What is your favorite James Bond novel? Hand down my favorite 007 tale is From Russia With Love by Ian Fleming. Publisher Jonathan Cape published the book in 1957 and received high praise from critics. The late crime author Julian Symons said in The Times Literary Supplement that Fleming "brings the thriller in line with modern emotional needs."

The James Bond films haven't aged very well over the years. One in particular that comes to mind is 1971's Diamonds Are Forever. After declining to return as 007 in On Her Majesty's Secret Service, the late Sir Sean Connery came back for the rashly-filmed Diamonds Are Forever, where you could tell the actor phoned in his role for a $1.25 million paycheck. Now, this isn't the only reason why I don't like the movie. The dialogue is too cringy. The acting is laughable, and the directing is all over the place. It's just a bad movie, almost like a spoof.

It seems there's a rule that if a genre television or movie series has a big fanbase, then tie-in novels will soon follow. Once the series has run its course, all media tie-ins come to an end. There are a few exceptions, such as Star Trek and Star Wars. The Star Trek franchise has been kicking out novelizations since 1967, and the first original novel, Mission to Horatius, came out one year later. To date, there have been over 850 Star Trek books published.

Do you remember when James Bond got launched into space and got in a laser fight with baddies? I, for one, have buried that particular image in my mind. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, TBS played the godawful Moonraker (1979) practically to death. After a recent rewatch, I appreciate some things done in the film. It's still pretty awful compared to other Roger Moore outings.

What's your favorite James Bond movie? For me, it has to be 1973's Live and Let Die starring the late Sir Roger Moore in his 007 debut. I first got a glimpse of the film when it aired on TBS in the late 1980s. Now the keyword here is "glimpse." I was a little bitty kid back then. My dad was channel surfing, came across Life and Let Die, and watched a few minutes before switching over to something else. He's never cared much for Roger Moore's take on James Bond, which explains why he changed the channel. I was disappointed because the few minutes I viewed intrigued my interest. Luckily for me, in the 80s and early 90s, TBS reaired movies many, many times.

I grew up watching the James Bonds on TBS in the late '80s and early '90s, a time when cable television played good movies, so I was already a 007 fan when Goldeneye arrived in theatres in 1995. Despite my love for reading, I never attempted to own copies of the original Ian Fleming novels. Though I recall looking at a local library, and they didn't carry any of the titles. The only 007 book I read during my teenage years was the novelization of The World Is Not Enough by Raymond Benson in 1999. It wasn't until many years later that I started to run across 007 books at thrift stores. Since then, I've picked up paperbacks of Casino Royale, The Man With The Golden Gun, Doctor No, and Goldfinger.