MEME: books and habits, oh my!
I hope to write about a couple of books that I read over last weekend soonish, but for now, here’s a meme via slemslempike. Abridged - I skipped a lot of questions.
1. Favourite childhood book?
Between the ages of 10 and 12, it was probably Anne of Green Gables, but for most of my life, I’ve found it difficult to pick a favourite.
2. What are you reading right now?
Coronets and Steel by Sherwood Smith, a book that riffs off The Prisoner of Zenda with a modern-day American heroine and some paranormal elements.
4. Bad book habit?
An old one was to underline all the names of Chalet Girls in Chalet School books. I have long outgrown out of folding the corners of pages, although if I’m nowhere near my hoard of bookmarks, I’ll use anything, receipts mainly, to note my place. I do sometimes eat while reading, even endangering fragile hardbacks. My mother would say buying too many books.
6. Do you have an e-reader?
No. The only time that I seriously think about it is when I’m about to travel and I have all these books taking up space in the case that I’ll have to lug about.
7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?
One book at a time, although it depends on the type of books. I’m happy to read collections of stories or some types of non-fiction books in bursts with contrasts in between. I chiefly read novels (using the label loosely) and if I’m starting something new without finishing a book, either circumstances have FORCED me or I’m giving it up. Both instances are rare.
8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?
Perhaps in small ways, but it may well have been because of other influences at the same time. I do read girls own more critically because I’m likely to post a review for others to read at the end. I’ve more intentionally reread certain authors’ books due to writing and reading about them. The blog, but the internet more generally, have led to me reading books I might not have come across otherwise.
9. Least favourite book you read this year (so far?)
My Cousin from Australia by E. Everett-Green, reviewed here
Conversely, of the books I’ve reviewed/referenced in this blog, my favourites are Erica Wins Through by Josephine Elder, The Farm on the Downs by Gwendoline Courtney, The Star of Kazan by Eba Ibbotson, This Time Next Term by Nancy Breary.
11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?
Rarely.
12. What is your reading comfort zone?
Fictional works by women writers. (See my answers about my favourite genres below.)
13. Can you read on the bus?
No. On a coach on a motorway if I’ve taken travelling pills, perhaps. I’ve become a worse and worse traveller. I used to be able to read in cars. This is why I take the train if I possibly can.
14. Favourite place to read?
Somewhere comfy and well lit.
17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?
Yes. Very rarely with fiction, but if it’s something egregious, I have. More so with non-fiction, a habit since studying at school/university. I like to flatter myself that they’re proper glosses, although they’re usually expressions of bad temper, which you can usually tell from the exclamation marks and underlining. I use a pen or pencil, depending on what’s to hand.
20. What makes you love a book?
That I get caught up in it and that I care for the characters. That there’s something that I relate to, even if the setting is far outside my own experience. There are probably more specific things, but if it’s made me laugh at some point, that makes it likely I’ll love it. A happy ending helps (or if it’s not wholly happy, it had better be convincing and contain some hope).
22. Favourite genre?
Genres! Fantasy novels with adventure and romance and a sense of humour. Science fiction space operas. Young adult sci fi. Murder mysteries where there’s banter or romance and not too much grizzliness. Girls’ own books, both family stories and school stories. Alternate Welsh histories. A mixture of those genres.
23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)
I wish that there was more sci-fi of the type I’d like to read about. I’d like to post more about speculative fiction in this blog.
There is no point pretending I’m going to read loads more literary fiction, because it makes me miserable. If it sounds like I’m going to enjoy the story, I will read it. I wish I was more widely read when it comes to poetry, especially in my first language, but I haven’t got around to it. I do try to read non-fiction that I think will inform me in subjects that are interesting to me, but again, by this point, I don’t think I’m going to change drastically. My inclination has long been to read for enjoyment above education.
25. Have you ever read a self-help book?
No, not intentionally, but I was just thinking the other day that Vanity Fair (ugh) and Austen have probably influenced my approach towards money.
26. Favourite cookbook?
Ha ha ha. I don’t cook. That is, I consider cooking putting things in the oven rather than the microwave.
28. Favourite reading snack?
I don’t snack when I’m reading. Or at least, I don’t think I do, perhaps I’m kidding myself. I quite often have a sandwich lunch when reading, the idea being that my hands are free to turn the page.
31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?
Well, I’m not reviewing for the author, but for the reader/expressing my honest opinion, and I suspect that most of the writers whose books I’m reviewing are dead, so I’m fine with it. I hope I’m not nasty for the sake of being nasty.
36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?
One, and it’s very rare, these days, that I do have a book checked out, though I had loads as a child. I have so many books that I’ve bought waiting to be read or reread to be getting on with. I think as well that tending to buy books second hand means that I’m quite likely to get a book cheaply and give it away when I don’t want to keep it.
