Hardback or trade paperback or mass-market paperback? No strong preference.
Amazon or brick and mortar? Both, although brick and mortar options are severely limited in South Texas. I lean toward Amazon for descriptions and thriftbooks.com for super bargains.
Barnes & Noble or Borders? I never thought I'd be so happy about a Barnes & Noble.
Bookmark or dog-ear? Both. I'll dog ear things I want to come back to. Bookmarks are typically a folded square of toilet paper. I guess that gives me away as a bathroom reader.
Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random? I'm anal, but not that anal. I group by section: Literature/poetry from those English major years; religious studies; feminist theory; reference; magazines; cookbooks; book group selections; and genre-crossing favorites I want close at hand.
Keep, throw away, or sell? Mostly keep, unless I'm moving and exasperated with the number of books I own. I gave two boxes of fiction to the school where I tutored. I just found the one used bookstore in town where I could sell/recycle the books I'm not that attached to.
Keep dustjacket or toss it? Keep.
Read with dustjacket or remove it? Read with dustjacket unless/until it starts to annoy me.
Short story or novel? Typically novels or popular non-fiction. Occasional forays into short stories.
Collection (short stories by same author) or anthology (short stories by different authors)? I own three collections and probably two dozen anthologies.
Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket? Love Harry Potter. Bought all hardbacks for an ex-BF and kept them after the breakup. Liked the Lemony Snicket movie, but not greatly tempted to read the series.
Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks? When I'm too catatonic to turn the page.
"It was a dark and stormy night" or "Once upon a time"? Huh?
Buy or Borrow? Buy. Or library borrow. I rarely if ever loan my books out and I'm not good at returning borrowed books, so I don't like to do that, either. I still have two books I borrowed from a grad school friend (although one was her boyfriend's and after they broke up I had no inclination to return the book to his sorry ass).
New or used? Eh, I have no problem with used books if they're in good condition.
Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation or browse? Recommendations from friends, usually. Like to find treasures while browsing.
Tidy ending or cliffhanger? I'm more of a tidy ending gal. I hate it when a story (book or movie) just STOPS.
Morning reading, afternoon reading or nighttime reading? Afternoon and evening. I'm not much good in the mornings.
Standalone or series? Series faves: Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Anne of Green Gables, Sue Grafton's Alphabet murder mystery series. More standalone or books by the same author.
Favorite book of which nobody else has heard? Genius by Patrick Dennis.
Favorite book(s) read last year: The Shadow of the Wind by Carols Ruiz Zafon.
Favorite books of all time? Small World by David Lodge; Auntie Mame by Patrick Dennis; A Town Like Alice by Nevil Shute; Prodigal Summer & The Poisonwood Bible by Barbara Kingsolver; Their Eyes Were Watching God by Zora Neale Hurston; Song of Years by Beth Streeter Aldrich; Angle of Repose & Crossing to Safety by Wallace Stegner; Ceremony by Leslie Marmon Silko.
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3 comments:
I just read "The Shadow of the Wind" last year. I really liked it. What did you think?
I also read "Their Eyes Were Watching God" a couple of years ago and struggled to get through it, because of the dialect. I'm going to give it another try this year, though. I think it's one of those books that is probably better read outloud--sort of like Shakespeare.
I just picked up Stegner's "Angle of Repose." Can't wait to read it.
And, back when I worked in S.F., we had a book group at work. My friend, Brandee, suggested Marmon Silko's work. Again, I couldn't get into it and shamefully didn't finish it. But it's also in my TBR pile.
Good books, ME!
I love love love A Town Like Alice. I was reading it on the NY subway and came to a certain plot twist and just burst into tears, which is not like me. Theres a pretty decent mini-series made of it as well, with Brian Brown in it.
"The Shadow of the Wind" was a shower gift from a woman in our book group who has a wicked sense of humor. Of course, it was the first one I read. I immediately reread it to catch the clues I'd missed. It was a fun, intelligent read.
Stegner's stuff is great. I'd like to read more of it.
I haven't read Silko's other stuff. We read "Ceremony" in a BYU lit class--the one I had with Peter R. way back when. :) Small Mormon world...
"A Town Like Alice" was another book group home run. And I cried at the same point. Didn't see it coming.
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