Saturday, September 19, 2009

A Screaming Meme for BBAW

I seldom, if never, do a meme. But Harvee, the nice lady at Book Bird Dog who has turned me on to several good books, asked me to do this one to wrap up the BBAW.


Do you snack while you read? If so, your favorite reading snack?

No. Never. I tried crackers in bed one time, but by morning I was lying on a piecrust ready for the oven. Truthfully, I don’t want anything greasy or gooey gumming up the pages. Refer to my post The Incidental Reader for more information on this subject.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read? How do you keep your place while reading a book?

I make a very light pencil "star" next to a quote I want to remember, but once I’ve transferred the quote to a review or a notebook I erase the mark. I saw my mother-in-law’s bible one time and nearly every single sentence was underlined. “You ought to save yourself some time and underline just the sentences you don't want,” I told her. She was not amused.

As far as keeping my place, I have about 10,000 bookmarks. If I don’t have one handy, however, anything will do—like the prescription the doctor gave me and took over a week to find in a book I’d set aside.

Fiction, Non-fiction, or both?

I lean heavily toward fiction—about 85%. I prefer the art of storytelling. Some non-fiction is storytelling too, like Marley & Me and memoirs, and that's the kind of non-fiction I prefer.

Hard copy or audio books?

Definitely hard copy. I tend to confuse character names on audio, and by the time I remember who the character is, the disc is way ahead of me.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of chapters, or are you able to put a book down at any point?

I can put a book down at any point, usually due to falling asleep or dropping it. I put a book down in a puddle one time (by accident) and I was heartbroken, so it was off to B&N for a fresh, dry copy. That was when I learned that I cannot walk and read at the same time.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop to look it up right away?

I could lie and say yes, of course I do, but the answer is no. The only reason I would buy a Kindle would be to have the entire Oxford English Dictionary—but I don’t have the $1,000.

What are you currently reading?

The Boy In the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne, Sourcery by Terry Pratchett, and Inspector Imanishi Investigates by Seicho Matsumoto (for the Japanese Challenge 3). A book for every mood, and a mood for every book.

What is the last book you bought?

The Boy in the Striped Pajamas by John Boyne. I’m really starting to like YA (Young Adult) fiction, and a lot of it is much better than the popular fiction being "manufactured" for adults.

Are you the type of person that only reads one book at a time or can you read more than one at a time?

I usually have three or four in the works at any one time. If a book really grabs me I may read it exclusively (The Book Thief comes to mind), but I usually switch back and forth.

Do you have a favorite time of day and/or place to read?

I read in the evenings at the kitchen table, and around 9 p.m. I move to the bed and read until my wife yells, “Turn out the light and go to sleep!” I could tell her to go somewhere else to sleep, but that would not be conducive to my physical health. If I’m up until 2 or 3 a.m., then I revert to my kitchen chair.

Do you prefer series books or stand-alone books?

Both. I prefer fantasy series (George R.R. Martin every five or ten years) and mysteries that require knowledge from earlier books (John Connolly’s Charlie Parker series is one), but the majority of books I read stand all by themselves.

Is there a specific book or author that you find yourself recommending over and over?

Not including the authors and books I’ve already mentioned, I recommend James Lee Burke, Jhumpa Lahiri, and Denise Mina quite often. It usually depends on whom I’m talking to and what their interests are. If someone loves whales, I don't recommend Moby Dick.

How do you organize your books? (By genre, title, author’s last name, etc.?)

Organize? That’s for corporate types. The closest I get to organization is keeping an author’s books together—all Dickens in one place, all Cornwell in another place, etc. Any other kind of organizing is too much work. Disorganization affords me the pleasure of bitching when I can’t instantly put my finger on a book, or I realize that I never owned a copy in the first place.


So there you have it, biblioholics. And I had fun, Harvee, even if I digressed here and there.

9 comments:

Book Bird Dog said...

Very clever, Professor. I had some good chuckles from this one! I also got some good book suggestions, especially the mystery. It's great that you played along. One of the best of this meme, I bet.

Pat said...

Isn't it strange how you can have hundreds of bookmarks - and I treasure mine - and not find a single one when you're falling asleep and want to put the book down.
Have you ever committed the sin of turning a corner down?

Peter S. said...

LOL at the Moby Dick bit. I love George R.R. Martin as well, especially his Song of Ice and Fire series. Although, I feel really anxious that there's no clear date as to when the 5th book is coming out. It feels like ages!

Wandering Coyote said...

Wow, we are very much alike in these bookish ways!

I NEVER read in bed - can't stand crumbs. Food does not enter my bedroom actually (except the occasional bottle of chocolate sauce...uh...in my dreams, that is).

Harvee said...

P.S. I like all your interesting international awards!

Kim Ayres said...

Glad you did this meme :)

especially love the idea of underlining the quotes that are not wanted :)

ditzymoi said...

I think for Christmas you need an Ergonomic reading chair from Sweden http://sitincomfort.com/kneechairs.html

I finally got my Superior Scribbler award up! I know, I am a slacker :) Thanks again Charlie hugs n stuff

Kim

Meg said...

I tend to use chocolate wrappers as book marks. The library hates me.

Unknown said...

Charlie -
Lol.....Everyone has done one of these.... and yours is the only one that I read. :)
Shhh don't tell.