Book meme - gacked from thistlerose

[erastes]

Paperback, hardback or Trade paperback?

Any. Both. All.  It's books.   Talking books!!!  Also ebooks (I print 'em) too.  I'll never read books on a PDA.  I like something paper to hold, even if it's only with one hand

Amazon or brick and mortar?

Both. There's nothing nicer than wandering through Charing Cross Road or Hay-on-Wye.  Norwich doesn't have a book district, that I know of, but where I used to live in Bournemouth where you could drown in 2nd hand bookshops. What bliss.

Barnes & Noble or Borders?

Neither really. I don't actually like new books from bookshops, too expensive!!!

Bookmark or dog-ear?

Neither. I remember where I am. 

Favourite place to read?

Bath and bed.  But I miss the reading while commuting. Speaking Books are wonderful. They have to be unabridged, though

Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random?

Hello?  Do I look Anal? If I go mad I try and shelve them all, but that's 3 deep...

Keep, throw away, or sell?

Keep.  Always.  Books are my Friends.  I've only Book-Crossinged one - Wraethlu by Storm Constantine - it was crap which sort of went against the ethos of Book Crossing, you are supposed to share the goodness, not inflict crap on people.  However even though I felt guilty for ages, abandoning the book in the supermarket.  I felt like a murderer.

Keep dust jacket or toss it?

Keep.  I admit that I don't look after my books as well as I should but I wouldn't chuck a cover away.

Read with dust jacket or remove it?

without, it gets in the way.

Short story or novel?

Novels, mainly.  I like short story anthologies though, specially Somerset Maugham, SAKI, Sci-fi

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?

Potter, never tried Snicket.  But no more Potter after the last book. I'll probably be Book Crossing them. She killed me with HBP. After 7, I'm outta there.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?

Chapter breaks which is difficult with Pratchett....

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

It completely depends.  Either can hook me.  But I do like a good beginning.  One of the worst I've read recently is "the Summons" by Grisham which is so crap I very nearly didn't turn the page.

Buy or borrow?

Buy.  I never borrow books.  and never lend.  I'll give books, but not lend.

New or used?

Doesn't matter.

Buying choice: book reviews, recommendations, or browse?

Recs or browse.  I use Amazon's tags/listmania a lot for this sort of thing

Tidy ending or cliffhanger?

I like to be challenged.  A pointless cliffhanger irritates me, HEA's sicken me.  Give me something to make me THINK.

Morning reading, afternoon reading, or nighttime reading?

In truth, evening.  But given the change, when ever I get the chance.

Stand-alone or series?

I don't LIKE to start WIPS.  I'm sure GRRM and Rowling will finish.... but I can't rely on it.  I actually rarely read authors who are still alive!!!

Favorite series?

Impossible to pick one
ASOIAF - GRRM
The Chronicles of Narnia - CS Lewis
Discworld
His Dark Materials
The Early Dune books
The Jill Books
Future History - Heinlein

Favorite children's book?

Narnia I think.

Favorite YA book?

I don't know of any, it's a genre I strongly disagree with.

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?

Warlock in spite of himself

Favorite books read last year?

Strong & Sudden Thaw by rwday

Favorite books of all time?

Time enough for Love - Heinlein

Least favorite book you finished last year?

The Da Vinci Code

What are you reading right now?

English Passengers - The Summons, Grisham, Frontiers - Michael Jensen

What are you reading next?

Hello Sailor/Sandman

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

His Dark Materials

Favorite book to reread?

Time Enough for Love - Robert Heinlein

Do you ever smell books?

Yes. Completely. There's nothing like it.

Do you ever read Primary source documents?

I have no idea what they are, sorry.
ETA: thank you rmanley !  So Yes!  I LOVE them, specially for research.  Hell, I read the back of cornflake packets rather than have nothing to read.

Comments

[aunty_marion]

I've got The Warlock In Spite of Himself! (In fact, I have most of that series... *shifty-eyed*)

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Heh. I should have guessed that my internet friends would have heard of it!

[rmanley.livejournal.com]

Primary source documents definition (http://instructional1.calstatela.edu/tclim/definition_boxes/primary_sources.htm).

[erastes.livejournal.com]

Thank you, and so YES. Like a voracious gannet...

[schmoo999.livejournal.com]

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?

Warlock in spite of himself

I have!! I bought this book back when I was in HS in the 80s:) I loved it and still have it.....

and the smell of books? Love it too..have since I was a wee girl.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I love Rod. And I love Fess.

[julesjones]

And I've got The Warlock In Spite Of Himself... Though not listed in my LibraryThing, because it is on the other side of the Atlantic.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I must get the rest of the series. Love Rod and Fess so much!

[thistlerose.livejournal.com]

What don't you like about the YA genre? Two of your favorite series are YA.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

I don't like genres period But the YA is the worst to my eyes. It's... condescending... I'd have never known anything I like was YA. OK - if you have to have "Ellie endure High School" and stuff like that, that's fine, they are obviously YA, but any of the books I've listed are just books. If I had a child, I would do what my mother did for me, give me access to anything I wanted to read (although carefully steering me away from tripe without me noticing) and if I was reading War and Peace at 10 or Narnia at 30 made no difference. Is Dark Materials YA? Over here it's from "Seven and up" that's hardly YA...

In fact I dislike the term Young Adult too.:)

*grumps off into a corner*

[thistlerose.livejournal.com]

*shrug* I think it's a useful distinction for librarians and such. If a thirteen-year-old came to me for a kick-ass fantasy series, I'd point her toward His Dark Materials long before, say, GRRM's books. But I think all genres have porous edges.

[welshbard.livejournal.com]

We have a lot in common in our reading habits.

I'm with you on Time Enough For Love and the rest of the Heinlein catalog, pre-Beast.

The smell of a used bookstore is better than Prozac. An extremely elevating influence.

I hated Angels and Demons, and therefore am skipping daVinci Code.

I read Warlock when it was 10 years old. Not when I was 10, when it was 10.

Interesting insight into your psyche. Well met.

My favorite thing to do at people's houses is peruse their bookshelves to see what kind of person they are.

[erastes.livejournal.com]

You'd have fun in my house, I have a collection to send Freud running for cover!

I love all Heinlein, just all of them. Well ok... To Sail the wossit isnt great...