Book Meme
Stole this from kalquessa, though I believe it's been going around my flist for a week or two.
Hardback, trade paperback or mass market paperback?
Um, I don't really care. It's mostly about the content--though when I can afford hardbacks, I tend to enjoy buying them. Especially the neater, smaller hardbacks.
Amazon or brick and mortar?
Amazon, if I want hardbacks or something uncommon or something usually expensive. Used bookstores (the Illiad is the one I go to here) for random browsing and time-wasting. :-) Or in an attempt to locate out-of-print works.
Barnes & Noble or Borders?
Borders is a dang expensive place to buy DVDs. Never again.
Bookmark or dog-ear?
Bookmark, although I don't usually use actual bookmarks. Library receipts, random paper scraps, bits of string, pennies, bills, a pen or pencil--all of these have seen use. I would never dogear a book. Vandalism!
Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random?
I split fiction from non-fiction and alphabetize by author.
Keep, throw away, or sell?
I'll keep--or donate to a library, or sell/trade at a used bookstore. I have thrown a book away, just once: Door Into Fire, by Diane Duane. I love pretty much everything she writes, except for this series. It's just bizarre, and not in a good way. I kept it around for years for no reason, and finally put it in the garbage.
Keep dust jacket or toss it?
Keep! Who would toss a perfectly good dust jacket?
Read with dust jacket or remove it?
Depends on how unwieldy the book is. I took the jacket off Half-Blood Prince, for example.
Short story or novel?
Either, really, though I do love a long novel.
Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?
Both! I own HP, though, and do not yet own any LS.
Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?
Chapter breaks, whenever I can. It give my brain a place to park, and is also a habit from when "I just want to finish this chapter!" actually worked to get my parents to let me stay up a while longer.
"It was a dark and stormy night" or "Once upon a time"?
Oh, either.
Buy or borrow?
Borrow; libraries are wonderful things. I'm sure this is a holdover from my poor childhood, but I usually only buy books I desperately want, can't get another way, or desire to foist on unsuspecting friends.
New or used?
As long as it's in reasonably decent shape, age doesn't matter to me. (stole this answer from kalquess, because it's true.)
Buying choice: book reviews, recommendations, or browse?
Recommendations, judiciously supplemented by browsing in my local library. I don't like to waste time on things I won't enjoy, but I've also found incredible and little-known treasures browsing on my own. (This preference holds true for me in fanfic reading as well--I love following recs, but I will also poke around ff.net and archives upon occasion, and have found wonderful stories that way, including one of the best Numb3rs fics on the net.)
Tidy ending or cliffhanger?
Let the ending fit the story. That's all I can reasonably ask of any author.--kalquessa Word.
Morning reading, afternoon reading, or nighttime reading?
Oh, anytime. Though nighttime is the best, usually.
Stand-alone or series?
I don't care, if it's well-written and doesn't outgrow itself. I've loved many stand-alones (The Time Traveler's Wife comes to mind), as well as several series.
Favorite series?
The Lord of the Rings. I've seen some people protest that this is one book, not a series--but I figure that once you add in The Silmarillion and The Hobbit, it's close enough. :-)
Favorite children's book?
Very possibly Ramona Quimby, Age 8. I didn't have a lot of "favorites" as a child, though; I read almost indiscriminately. That was certainly one I came back to again and again, early on. And it's more of a children's book than the YA fantasy which was the mainstay of my childhood reading.
Favorite YA book?
There are so many! Seriously, how do I choose? It might be a tie between A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L'Engle, and A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin. But there are so many more...!
Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?
Ha. Back to the YA fantasy we go: The Gammage Cup, by Carol Kendall. It's a bit of a Tolkien rip-off, with small people and glowing swords and forgotten stories and unlikely heroes, but it's well-written, I really enjoyed the characters, and the plot had enough suspense and humor to keep me coming back again and again.
Favorite books read last year?
Oh good heavens. I don't know. The Hallowed Hunt by Lois McMaster Bujuold; His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik...I can't recall the books I read last year with that much clarity! Annoying question.
Favorite books of all time?
Here goes....: LotR, the Narnia series, Perelandra, Phantastes, The Arm of the Starfish, The Curse of Chalion, Freckles, Gaudy Night, Tales of the Resistance, The Dead Zone, A Wizard of Earthsea, The Neverending Story, Deep Wizardry, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Till We Have Faces, The Man Who Was Thursday, Mossflower....there's more, but my brain is tired.
Least favorite book you finished last year?
I don't remember. :-)
What are you reading right now?
How the Irish Saved Civilization; re-reading Till We Have Faces; re-reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
What are you reading next?
Summerland, by Michael Chabon; also, possibly, Peace Like a River, by Leif Enger.
Favorite book to recommend to an eleven-year-old?
The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien. That the earliest I let my siblings read them--usually we'd read them aloud together as their 11th birthday present.
Favorite book to reread?
LOTR. The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold.
Do you ever smell books?
Oh, yes. That's half the attraction of used bookstores, for me.
Do you ever read Primary source documents?
No, but I'd like to. :-)
Hardback, trade paperback or mass market paperback?
