Another Book Meme
Feb. 23rd, 2007 09:41 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
morrigirlHardback or paperback? I prefer paperback, just because they are lighter and take up less room in a bag.
Amazon or brick and mortar? Brick and mortar all the way! When I want a book I want it now and I don't want to wait a week for it to be delivered. Plus, I just love the act of going to a bookstore. I love the travel, I love lazily browsing the stacks, letting my eye get caught on something I wasn't even looking for. I enjoy the full body experience :-)
Barnes & Noble or Borders? Barnes and Noble. They have a wider selection and I find their store layouts and organization way more logical.
Bookmark or dog-ear? Either. Mostly it depends on how much reverence I have for the book I'm reading as well as what materials I have availible to me. If the book isn't something I treasure, I normally don't have any problem with dog-earing the pages. If the book is special and I don't want to hurt it, I'll use a book mark; usually a piece if paper torn from a notebook or a magazine. However, there are exceptions to each rule. I do most of my reading on the subway these days so I never have access to a bookmark when I need it. So, regardless of how I feel about the book I'm reading I have to dog-ear the pages.
Alphabetize by author, alphabetize by title or random? First, they are organized by size: hard covers and oversized paperbacks, medium sized paperbacks, and pocket paperbacks. Books within each group are organized alphabetically by the author's last name.
Keep, throw away, or sell? Part with a friend??? Throw away?! NEVER! I'd prefer to keep all the books I like, but since I have way more books then I have shelf space I've been learning how to part with them recently. Books I didn't like, or those that I enjoyed but didn't leave much of an impression on me usually get given away to strangers. I'll donate them to the library or unload them on the book swap shelf in the SLC library.
Keep dust jacket or toss it? Keep them of course! They're there for a reason aren't they?
Read with dust jacket or remove it? That depends. There are two scenarios in which I always remove the dust jacket before reading: 1) If the book is something I am embarressed to be seen reading, and 2) If it's something I plan to keep in my bag and read on the go. Dust jackets can get ruined being bumped around in a bookbag all day. If I plan to read the book exclusively at home in my apartment, then I'll leave the dust jacket on. Likewise if it's not going to spend much time being ruined in my bag and/or I'm not afraid to be seen reading said book in public.
Short story or novel? Novel, novel, novel. No one knows how to write a good short story anymore. I firmly believe the art was lost somewhere in the early 1950's.
Collection (by same author) or anthology (by different authors)? I'm more of an anthology girl. It allows me to get a taste of everything without dishing out money for individual books. Chances are, if I like an author well enough to be interested in a collection, I probably already own all the material that would be put in such a compilation.
Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket? I've never read either series, but the Harry Potter movies are excellent!
Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks? When I'm tired. If I can make it to a chapter break, that's great. If I can't, I have no problem stopping in the middle of a paragraph.
‘It was a dark and stormy night’ or ‘Once upon a time’? Once upon a time. It is a cliche that holds way more promise than "It was a dark and stormy night." Those words are just so limiting! It tells you too much, doesn't give you enough room to play. "Once upon a time" is a phrase that simply drips with possibility.
Buy or Borrow? Buy. If I like it, I wanna be able to keep it.
New or used? Mainly new, though that's a habit I should grow out of if my wallet is ever to love me again.
Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation or browse? Browse. I'm the only person who can accurately access what I might like.
Tidy ending or cliffhanger? They can both be good, though I prefer a tidy ending. It has to be believably tidy though. I hate it when an author tries to tie up all his loose ends in a matter of 10 pages just because he knows he's nearing the end and doesn't want to spend the time writing the 50 or so extra pages it would require for the story to reach a natural conclusion.
Morning reading, afternoon reading or nighttime reading? Afternoon (at lunch and on the subway how from work) and evening (before I go to bed.)
Standalone or series? Mostly stand alones these days simply because I can't find any series that interet me at the moment. Wait, that's not true. I will keep reading the Adrian Mole books as long as Sue Townsend keeps writing them :-)
Favourite series? I love the young adult horror/romance trilogies L.J. Smith wrote in the mid and early 90's. The Vampire Diaries, The Secret Circle, Dark Visions, The Forbidden Game. She lost me during the Night World series because she started recycling characters and scenarios from her earlier books. Damn shame too because she was a fabulous writer. She hasn't written anything in well over ten years now.
