Yet Another Book Meme.

Donna, blogger of the excellent book blog, Bites post a book-related meme overnight so I couldn’t help but do it myself. Please feel free to do it yourself and leave a link here. You’re all tagged!

Hardback, trade paperback or mass market paperback?

I prefer Trade Paperback. The text is bigger and the whole thing doesn’t seem as daunting for some reason. I tend to read them quicker, because of that.

Barnes & Noble or Borders?

We don’t have Barnes & Noble here, just Borders, which I happen to love.

Bookmarks or dog-ear?

Bookmarks. Firstly, dog ears jar with my sense of order and morality. But by bookmarks, I usually mean train tickets though I’ve been meaning to find some good ones.

Amazon or brick-and-mortar?

Following this, I’m wondering who doing this meme would pick Amazon. Aside from that, I prefer shopping in an actual books store. It’s a joy itself. I could spend hours there. I only buy stuff online if I can’t get it in a regular bookstore.

Alphabetize by author, by title or randomize?

I’m severely OCD about my books, fiction is alphabetized by author and non-fiction is meant to be divided up between subjects but I haven’t gotten around to that yet.

Keep, throw away or sell?

Keep! I tend to hoard books, even ones I got given to me but never intend to read.

Keep dust jacket or remove it?

Keep it.

Read with dust jacket or remove it?

With the dust jacket.

Short story or novel?

I usually read novels, always have because it’s only recently that I’ve discovered short story collections, even after writing it for a few years. I’m now getting into the short form more, but novels are still my preference.

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?

I haven’t read either.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?

My sense of order tends to make me want to get to the end of the chapter, but sometimes I’m just too tired. Or the chapters are really long and I have to appear to be doing work at some point so stop part way through when reading at work.

“It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”?

Both are clichés, but I’ll take a story about a dark and stormy night anyday.

Buy or borrow?

Buy! I like all my books on display to show off. I used to borrow when I was unemployed, but being a slow reader, I always had to take them back before I was done.

Buying choice: book reviews, recommendations or browse?

I already have a long list of books to read mainly recommendations of classic works, but that doesn’t stop a recommendation or random find jumping onto my list.

Tidy ending or cliffhanger?

I could be satisfied with both, but lately the books with cliffhangers left a bit too much unexplained.

Morning, afternoon or nighttime reading?

My usual nice slab of reading time is at night, but something I can fit a few pages in during work hours.

Stand alone or series?

Stand alone. Not that I don’t like series’. It’s just that I have enough trouble finishing one book without moving on to my something else. I’d never finish a series.

Favorite series?

The last series I read was Goosebumps, not all of them but quite a few.

Favorite children’s book?

Goosebumps

Favorite YA book?

Goosebumps – whether or not its children or YA, I don’t know.

Favorite book of which no one else has heard of?

Aside from those in Australian horror writer’s circles, no one else seems to have heard of The Pilo Family Circus by Will Elliot. Such an awesome book.

Favorite books read last year?

Seeing as I only read three, I’d see Jarhead by Anthony Swofford.

Favorite books of all time?

This is a tough one and it changes all of the time. The Green Mile and IT by Stephen King, Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami, Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk, and The Pilo Family Circus by Will Elliot.

What are you reading right now?

The Blogging Revolution by Antony Loewenstein, Imperialism and World Economy by Nikolai Bukharin and The Black Book by Orhan Pamuk.

What are you reading next?

I have a very long ‘to-read list,’ but the very next thing will probably be Twelve by Jasper Kent

Favorite book to recommend to an 11-year-old?

A Little Piece of Ground by Elizabeth Laird. It’s a book set in Palestine.

Favorite book to re-read?

The Green Mile by Stephen King.

Do you ever smell books?

Yes! This being a question automatically makes it less weird than I thought it was. The smell of a new book or a really old book is both equally pleasing.

Do you ever read primary source documents, like letters or diaries?

Not really. I flicked through Kurt Cobain’s diaries years ago, but did just buy a copy of Leon Trotsky’s Diaries in Exile from 1935.

books, reading