37. How often have you returned a book to the library unread?
Never, as far as I recall.
>strong>38. Favourite fictional character?
One? I can’t even begin to answer this question.
40. Books I'm most likely to bring on vacation?
Mostly books I haven’t read before, a decent variety, but books that I think will be a long good read while being as light as possible. I do get a kick out of taking at least one Welsh-language book if I’m going abroad. I also seem to manage to take one very wintery book. Otherwise, they tend to be the types of books I’d normally read. I do tend to buy books on holiday or in a last-minute panic at an airport/train station.
42. Name a book that you could/would not finish.
The Life and Times of Tristram Shandy.
43. What distracts you easily when you're reading?
Not much if I’ve got into it. I don’t like loud noises around or background music, which I’ll have playing for most other things.
46. The most money I've ever spent in the bookstore at one time?
About £80, and when I came out, I knew the average price spent on each book, which made it all right in my head. It also made for aching arms by the end of the day. Setting aside text books and dictionaries, I’ve spent more than I want my mother ever to find out about. My limit has crept up to £25..
47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?
This depends on the book. If I know the writer or if it’s been recommended, i.e. it’s on one of my lists, I won’t, I’ll just pick it up. If it looks like an interesting possible book, I’ll read the blurb if it’s a paperback or has a dustjacket and skim a couple of pages from the middle of the book. The more I skim, the less likely I am to buy it.
49. Do you like to keep your books organized?
Yes, although space and the vagaries of life often defeat me. They’re loosely organised by genre and then alphabetically. Even in boxes under my bed.
50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you've read them?
Keep them! I am getting better about being realistic about space and whether I’ll want to reread a book, but my instinct is still to keep them.
55. Favourite guilt-free, pleasure reading?
I have certain authors that I reread every so often. Jane Austen is always a pleasure. Heyer and Mary Stewart too, but most of my reading is for pleasure and I generally know what to expect from a book I'm about to read. I tend to avoid guilt by setting aside time when it’s okay for me to read and read and read (i.e. to stay up late for me or not to do other things.)
This entry was originally posted at http://feather-ghyll.dreamwidth.org/91434.html. Please comment wherever you prefer to.
1. Favourite childhood book?
Between the ages of 10 and 12, it was probably Anne of Green Gables, but for most of my life, I’ve found it difficult to pick a favourite.
2. What are you reading right now?
Coronets and Steel by Sherwood Smith, a book that riffs off The Prisoner of Zenda with a modern-day American heroine and some paranormal elements.
4. Bad book habit?
An old one was to underline all the names of Chalet Girls in Chalet School books. I have long outgrown out of folding the corners of pages, although if I’m nowhere near my hoard of bookmarks, I’ll use anything, receipts mainly, to note my place. I do sometimes eat while reading, even endangering fragile hardbacks. My mother would say buying too many books.
6. Do you have an e-reader?
No. The only time that I seriously think about it is when I’m about to travel and I have all these books taking up space in the case that I’ll have to lug about.
7. Do you prefer to read one book at a time, or several at once?
One book at a time, although it depends on the type of books. I’m happy to read collections of stories or some types of non-fiction books in bursts with contrasts in between. I chiefly read novels (using the label loosely) and if I’m starting something new without finishing a book, either circumstances have FORCED me or I’m giving it up. Both instances are rare.
8. Have your reading habits changed since starting a blog?
Perhaps in small ways, but it may well have been because of other influences at the same time. I do read girls own more critically because I’m likely to post a review for others to read at the end. I’ve more intentionally reread certain authors’ books due to writing and reading about them. The blog, but the internet more generally, have led to me reading books I might not have come across otherwise.
9. Least favourite book you read this year (so far?)
My Cousin from Australia by E. Everett-Green, reviewed here
Conversely, of the books I’ve reviewed/referenced in this blog, my favourites are Erica Wins Through by Josephine Elder, The Farm on the Downs by Gwendoline Courtney, The Star of Kazan by Eba Ibbotson, This Time Next Term by Nancy Breary.
11. How often do you read out of your comfort zone?
Rarely.
12. What is your reading comfort zone?
Fictional works by women writers. (See my answers about my favourite genres below.)
13. Can you read on the bus?
No. On a coach on a motorway if I’ve taken travelling pills, perhaps. I’ve become a worse and worse traveller. I used to be able to read in cars. This is why I take the train if I possibly can.
14. Favourite place to read?
Somewhere comfy and well lit.
