1. Favourite genre to readIt changes over time. Historical fiction has been quite a mainstay - with the more specific sub-genre changing. At the moment it's probably Historical Drama. I can recommend Bernard Cornwell's Fools and Mortals.
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2. Current book you're readingHomo Deus by Yuval Noah Harari. I preferred the first of these (Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind) because this one is somewhat more speculative about what could happen and using that as a way to comment on the current state of the species. But he writes really well (or has a really good editor if he doesn't), so I think I'd probably enjoy any topic he wrote on (roughly in his field of expertise at least).
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3. First book you remember lovingBit tricky because I know I did love The Very Hungry Caterpillar when I was very small - but I don't 'remember' loving it. I have a terrible memory, the first books I actually remember loving were the Choose Your Own Adventure books (I definitely can't remember a specific one
)
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4. A book/series you wish would be adapted to filmA few, probably mostly the Rift War series by Raymond E Feist.
5. Favourite protagonistHard question, will probably change regularly but I guess Thursday Next from Jasper Ffordes
'Thursday Next' Series.
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6. Favourite antagonist... I really can't think of one; plenty of books have well written antagonists but I can't really think of any that really stand out enough to be 'special'.
7. Do you write any stories?I have done. I co-wrote a pilot for Blackadder 5 when I was at school (it was City/stock market based) it had some good gags in it is probably the best that could be said. I wrote a short story for my wife, but it was very tailored to her likes so wouldn't 'travel' well. But mainly I've had ideas and cba to do anything about them - even the short story I wrote for my wife I plotted out as a trilogy but never got around to writing the 2nd and 3rd one.
8. A movie you think was better than the bookI've seen at least one film where I thought it was better than the book, but I can't remember for the life of me what it was.
9. Best book you've read this yearThe Romanov's by Simon Sebag Montefiore. Really good book on that (large) part of Russian history.
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10. One of your favourite authorsJasper Fforde11. Least favourite genre to readDifficult to say, maybe epistolary novels, but even that is arguably more of a style rather than a genre.
12. A book you'd recommend to a friendIt would depend on the friend. For example, my wife and a few of her friends like Harry Potter a lot so I'd suggest the
Peter Grant series by Ben Aaronovitch. But for other people I'd never recommend any fiction book - because it wouldn't help them.
So very much - it would depend on the friend.
13. Favourite film adaptation of a bookDifficult, I like a lot of books and a lot of films. Maybe Gone with the Wind, maybe Blade Runner; but they're both films I like which are also book adaptations. In terms of the process of adaptation my favourite would probably be Adaptation, even though that's a bit meta.
14. Book you've read the most timesNot sure, maybe Jane Eyre but it might be something like The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe because I haven't got a good enough memory to remember how many times I read it when I was younger.
15. A book you didn't expect to likeI don't read books unless I expect to like them. The only book I didn't expect to like at school was Of Mice and Men - and I didn't like it. So that's the sole answer.
16. Favourite classic bookUlysses by James Joyce. It took me a couple of goes to get into it (the key was to be reading it in the right accent
). But once I did get into it, I pretty much didn't stop until I finished.
17. Book that's impacted you the mostThe Epigenetics Revolution by Nessa Carey. Nothing 'deep' or profound in the reasons, it just taught me a lot of science that I didn't know.
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18. If you could meet one author (living or dead) who would it be?I've met a few authors and it's all nice and good if they do something like sign a book for you; but I'm not really that fussed about it. It would be quite nice to meet Bernard Cornwell, he seems like a nice chap. It would be nice to have dinner party conversation with Stephen Fry (I imagine); but I don't really 'care'. If I absolutely had to give an answer, I'd go with God.
19. An author you think more people should know aboutI really like Ben Aaronivichs Peter Grant series of books, but as good as they are I'd still have to go for Jasper Fforde - his literary skills are pretty awe inspiring, and he's illustrated them over multiple book series (albeit thematically linked). It seems a bit mean to Ben Aaronvich given I like his books so much and that I've met him but he has to be relegated to second place in this question.
20. Favourite book / series of all timeBook: Ulysses by James Joyce
Series: at the moment the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde, but Ben Aaronvitches Peter Grant series could overtake it (I don't think they'll ever 'technically' be better - but they're just so goddam entertaining
)
