A Book Meme

Hardback or trade paperback or mass market paperback? I usually read trade paperbacks but it would depend on the book, like, for instance - I won't be waiting for the last Harry Potter to go to paperback before I buy it. I've also been known to upgrade to hardcover for a book I have in paperback and happen to have fallen in love with.

Amazon or brick and mortar? Amazon for prices, brick and mortar for sheer enjoyment.

Barnes & Noble or Borders? I like Barnes & Noble well enough but Borders is A.) More accessible; B.) less expensive; C.) big on coupons; D.) offering up a nice holiday thing where you get a percentage of the total amount you spend put into a christmas clubish thing. Yeah, okay, this sat in my drafts folder for less than a week and Borders just did away with their holiday savings club thing. Supah.

Bookmark or dog-ear? Bookmark, you heathens.

Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random? Okay, when I was a kid - I totally libraried my books...tape on the bindings with an F for fiction and the first three letters of the author's last name. I'm a bit more laid back now.

Keep, throw away, or sell? I'm a huge fan of the Paperback Book Swap (see sidebar for linkage). It's perfect for those quick reads and all meh books. But mostly it's keep. Much to the chagrin of my husband.

Keep dust jacket or toss it? Keep.

Read with dust jacket or remove it? Hmm. Mostly with. Unless I'm taking the book somewhere, then I tend to leave it home. I tend to bring a book anywhere I can so they're often jammed in a tote bag and I cringe at ripping those covers.

Short story or novel? Novels. But I love T.C. Boyle's After the Plague.

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket? Harry Potter. I've read all of Lemony Snicket too (the boy and I had a contest going when he was in second grade and we whipped through ten of them) and I liked Lemony well enough, loved the vocabulary but the last book? Was TERRIBLE. And there's no way I was as anxious to read it as I am for the seventh Potter.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks? Unless I'm falling asleep, chapter break.

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

Buy or Borrow? Buy. I borrow from the library too, but not too often. I find I've got alot on my 'to read' list right here on my shelves. We pass around books at book club too and there's a girl at work who likes to swap but I just remembered I'm missing Bel Canto and Little Children. Both of which I want back.

New or used? Both.

Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation or browse? All three. But reviews and recommendations definitely surpass browsing.

Tidy ending or cliffhanger? Either is okay but since tidy ending doesn't mean happy ending I'd guess I prefer tidy. But not too tidy.

Morning reading, afternoon reading or nighttime reading? How about 'any free minute' reading?

Stand-alone or series? Both.

Favorite series? Am enjoying Nevada Barr's Anna Pigeon series, the illustious Mr. Potter, um and do two books count as a series? Yes? Then Kent Haruf's Eventide and Plainsong. Oh, and the Richard Jury books by Martha Grimes...although I haven't read those in awhile. And there were these mysteries, about a nun...gosh, I loved those books and cannot remember the name of even one of them much less the author.

Favorite children's book? Favorite YA book? I loved A Wrinkle in Time and The Phantom Tollbooth. Cripes, I read alot of books when I was younger and they come back in fits and starts. My memory ain't what it used to be. (Is there an apostrophe in ain't? aint? hmm.)

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard? I don't usually read undiscovered books...

Favorite books read last year? The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood, In a Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson and maybe the Kite Runner (was that only a year ago?), The Girl with a Pearl Earring.

Favorite books of all time? Bel Canto, A Fine Balance, Plainsong, The Handmaid's Tale, Watership Down, East of Eden, Lonesome Dove.

Least favorite book you finished last year? Running with Scissors. Ugh.

What are you reading right now? Killer Angels by Michael Shaara but I'm finishing it tonight. Again, this sat in drafts....now I'm reading Goodnight, Nobody by Jennifer Weiner.

What are you reading next? The God of Small Things by Arundhati Roy. Maybe. Probably. We'll see.