yet another book meme
(I'd appreciate it if you'd point out the errors. Cheers)
Modified of what I've taken from BookGirl (http://ashevillebookgirl.blogspot.com/2007/07/book-meme.html) wherein she has stated that the meme was stolen from Book Dragon (http://book-dragon.blogspot.com/), another reader and bookmaker whose blog she read, and also, to feel free to steal it in turn.
Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror: A little bit of all of them. My dream collaboration would be with Neil Gaiman and Edgar Allan Poe. Well, two of us are alive. Show us the road to Bringing Poe Back from the Dead and we will get back to you shortly.
Hardback or Trade Paperback or Mass Market Paperback: There's something about the trade paperback that calls to me. They're simply more tactile than hardbound books and, of course, easier to carry around. That's important, since I never leave the house without a book. - that's from BookGirl herself which I agree with at a very personal level. However, I like seeing different editions of the same title in my shelves. Also, I sometimes use books as accessories: I pick the edition that goes along with what I'm wearing. Sometimes, I decide what kind of book I'll allow myself to bring according to the size of the bag I'm using.
Amazon or Brick and Mortar: Amazon for price comparison. But I purchase at the bookshop. I make buying the book an experience. Also, I've never had an impulse purchase online.
Barnes & Noble or Borders: Barnes & Nobles. They have better marketing and authors really appreciate that. B&N make sure it's good buying experience, total shopping experience-thingy. I forget the marketing term.
Hitchhiker or Discworld: Hitchhiker's!
Bookmark or Dogear: I've dogeared a handful of pages in my life but I haven't really apologised for since they're the ones I own and I like my books having that 'loved and lived with' look about them. I frequently mark my books, especially if they're new, so usually I use a pen as a bookmark, always with a prayer that the ink won't blot. The oddest bookmark I've used was a drinking straw.
Alphabetize by author, Alphabetize by title, or random: I'll sooner alphabetise by author, though, one day, I'll e-catalogue my things with author, title, publisher, perhaps the date bought and the date read, tag topics who has borrowed/is currently borrowing it, should it go on the coffee table, the night stand, the naughty night stand, etc.
Once I arranged them for colour. Most of the cleaning in my room has been long neglected.
Keep, Throw Away or Sell: Keep. More of horde actually.
Keep dust-jacket or toss it: I find it really difficult to enjoy reading with the jacket. I should keep them in a clearbook or something but I've left them all over the room...Unofficially tossed.
Read with dustjacket or remove it: A chance to further explain myself: Yes, remove; see, I have this philosophy that when I get the book, I still reserve that magical thinking (erm, book-crazy) that they're going home with me, which I'm sure you guys would understand, and I find it duly odd for me to be wearing my jacket/coat when I'm at home. Also, I live in the tropics, so that's bibliophilic philosophy for you, I suppose.
Short story or novel: I have far more novels because they are staples for me, like rice is in major parts in Asia. Short stories for when I want to refresh the writing parts of my brain. It's also a good way to get to know a writer for the first time. I fell in love with Gregory Frost in The Faery Reel, an anthology by Datlow and Windling. Oddly enough, I'm more likely to hole up with a collection or an anthology. Like any orgiastic adulterous getaway.
Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket: I only read up to the sixth or seventh of Snickett; I haven't given myself the chance to go back to them. I do like the formula Daniel Handler has; he makes those books like it's some form poetry. And he's really cute.
I consider Harry Potter as a life-changing book for too many reasons. I'll mention one here:
I became a book-lover first, a reader second. After reading the first Potter book, those two things about me became engaged, eventually to be married. Harry Potter became a family thing. When OotP came out, I went up to my parents room and found them with a copy each (we were allowed to read them on the weekends). During the waiting spell for book 5, I read other books and that's how my bibliophilism started. After reading GoF, I was officially book-shopping. After reading Philosopher's Stone, I developed the attitude of going out simply to get a new book.
Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks: One of my favourite English tearchers, Mrs. Visaya, explained something back in fourth year high that left me this impression: we have paragraphs so when you're interrupted, you'd have a proper place to stop, a proper place to get back to. But I do just stop when tired, so that's at any point. I sleep knowing I'd read much better after 40 winks. I think chapter breaks are more for authors, the craft, the shape of the story, not necessarily a pit stop the reader.
