Booky McReadems

I swiped this meme from Red Molly. She has no idea who I am and didn't tag me, but I lifted it anyway, and I filled it out. So there! It's a bunch of questions about books, and it's a great way to squeeze out a blog post on a day that nothing seems to be springing into my wee little thinking part. So on we go . . .

Hardback or paperback or trade paperback?
I prefer hardbacks, mostly because they don't sustain the same damage from average reading that the softer covers seem to attract.

Amazon or brick and mortar?
I don't really care. I've made purchases from Amazon, though I tend to save them for gifts when I've had the good sense to go there first.

Barnes and Noble or Borders?
I prefer to avoid stores of this type. Large corporations tend to offer very little that you might actually look for in an enjoyable visit to a bookstore.

Bookmark or dog ear?
That this question exists here makes me wonder if it was really written by a bookish sort. The corporate bookstore question should have been a clue, but this one really begs the question. BOOKMARK!!! Dog eared pages are sad and detrimental to the overall sanctity of the book. I've even used the subscription cards out of magazines as a bookmark, and folded longways, they do a great job. My favorite bookmark is actually a bit of brown paper (like a grocery bag) that came wrapped around Momma's fancy knife. It's the perfect size and shape and has Japanese writing on it, something about Kikuichi.

Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random?
Almost totally random. Authors tend to find themselves grouped together, but the books are sorted more by child appropriateness. Like this we are able to tell Big Brother more easily what books are or are not appropriate because, for eight years old, he really reads better and more capably than he ought.

Keep, throw away or sell?
Usually keep because I'm a book geek and a pack rat. If I've bought a book it's because I want to own it, so I'm not likely to get rid of it. As far as throwing away, if I had a book I didn't want but couldn't sell, I might toss it, but even the worst book may be worth little something to someone.

Keep dust jacket or toss it?
I keep them. It's part of the book in my opinion, and in the end, I'd prefer to keep that tiny little bit of protection, though I have my doubts as to what sort of danger, beyond dust, the dust jacket might protect the book from.

Read with dust jacket or remove it?
I remove it. It's fairly common to find dust jackets lying around the house, though sometimes I just put them on top of the books on the shelf where the book I'm reading lives. Seriously, when you are actively reading a book, the dust jacket only really works as a sort of crappy book mark that's just dying to lose your place, so why bother?

Short story or novel?
Yes, please!

Collection (short stories by same author) or anthology (collection of stories by different authors)?
Again, how can I pick? I'll take a little of both if it's all the same to you.

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?
I'm going with Harry on this one. I'm not sure if I've even read a Lemony now that I think about it.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter break?
Even if I'm tired I'll go for the break. But if I get too tired, I'll place the bookmark back to a break in case I end up getting too tired to remember what I may have read.

"It was a dark and stormy night" or "Once upon a time"?
Depends on the book really. I'd like to think that most people can come up with something better than cliches to open their books.

Buy or borrow?
Prefer to buy. I hate to borrow as I really hate to loan. The best way to lose a book is to loan it to someone. I will happily borrow from the library, though they are a great place to find books I wish I owned.

New or used?
Either way is fine with me. Used is generally a better deal price wise, and we have a great used book store in my town.

Buying choice: book reviews, recommendations or browse?
I find that I often enjoy reading book reviews, but they don't often effect what I end up reading. Lately I can do a little browsing, usually at the library, but I also tend very often to search out particular authors.

Tidy endings or cliff hangers?
I guess it depends on the book. I don't tell the author what to write, so I tend to get stuck with the book, and they tend to end however they do. A well written book seems often to end how it's supposed to.

Morning, noon or nighttime reading?
All of the above. Lately most of my reading tends to be either on the toilet or outside the back door coupled with a cigarette.

Stand alone or series?
Here again, I don't really have a preference. I just like good, well written books.

Favorite series?
In no particular order I'll name a few.
-His Dark Materials-Philip Pullman
-The Lord of the Rings-J.R.R. Tolkien
-The Little House books-Laura Ingalls Wilder
-Dragon of the Lost Sea-Laurence Yep
-Eragon and Eldest, books one and two of Christopher Paolini's trio are also the only of the series yet to be released to us hungry fans. I trust that book three will stand up to the first two.

Favorite children's book?
Wow, this one is hard because I've read so much J-fiction lately. Though not really a children's book, I really had fun reading Kidnapped, by Robert Louis Stevenson to Big Brother a couple of years ago.

Favorite book of which no one else has heard?
I don't know who has or hasn't heard of the books I like. I'll suggest an author though that was introduced to me not too long ago that I really love. I don't know how I'd try to explain Mark Helprin. He's a great writer, but he doesn't really fit in a particular niche. I'd suggest a novel as his short stories tend to leave me wanting to read the rest of the novel, though in almost a good way.

Favorite book read last year?
Probably Eldest, the second book in Christopher Paolini's trio of dragon books mentioned above. I also enjoyed Eragon, though last year's reading of that book was a rereading as I awaited Big Brother's finishing of the book. Eldest continued the story beautifully and left me waiting for the third conclusive book.

Favorite books of all time?
One of my all time favorite books is Alexander Dumas' The Three Musketeers. Just about anything Mark Twain ever wrote will find itself on that list as well. Appetite for Life, the biography of Julia Child is another top book. I'm a bit of a sucker for Julia anyway, and this book only increased my love for her.

Least favorite book finished last year?
If a book is that bad, I'm more than happy to put it down and walk away. The worst book I finished would likely have been some random child's book that was written more for a payday than to present literature to a child. But we don't always decide what the children ask us to read.

What are you reading right now?
magazines, Reason and Seed and Popular Science. I'm not currently reading a book, though we have Bridge to Terabithia from the library, and that's the book I'm most likely about to read next.

What are you reading next?
See previous question/answer.

And that's it for me. I don't like tagging people, but I'm happy for all of you (both my readers) to assume you've been tagged. Fill it out monkey!