr), biology, psychology, heaps of laughs, and of course, butter bugs (A Civil Campaign). Delicious books all around.

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

A Russian writer Alexander Grin. He wrote romantic fiction in the first half of the 20th century. I love his stories. I translated one of them, Scarlet Sails, into English, and it’s available on wattpad. Grin’s life wasn’t easy, and I wouldn’t want to ask him anything. Instead, I would want him to know how popular he was in Russia long after his death. How his Scarlet Sails became a symbol of romantic beauty, of hope and love for generations of Russian teenagers.

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

Lots of books about ballet in Russian, mostly biographies of ballet dancers or autobiographies of dancers and choreographers. Some photo albums too. I don’t think many of you are aware of my former fascination with ballet. When I was younger and still lived in Moscow, my friend and I went to the Bolshoi Theatre almost every week. We saw every ballet in multiple interpretations, danced by every dancer. We didn’t have tickets, but there was a semi-legal way to get into the theatre, if you were willing to stand during the show. I started collecting books about ballet at that time, and they traveled with me, when I immigrated to Canada.

5. How do you organize your personal library?

By genres, and then by authors, but not alphabetically. I just know than this bookcase is fantasy. Another – romance. Julia Quinn is on the top shelf of the first romantic bookcase. Georgette Heyer is on the fourth shelf of the second romantic bookcase. And so on.

6. What book have you always meant to read and haven’t gotten around to yet? Anything you feel embarrassed never to have read?

Jane Austen’s Persuasion has been on my reading list forever. I hope I can start it soon.

Embarrassed? Yeah, a bit. I’ve never tried Dickens. I should, I know, but for some reason, I don’t want to.

7. Disappointing, overrated, just not good: what book did you feel you were supposed to like but didn’t? Do you remember the last book you put down without finishing?

Lots of people liked Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Justice and its sequels. The book won tons of awards, but I didn’t like it and couldn’t even finish the second book of the series, Ancillary Sword. It was plainly boring and so cold, I felt frozen.

I often DNF books if I dislike them. The last one was a book I had hopes for, Neil MacGregor’s A History of the World in 100 Objects. Some of my friends loved this book, but for me, it read like a dull dissertation. The author knows his stuff, sure, he is the director of the British Museum, but his writing is tedious.

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

I don’t think the answer to this question would be a surprise to anyone. My favorite genres are light fantasy and romantic comedy. Urban fantasy and science fiction – only certain authors.

I don’t read horror or thrillers or erotica. As for the rest – occasionally.

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

Any president or prime minister (I’m Canadian) should read George Orwell’s 1984 and Animal Farm at least once before they take the office.

10. What do you plan to read next?

No specific plans yet. I got a call from the library this morning that one of my books on hold finally arrived. Whatever it is, it will be next.