"It was a dark and stormy night" or "Once upon a time": Only when it's to allude to these lines, both I find acceptable though the latter has certain musicality to it: there's good rhythm and an even lovelier cadence.
Buy or Borrow: Buy. I'd be far too worried on the damage I might inflict on whatever I'd borrow to fully enjoy it. It's kind of like buy property. I can plant, party and piss on my own.
Buying choice: Book Reviews, Recommendation or Browse: I'll buy it sooner if it's a recommendation by a friend. I usually go out of my way, doing so. I like finding my books. Though, when I browse and realise I like this certain something, I feel like it has found me.
Collection (short stories by the same author) or Anthology (short stories by different authors): I'm fickle-minded enough to appreciate anthologies though it's highly dependent on the theme, which I would be very picky about. But here's something from Neil Gaiman from the Introduction of his collection M Is for Magic: [A] good thing about a book of short stories: you don't have to like them all. If there's one you don't enjoy, well, there will be another one along soon. My first favourite book (i.e.:something you always have with you, bag, pocket, under the pillow) was a collection: Anais Nin's Little Birds. I liked all the stories.
Tidy ending or Cliffhanger: Cliffhangers match my personality; I'm mostly open-ended, though tidy endings I find really impressive. One ending I like is the one in Neil Gaiman's American Gods. It was just the home tone, and that resonates in you.
Morning reading, Afternoon reading or Nighttime reading: Same answer if you'd ask me about having sex in the morning, afternoon or nighttime. Though I'd probably do a bit more of one than the other. It depends...
Standalone or Series: I just finished the Sandman Series. I like that feeling of accomplishment and that almost-bitter goodbye. Standalones I love as well.
New or used: I love the sight of old books. I like books that look spanking new. The crisp new ones feels like making love with someone for the first time. The fragile, aging ones make me feel like I'm with an older, far more learned lover, and that I have a lot more to learn, far beyond what's printed on them.
Favorite book of which nobody else has heard? I suppose it would be Man Camp by Adrienne Brodeur. I actually got it as a freebie and, oh, wait. Erm, I think my point here is, I've never heard of it yet I to my greatest surprise, I enjoyed the book immensely.
Your Top 10 recommended reads without repeating an author:
In no particular order, are
1.Douglas Adams: Salmon of Doubt. - Collection of Douglas Adams's essays and articles and some interviews. He is always and forever a delight.
2.Datlow & Windling: The Faery Reel, Tales from the Twilight Realm - The anthology wherein I first read Hiromi Goto, Holly Black and Gregory Frost. Also, in it is a poem by Neil Gaiman and in his author's notes, some proper dancing advice.
3. Nigel Cawthorne: Sex Lives of the Great Composers - It was the first thing I saw during a booksale. I bought it straight away and then went back to my book-shoppping. The book's a riot.
4. Rhonda Byrne: The Secret - If there's a non-fiction recommendation from me, it would be this.
5. On a very random note, Maeve Binchy's The Copper Beech - it's just succulent story-telling.
6. Remember Edith Hamilton? I love her mythology book. It sits beside the dictionary for me. Mythology, Timeless Tales of Gods and Heroes
7. The Importance of Being Earnest by Oscar Wilde, though a drama is a very valid entry here.
8. And now for some children's literature: A Light in the Attic by Shel Silverstein - He was definitely one of the most musical authors we've had. Have you read his adult works?
9. I have a collection of Charles Baudelaire's poetry. I don't remember which publisher it was from. No matter. I wouldn't mind if it isn't from a book. I actually recommend this site http://fleursdumal.org/ because of the translations
10. Man Camp by Adrienne Brodeur. It has psychology in it, and, the philosophy of sex; one chic lit recommendation, and I would be surprised if I could produce more in the future.
A bit of cheating: Neil Gaiman's Wolves In The Walls - Children's literature; I still read this to my brother (he's seven) and it still gets to him.
Currently Reading? Holly Black's Tithe;; Sandman book of Dreams edited by Neil Gaiman and Ed Kramer; I've been reading M is for Magic to my brother who is aged seven.