Amazon or brick and mortar? Brick and mortar all the way! When I want a book I want it now and I don't want to wait a week for it to be delivered. Plus, I just love the act of going to a bookstore. I love the travel, I love lazily browsing the stacks, letting my eye get caught on something I wasn't even looking for. I enjoy the full body experience :-)
Barnes & Noble or Borders? Barnes and Noble. They have a wider selection and I find their store layouts and organization way more logical.
Bookmark or dog-ear? Either. Mostly it depends on how much reverence I have for the book I'm reading as well as what materials I have availible to me. If the book isn't something I treasure, I normally don't have any problem with dog-earing the pages. If the book is special and I don't want to hurt it, I'll use a book mark; usually a piece if paper torn from a notebook or a magazine. However, there are exceptions to each rule. I do most of my reading on the subway these days so I never have access to a bookmark when I need it. So, regardless of how I feel about the book I'm reading I have to dog-ear the pages.
Alphabetize by author, alphabetize by title or random? First, they are organized by size: hard covers and oversized paperbacks, medium sized paperbacks, and pocket paperbacks. Books within each group are organized alphabetically by the author's last name.
Keep, throw away, or sell? Part with a friend??? Throw away?! NEVER! I'd prefer to keep all the books I like, but since I have way more books then I have shelf space I've been learning how to part with them recently. Books I didn't like, or those that I enjoyed but didn't leave much of an impression on me usually get given away to strangers. I'll donate them to the library or unload them on the book swap shelf in the SLC library.
Keep dust jacket or toss it? Keep them of course! They're there for a reason aren't they?
Read with dust jacket or remove it? That depends. There are two scenarios in which I always remove the dust jacket before reading: 1) If the book is something I am embarressed to be seen reading, and 2) If it's something I plan to keep in my bag and read on the go. Dust jackets can get ruined being bumped around in a bookbag all day. If I plan to read the book exclusively at home in my apartment, then I'll leave the dust jacket on. Likewise if it's not going to spend much time being ruined in my bag and/or I'm not afraid to be seen reading said book in public.
Short story or novel? Novel, novel, novel. No one knows how to write a good short story anymore. I firmly believe the art was lost somewhere in the early 1950's.
Collection (by same author) or anthology (by different authors)? I'm more of an anthology girl. It allows me to get a taste of everything without dishing out money for individual books. Chances are, if I like an author well enough to be interested in a collection, I probably already own all the material that would be put in such a compilation.
Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket? I've never read either series, but the Harry Potter movies are excellent!
Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks? When I'm tired. If I can make it to a chapter break, that's great. If I can't, I have no problem stopping in the middle of a paragraph.
‘It was a dark and stormy night’ or ‘Once upon a time’? Once upon a time. It is a cliche that holds way more promise than "It was a dark and stormy night." Those words are just so limiting! It tells you too much, doesn't give you enough room to play. "Once upon a time" is a phrase that simply drips with possibility.
Buy or Borrow? Buy. If I like it, I wanna be able to keep it.
New or used? Mainly new, though that's a habit I should grow out of if my wallet is ever to love me again.
Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation or browse? Browse. I'm the only person who can accurately access what I might like.
Tidy ending or cliffhanger? They can both be good, though I prefer a tidy ending. It has to be believably tidy though. I hate it when an author tries to tie up all his loose ends in a matter of 10 pages just because he knows he's nearing the end and doesn't want to spend the time writing the 50 or so extra pages it would require for the story to reach a natural conclusion.
Morning reading, afternoon reading or nighttime reading? Afternoon (at lunch and on the subway how from work) and evening (before I go to bed.)
Standalone or series? Mostly stand alones these days simply because I can't find any series that interet me at the moment. Wait, that's not true. I will keep reading the Adrian Mole books as long as Sue Townsend keeps writing them :-)
Favourite series? I love the young adult horror/romance trilogies L.J. Smith wrote in the mid and early 90's. The Vampire Diaries, The Secret Circle, Dark Visions, The Forbidden Game. She lost me during the Night World series because she started recycling characters and scenarios from her earlier books. Damn shame too because she was a fabulous writer. She hasn't written anything in well over ten years now.