17. Do you ever write in the margins of your books?
Yes. Very rarely with fiction, but if it’s something egregious, I have. More so with non-fiction, a habit since studying at school/university. I like to flatter myself that they’re proper glosses, although they’re usually expressions of bad temper, which you can usually tell from the exclamation marks and underlining. I use a pen or pencil, depending on what’s to hand.
20. What makes you love a book?
That I get caught up in it and that I care for the characters. That there’s something that I relate to, even if the setting is far outside my own experience. There are probably more specific things, but if it’s made me laugh at some point, that makes it likely I’ll love it. A happy ending helps (or if it’s not wholly happy, it had better be convincing and contain some hope).
22. Favourite genre?
Genres! Fantasy novels with adventure and romance and a sense of humour. Science fiction space operas. Young adult sci fi. Murder mysteries where there’s banter or romance and not too much grizzliness. Girls’ own books, both family stories and school stories. Alternate Welsh histories. A mixture of those genres.
23. Genre you rarely read (but wish you did?)
I wish that there was more sci-fi of the type I’d like to read about. I’d like to post more about speculative fiction in this blog.
There is no point pretending I’m going to read loads more literary fiction, because it makes me miserable. If it sounds like I’m going to enjoy the story, I will read it. I wish I was more widely read when it comes to poetry, especially in my first language, but I haven’t got around to it. I do try to read non-fiction that I think will inform me in subjects that are interesting to me, but again, by this point, I don’t think I’m going to change drastically. My inclination has long been to read for enjoyment above education.
25. Have you ever read a self-help book?
No, not intentionally, but I was just thinking the other day that Vanity Fair (ugh) and Austen have probably influenced my approach towards money.
26. Favourite cookbook?
Ha ha ha. I don’t cook. That is, I consider cooking putting things in the oven rather than the microwave.
28. Favourite reading snack?
I don’t snack when I’m reading. Or at least, I don’t think I do, perhaps I’m kidding myself. I quite often have a sandwich lunch when reading, the idea being that my hands are free to turn the page.
31. How do you feel about giving bad/negative reviews?
Well, I’m not reviewing for the author, but for the reader/expressing my honest opinion, and I suspect that most of the writers whose books I’m reviewing are dead, so I’m fine with it. I hope I’m not nasty for the sake of being nasty.
36. How many books do you usually have checked out of the library at any given time?
One, and it’s very rare, these days, that I do have a book checked out, though I had loads as a child. I have so many books that I’ve bought waiting to be read or reread to be getting on with. I think as well that tending to buy books second hand means that I’m quite likely to get a book cheaply and give it away when I don’t want to keep it.
37. How often have you returned a book to the library unread?
Never, as far as I recall.
>strong>38. Favourite fictional character?
One? I can’t even begin to answer this question.
40. Books I'm most likely to bring on vacation?
Mostly books I haven’t read before, a decent variety, but books that I think will be a long good read while being as light as possible. I do get a kick out of taking at least one Welsh-language book if I’m going abroad. I also seem to manage to take one very wintery book. Otherwise, they tend to be the types of books I’d normally read. I do tend to buy books on holiday or in a last-minute panic at an airport/train station.
42. Name a book that you could/would not finish.
The Life and Times of Tristram Shandy.
43. What distracts you easily when you're reading?
Not much if I’ve got into it. I don’t like loud noises around or background music, which I’ll have playing for most other things.
46. The most money I've ever spent in the bookstore at one time?
About £80, and when I came out, I knew the average price spent on each book, which made it all right in my head. It also made for aching arms by the end of the day. Setting aside text books and dictionaries, I’ve spent more than I want my mother ever to find out about. My limit has crept up to £25..
47. How often do you skim a book before reading it?
This depends on the book. If I know the writer or if it’s been recommended, i.e. it’s on one of my lists, I won’t, I’ll just pick it up. If it looks like an interesting possible book, I’ll read the blurb if it’s a paperback or has a dustjacket and skim a couple of pages from the middle of the book. The more I skim, the less likely I am to buy it.
49. Do you like to keep your books organized?
Yes, although space and the vagaries of life often defeat me. They’re loosely organised by genre and then alphabetically. Even in boxes under my bed.
50. Do you prefer to keep books or give them away once you've read them?
Keep them! I am getting better about being realistic about space and whether I’ll want to reread a book, but my instinct is still to keep them.
55. Favourite guilt-free, pleasure reading?
I have certain authors that I reread every so often. Jane Austen is always a pleasure. Heyer and Mary Stewart too, but most of my reading is for pleasure and I generally know what to expect from a book I'm about to read. I tend to avoid guilt by setting aside time when it’s okay for me to read and read and read (i.e. to stay up late for me or not to do other things.)
This entry was originally posted at http://feather-ghyll.dreamwidth.org/91434.html. Please comment wherever you prefer to.