the bookshelves

Borrowed (and not returned!) from Behind The Stove:


Hardback or trade paperback or mass market paperback?
I go for hardback more often. Something about them feels more significant, as if the words in them will mean more.

Amazon or brick and mortar?
Brick and mortar. I used to work for a outlet bookstore and when the store was quiet, I'd walk around, just sniffing the good ink smell and riffling pages.

Barnes & Noble or Borders?
Barnes and Noble - I've had several books suggested to me by clerks there that I've loved!

Bookmark or dogear?
Oh, the library despairs of me - I'm always leaving bills or photos in the pages.

Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random?
Grouped by author. But very random.

Keep, throw away, or sell?
I hauled all my books here when I moved here - we didn't have a sofa, but by God, we had books.Every once in awhile I go through and take a bunch to the library. That way, I can see them every once in awhile.

Keep dust jacket or toss it?
Keep it, although nine times out of ten it'll end up flattened in my night-table drawer. I sort them out eventually.

Read with dust jacket on or remove it?
Take it off. Too easy to rip, drip, drop or lose them.

Short story or novel?
Novel, unless it's interlocking short stories.

Collection (short stories by same author) or anthology (short stories by different authors)?
Anthologies are usually a great-sounding thing that ends up being mostly boring. Collections, I suppose. (Thinking Roald Dahl, Jim Harrison, etc)

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?
Harry Potter. I understand the Lemony Snicket draw even less now that it's been made into a movie.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?
When my head hits the pillow or my eyes start crossing.

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

Buy or Borrow?
Borrow.

New or used?
Either. I've met more interesting people in used book stores, though!

Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation or browse?
Browse, followed by recommendation.

Tidy ending or cliffhanger?
Tidy ending.

Morning reading, afternoon reading or nighttime reading?
Nighttime is usually the only one I can get away with - if I could it would be all day, all the time.

Stand-alone or series?
Stand alone, with few exceptions.

Favorite series?
(reaching way back) Walter Farley's The Black Stallion series. My grandmother had all my mom's old ones in her basement - I read them all one summer and wished for horses for months. Now my grandparents have moved, and I'm afraid to ask - I'm pretty sure they were given away.

Favorite children's book?
The Witch of Blackbird Pond, Brighty of the Grand Canyon, Misty of Chincoteague, The Cay. The BFG.

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?
A Fork In The Road, by Anik See (Canadian travel writer goes to small countries and eats different things. Recipes included. What's not to like? A wonderful book.)

Favorite books read last year?
Thinking, thinking...

Favorite books of all time?
Tales From Lake Wobegon, Lamb to the Slaughter, Coming Home, Watership Down. So many more.

Least favorite book you finished last year?
I don't finish books I don't like.

What was the last book you finished?
Me Talk Pretty Some Day by David Sedaris. Snortingly funny.

What are you reading right now?
The Girl in the Tangerine Scarf.

What are you reading next?
One Day As A Tiger, by Anne Haverty.