That book meme and that description meme
I spam LJ!
Stolen from sophia_helix and vom_marlowe
Describe me in one word.... just one single word. Leave it in my comments section. Then post this original message on your journal (or not!) and see how many strange and interesting things your friends say about you.
And now, a book meme! I think I've actually done this before, but it's about books, and obviously I am willing to babble about books for any length of time.
Paperback, hardback or trade paperback?
I am nostalgically fond for mass markets, which were what I grew up reading. I love trades and hardcovers for how pretty they are, and I've grown to appreciate them more when I worked at a used bookstore (oh man, the things people put their mass markets through), but in the end, I love mass markets for how easy they are to hold in my hand while reading in bed.
Also, I can double stack them like crazy and fit more books in.
Amazon or brick and mortar?
All of the above! I have an Amazon credit card, so I use lots of points there, but I also hit up random bookstores a lot. They make me feel good: it's just me, the shelves, and lots and lots of books (ok, other people too. But really, the important thing is the books).
Barnes & Noble or Borders
I used to like B&N, but Borders is now closer to me, and Borders carries more manga.
Bookmark or dog-ear?
Attempt to memorize the page I'm on and close the book and then spend five minutes every time I pick it back up flipping through to see where I was.
Favorite place to read?
Sofa's the most comfortable, but these days, I do most of my reading in bed. Outside is romantic in notion, but the sunshine sometimes proves to be too fleeting for practical application.
Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random?
Fiction is alphabetized by author (I used to separate it out by genre, but stopped, but may start again some day) and sorted within by series and then by publication date. Manga is shelved the same, though with the Japanese before the English within the author. Non-fiction is arranged in a gradual morph of one subject to the next, which means any purchase of a non-typical subject for me throws the entire scheme off.
Keep, throw away, or sell?
Keeeeeeeep! Am pack rat. I faint dead away at the thought of chucking a book in the trash. Sell is good, as is donating to the library, as is Bookmooch.
Keep dust jacket or toss it?
Keep and lovingly eye and then curse as it continually falls off or gets wrinkled when I actually read.
Read with dust jacket or remove it?
I usually end up removing it if it slips around too much.
Short story or novel?
Novel. I don't seem to parse short stories well, particularly SF ones.
Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?
HP, largely because I read the first couple of pages of Lemony Snicket and then decided it read a little too young for me.
Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?
Attempt to stop reading at chapter breaks and then go on so far that I am entirely too tired and fall asleep in the middle and completely forget where I was.
"It was a dark and stormy night" or "Once upon a time"?
"Once upon a time," always always always.
Buy or borrow?
Both! Though these days, I have been good and have been borrowing a lot from the library and getting stuff off Bookmooch instead of buying.
Of course, now that I've said that, watch me run off to Borders and come back with an armful of manga.
New or used?
I like both. Recently, I've been getting a lot used (yay Bookmooch!).
Buying choice: book reviews, recommendations, or browse?
All of the above! Personal recs sit strongest with me if I know and trust the reccers taste (rilina has apparently taken up the job of being my personal pimp), book reviews from reputable sources will work unless I have gotten strong personal recs against, and now that I'm going to the library more, I'm much more inclined to grab completely random stuff off shelves.
Tidy ending or cliffhanger?
Tidy ending.
Morning reading, afternoon reading, or nighttime reading?
Almost always nighttime reading.
Stand-alone or series?
Uh. Both? I love a good series and how it builds on itself; I adore manga series; but I miss standalone romances and fantasy books as well.
Favorite series?
Uhhhhh. At this very second: Nana, Saiyuki, Godchild, 20th Century Boys, Melusine, Sandman, Turner's Thief trilogy and many more.
Favorite children's book?
(note: these are books I read as a child) The Stinky Cheese Man! Assorted myth and fairy tale books, The Way Things Work (it's the mammoths!),
Favorite YA book?
Meme, you are cruel. At this very second: Sarah Dessen's This Lullaby and Just Listen, Le Guin's Voices, The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt, Westmark trilogy, Two Moons in August, Catherine, Called Birdy, Howl's Moving Castle, The Perilous Gard, Megan Whalen Turner's Thief trilogy (please be a series!), Sorcery and Cecelia, Jackaroo. And that's only what I can remember right now or via looking through my LJ.
Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?
HONEY & CLOVER! Ok, it doesn't really count because I have only read three vols. because I loved the anime so much. Still.
And... I don't know. I feel like most people on my flist have heard of all my favorites. Maybe Martha Brooks' Two Moons in August? Not my favorite favorite, but I like it a lot.
Favorite books read last year?
I have so many that I have a whole post on it! And a separate one just for manga!
Favorite books of all time?
As sophia_helix said, "Oh meme, you are so funny."
Least favorite book you finished last year?
So the sad thing is, I can actually say, "Why, let me just get out my list of all the books I read last year and consult!"
Ok, now that I have consulted, definitely Slammerkin.
What are you reading right now?
Uh. The Vanished Child (mystery), Name Me Nobody (Hawai'ian Japanese girl coming of age, possibly lesbian), The House on Mango Street, 3rd book in the Niccolo series, Rose of Versailles vol. 1. Sadly, I cannot consult my handy dandy list at home for the entire list.
What are you reading next?
Uhhhh. Fruits Basket vol. 3 for the Great Manga Reread Project, the eighteen books I just borrowed from the library (knitting, manga, non-fiction, random stuff), many other things that I will not think about but randomly pick up because they strike my fancy at the moment as I have the attention span of a gnat.
Possibly less.
Favorite book to recommend to an eleven-year-old?
I don't know! I try to tailor recs to the person!
Favorite book to reread?
Oh, this is too hard. I actually haven't reread things for a while now, just because there's so much new stuff to read. But I always periodically reread Sandman and L'Engle and will probably reread Megan Whalen Turner a lot and I have the good parts reread of some romance novels and I always like rereading old favorites from childhood.
Do you ever smell books?
Yes! Though usually not individual books; I like standing in libraries and bookstores and smelling the accumulation of books.
Do you ever read primary source documents?
Define primary source? I mean, by definition, I only read primary source documents when I'm researching, or else, how else would I have the criteria to define something as primary or not?
Stolen from sophia_helix and vom_marlowe
Describe me in one word.... just one single word. Leave it in my comments section. Then post this original message on your journal (or not!) and see how many strange and interesting things your friends say about you.
And now, a book meme! I think I've actually done this before, but it's about books, and obviously I am willing to babble about books for any length of time.
Paperback, hardback or trade paperback?
I am nostalgically fond for mass markets, which were what I grew up reading. I love trades and hardcovers for how pretty they are, and I've grown to appreciate them more when I worked at a used bookstore (oh man, the things people put their mass markets through), but in the end, I love mass markets for how easy they are to hold in my hand while reading in bed.
Also, I can double stack them like crazy and fit more books in.
Amazon or brick and mortar?
All of the above! I have an Amazon credit card, so I use lots of points there, but I also hit up random bookstores a lot. They make me feel good: it's just me, the shelves, and lots and lots of books (ok, other people too. But really, the important thing is the books).
Barnes & Noble or Borders
I used to like B&N, but Borders is now closer to me, and Borders carries more manga.
Bookmark or dog-ear?
Attempt to memorize the page I'm on and close the book and then spend five minutes every time I pick it back up flipping through to see where I was.
Favorite place to read?
Sofa's the most comfortable, but these days, I do most of my reading in bed. Outside is romantic in notion, but the sunshine sometimes proves to be too fleeting for practical application.
Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random?
Fiction is alphabetized by author (I used to separate it out by genre, but stopped, but may start again some day) and sorted within by series and then by publication date. Manga is shelved the same, though with the Japanese before the English within the author. Non-fiction is arranged in a gradual morph of one subject to the next, which means any purchase of a non-typical subject for me throws the entire scheme off.
Keep, throw away, or sell?
Keeeeeeeep! Am pack rat. I faint dead away at the thought of chucking a book in the trash. Sell is good, as is donating to the library, as is Bookmooch.
Keep dust jacket or toss it?
Keep and lovingly eye and then curse as it continually falls off or gets wrinkled when I actually read.
Read with dust jacket or remove it?