Um, I don't really care. It's mostly about the content--though when I can afford hardbacks, I tend to enjoy buying them. Especially the neater, smaller hardbacks.
Amazon or brick and mortar?
Amazon, if I want hardbacks or something uncommon or something usually expensive. Used bookstores (the Illiad is the one I go to here) for random browsing and time-wasting. :-) Or in an attempt to locate out-of-print works.
Barnes & Noble or Borders?
Borders is a dang expensive place to buy DVDs. Never again.
Bookmark or dog-ear?
Bookmark, although I don't usually use actual bookmarks. Library receipts, random paper scraps, bits of string, pennies, bills, a pen or pencil--all of these have seen use. I would never dogear a book. Vandalism!
Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random?
I split fiction from non-fiction and alphabetize by author.
Keep, throw away, or sell?
I'll keep--or donate to a library, or sell/trade at a used bookstore. I have thrown a book away, just once: Door Into Fire, by Diane Duane. I love pretty much everything she writes, except for this series. It's just bizarre, and not in a good way. I kept it around for years for no reason, and finally put it in the garbage.
Keep dust jacket or toss it?
Keep! Who would toss a perfectly good dust jacket?
Read with dust jacket or remove it?
Depends on how unwieldy the book is. I took the jacket off Half-Blood Prince, for example.
Short story or novel?
Either, really, though I do love a long novel.
Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?
Both! I own HP, though, and do not yet own any LS.
Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?
Chapter breaks, whenever I can. It give my brain a place to park, and is also a habit from when "I just want to finish this chapter!" actually worked to get my parents to let me stay up a while longer.
"It was a dark and stormy night" or "Once upon a time"?
Oh, either.
Buy or borrow?
Borrow; libraries are wonderful things. I'm sure this is a holdover from my poor childhood, but I usually only buy books I desperately want, can't get another way, or desire to foist on unsuspecting friends.
New or used?
As long as it's in reasonably decent shape, age doesn't matter to me. (stole this answer from kalquess, because it's true.)
Buying choice: book reviews, recommendations, or browse?
Recommendations, judiciously supplemented by browsing in my local library. I don't like to waste time on things I won't enjoy, but I've also found incredible and little-known treasures browsing on my own. (This preference holds true for me in fanfic reading as well--I love following recs, but I will also poke around ff.net and archives upon occasion, and have found wonderful stories that way, including one of the best Numb3rs fics on the net.)
Tidy ending or cliffhanger?
Let the ending fit the story. That's all I can reasonably ask of any author.--kalquessa Word.
Morning reading, afternoon reading, or nighttime reading?
Oh, anytime. Though nighttime is the best, usually.
Stand-alone or series?
I don't care, if it's well-written and doesn't outgrow itself. I've loved many stand-alones (The Time Traveler's Wife comes to mind), as well as several series.
Favorite series?
The Lord of the Rings. I've seen some people protest that this is one book, not a series--but I figure that once you add in The Silmarillion and The Hobbit, it's close enough. :-)
Favorite children's book?
Very possibly Ramona Quimby, Age 8. I didn't have a lot of "favorites" as a child, though; I read almost indiscriminately. That was certainly one I came back to again and again, early on. And it's more of a children's book than the YA fantasy which was the mainstay of my childhood reading.
Favorite YA book?
There are so many! Seriously, how do I choose? It might be a tie between A Ring of Endless Light by Madeleine L'Engle, and A Wizard of Earthsea by Ursula K. LeGuin. But there are so many more...!
Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?
Ha. Back to the YA fantasy we go: The Gammage Cup, by Carol Kendall. It's a bit of a Tolkien rip-off, with small people and glowing swords and forgotten stories and unlikely heroes, but it's well-written, I really enjoyed the characters, and the plot had enough suspense and humor to keep me coming back again and again.
Favorite books read last year?
Oh good heavens. I don't know. The Hallowed Hunt by Lois McMaster Bujuold; His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik...I can't recall the books I read last year with that much clarity! Annoying question.
Favorite books of all time?
Here goes....: LotR, the Narnia series, Perelandra, Phantastes, The Arm of the Starfish, The Curse of Chalion, Freckles, Gaudy Night, Tales of the Resistance, The Dead Zone, A Wizard of Earthsea, The Neverending Story, Deep Wizardry, Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban, Till We Have Faces, The Man Who Was Thursday, Mossflower....there's more, but my brain is tired.
Least favorite book you finished last year?
I don't remember. :-)
What are you reading right now?
How the Irish Saved Civilization; re-reading Till We Have Faces; re-reading Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone.
What are you reading next?
Summerland, by Michael Chabon; also, possibly, Peace Like a River, by Leif Enger.
Favorite book to recommend to an eleven-year-old?
The Lord of the Rings, by J.R.R. Tolkien. That the earliest I let my siblings read them--usually we'd read them aloud together as their 11th birthday present.
Favorite book to reread?
LOTR. The Warrior's Apprentice by Lois McMaster Bujold.
Do you ever smell books?
Oh, yes. That's half the attraction of used bookstores, for me.
Do you ever read Primary source documents?
No, but I'd like to. :-)