I usually end up removing it if it slips around too much.
Short story or novel?
Novel. I don't seem to parse short stories well, particularly SF ones.
Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?
HP, largely because I read the first couple of pages of Lemony Snicket and then decided it read a little too young for me.
Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?
Attempt to stop reading at chapter breaks and then go on so far that I am entirely too tired and fall asleep in the middle and completely forget where I was.
"It was a dark and stormy night" or "Once upon a time"?
"Once upon a time," always always always.
Buy or borrow?
Both! Though these days, I have been good and have been borrowing a lot from the library and getting stuff off Bookmooch instead of buying.
Of course, now that I've said that, watch me run off to Borders and come back with an armful of manga.
New or used?
I like both. Recently, I've been getting a lot used (yay Bookmooch!).
Buying choice: book reviews, recommendations, or browse?
All of the above! Personal recs sit strongest with me if I know and trust the reccers taste (rilina has apparently taken up the job of being my personal pimp), book reviews from reputable sources will work unless I have gotten strong personal recs against, and now that I'm going to the library more, I'm much more inclined to grab completely random stuff off shelves.
Tidy ending or cliffhanger?
Tidy ending.
Morning reading, afternoon reading, or nighttime reading?
Almost always nighttime reading.
Stand-alone or series?
Uh. Both? I love a good series and how it builds on itself; I adore manga series; but I miss standalone romances and fantasy books as well.
Favorite series?
Uhhhhh. At this very second: Nana, Saiyuki, Godchild, 20th Century Boys, Melusine, Sandman, Turner's Thief trilogy and many more.
Favorite children's book?
(note: these are books I read as a child) The Stinky Cheese Man! Assorted myth and fairy tale books, The Way Things Work (it's the mammoths!),
Favorite YA book?
Meme, you are cruel. At this very second: Sarah Dessen's This Lullaby and Just Listen, Le Guin's Voices, The Facts and Fictions of Minna Pratt, Westmark trilogy, Two Moons in August, Catherine, Called Birdy, Howl's Moving Castle, The Perilous Gard, Megan Whalen Turner's Thief trilogy (please be a series!), Sorcery and Cecelia, Jackaroo. And that's only what I can remember right now or via looking through my LJ.
Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?
HONEY & CLOVER! Ok, it doesn't really count because I have only read three vols. because I loved the anime so much. Still.
And... I don't know. I feel like most people on my flist have heard of all my favorites. Maybe Martha Brooks' Two Moons in August? Not my favorite favorite, but I like it a lot.
Favorite books read last year?
I have so many that I have a whole post on it! And a separate one just for manga!
Favorite books of all time?
As sophia_helix said, "Oh meme, you are so funny."
Least favorite book you finished last year?
So the sad thing is, I can actually say, "Why, let me just get out my list of all the books I read last year and consult!"
Ok, now that I have consulted, definitely Slammerkin.
What are you reading right now?
Uh. The Vanished Child (mystery), Name Me Nobody (Hawai'ian Japanese girl coming of age, possibly lesbian), The House on Mango Street, 3rd book in the Niccolo series, Rose of Versailles vol. 1. Sadly, I cannot consult my handy dandy list at home for the entire list.
What are you reading next?
Uhhhh. Fruits Basket vol. 3 for the Great Manga Reread Project, the eighteen books I just borrowed from the library (knitting, manga, non-fiction, random stuff), many other things that I will not think about but randomly pick up because they strike my fancy at the moment as I have the attention span of a gnat.
Possibly less.
Favorite book to recommend to an eleven-year-old?
I don't know! I try to tailor recs to the person!
Favorite book to reread?
Oh, this is too hard. I actually haven't reread things for a while now, just because there's so much new stuff to read. But I always periodically reread Sandman and L'Engle and will probably reread Megan Whalen Turner a lot and I have the good parts reread of some romance novels and I always like rereading old favorites from childhood.
Do you ever smell books?
Yes! Though usually not individual books; I like standing in libraries and bookstores and smelling the accumulation of books.
Do you ever read primary source documents?
Define primary source? I mean, by definition, I only read primary source documents when I'm researching, or else, how else would I have the criteria to define something as primary or not?