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BBAW: Reading Habits

Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack?
Not usually, no. If we have leftover baked goods lying around then I will occasionally settle in with one or two. I'm actually much more likely to have a drink next to me than a snack. All that invested emotional energy, the occasional sweating of bullets...makes a girl thirsty!

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
It doesn't horrify me. I just don't do it much. I marked up my textbooks like crazy and if I give a book as a gift I do love inscribing it with a short message, but otherwise no. The funny thing is Ilove used books with writing in them, love perusing past owners' thoughts and handwriting. It makes them more valuable to me.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears?
This is a tricky question. My gut reaction is: bookmark. On a brand new hardcover, it's almost painful to crease the page. But when I was a teenager I dog-eared the corners without thinking twice about it. And those copies are the ones I love the most now. There seems to be a rhythm to my re-reads. So that going through a second or third time I frequently find myself stopping at the same places. And, over time, specific pages were dog-eared so many times the corners hardly held up on their own at all. I've noticed that if it's a paperback and I'm loving it, I'll casually dog-ear instead of bookmark and I can only assume it's because I know this one's gonna be one of the special ones and dog-earing it is the mark of honor.

Laying the book flat open?
Now that horrifies me. *shudder*

Fiction, Non-fiction, or both?
Fiction. To quote my old friend CK, "So let it be done. So let it be written."

Hard copy or audiobooks?
Hard copies. A friend of mine once said listening to an audio book was great but she still finished it feeling like she'd cheated on the book with a cheap floozy. I still laugh when I think of that and it pretty much sums up exactly how I feel.

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?
If bedtime is the only deadline I'm facing then I will always read to the end of the chapter. But if I'm snatching passages here and there throughout the day I can, and will, put it down whenever I have to. Those hurried snatches are infinitely better than nothing at all.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop to look it up right away?
Sometimes. Usually I like to feel my way through it and then encounter it again in another book and see if the answer I puzzled out was correct. If I'm still unsure, I look it up.

What are you currently reading?
On the Edge by Ilona Andrews. It's so good I'm snatching hurried passages whenever I can!

What is the last book you bought?
Hunting Ground by Patricia Briggs. She's an auto-buy for me and I look forward to her release days twice a year with much anticipation.

Are you the type of person that only reads one book at a time or can you read more than one at a time?
For the most part I'm quite faithful to the book I'm with. But if the night's dragging and a sexy stranger comes along, my attention has been known to wander. From time to time. But I never forget who's taking me home.

Do you have a favorite time of day and/or place to read?
Nighttime, in my bed, book propped on my bent knees. DH on the pillow next to me.

Do you prefer series books or stand alone books?
I don't have a preference if the book's well done and stays true to itself. If it's a standalone with a killer ending, I'm perfectly satisfied. And if the author has more story to tell about characters I've fallen in love with then I am beyond tickled to read more installments in the series.

Is there a specific book or author that you find yourself recommending over and over?
*dies laughing* Where do I start without sounding like a broken record? I am known for shoving stacks of Ellen Emerson White, Robin McKinley, Juliet Marillier, and Sharon Shinn books into people's hands. Lately I've been doing it a lot with Megan Whalen Turner's Queen's Thief series, Patricia Briggs' Mercy Thompson series, and Deanna Raybourn's Lady Julia Grey mystery series. Finest kind, every one.

How do you organize your books? (By genre, title, author’s last name, etc.?)
Alphabetical by author's last name. Chronologically within each author. I flirt with other options but, in the end, I think I'll stick with the old standby.

There you have it. I'd love to hear your answers to any or all of these questions!

Comments

  1. I hadn't thought about this until I read what you wrote, but I'm the same way - when I buy a book from a used book store, I love it when there are jottings in the margins!

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  2. *chanting* Deanna Raybourn, Deanna Raybourn!

    :D

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  3. I feel the same way about audiobooks. Totally cheating. Fun to read this stuff about you. I think I know most the answers, but its way more fun to read it in your words.

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  4. My mom used to give me an antique book for Christmas every year, and my favorites were the ones with inscriptions. (I have a book of Tennyson that was bequeathed to someone in an inscription on the inside cover. Those are all safe and sound back in Mom & Dad's basement, waiting to be reclaimed.)

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  5. Those vintage books with the beautiful, flowing, handwritten inscriptions are fun to find and worth the hunt. Someone should start a blog posting images of the more ornate or creative finds.

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  6. Anonymous2:32 PM

    "sexy stranger," huh? lol
    I feel the same way about reading previous owners scribbles. It's almost like reading another book!

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  7. "a sexy stranger comes along" *snort* I think this is so funny because it is so dang true for me too!!

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  8. Do you ever use the jacket flaps of hardcovers for a bookmark? I do that ALL the time... in fact, that's what they are for, right?

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  9. Belle, it's the best. Gives me the tingles knowing someone else read and really "owned" the very same book.

    Britt, lol! "Nicholas Brisbane, Nicholas Brisbane!"

    Liza, I love it when you stop in even when you already know all my answers. Verbatim by now, no doubt. ;)

    Jena, that is one lovely tradition. And the Tennyson sounds beautiful.

    Janelle, what an excellent idea! Off to check and see if someone has...

    Rachel, lol. What can I say? I'm fickle.

    Michelle, I suspected as much. *secret handshake*

    Suey, all the time! I can't imagine what other purpose they might have.

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  10. Looked all over for THE QUEEN OF ATTOLIA but couldn't find it. Will have to order it from amazon!!

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  11. Great interview!
    I used to work hard at keeping my books in pristine condition as I read them, but then I realized how much I love of worn books so now I just read the books and don't worry about a creased spine or dog-eared page here and there.

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  12. Lenore, ack! That's no good. Hope it arrives on your doorstep soon!

    Christine, that's the thing. Worn=loved. At the same time if a book I've had forever is literally falling apart, it makes me sad. :(

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  13. I am loving these BBAW posts!

    I never dog-ear and rarely bookmark - thinking about it, I'm not sure how I manage to find my place again! Trial and error, I think.

    And oh, you have totally reminded me that I was going to order EEW's The President's Daughter.

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  14. Li, aren't they awesome? It's so fun to have them all go up on the same day or thereabouts. I love that you don't mark your place at all! For some reason that's just awesome. Also, order The President's Daughter series. Now. ;) And while you're at it, if you happen to see an inexpensive used copy of THE ROAD HOME also by White...you should probably drop it in your cart as well. Just sayin'. :)

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  15. I always look up words online because my laptop is usually not very far from me when I'm reading. HB tells me that's a nerd trait. ;0)

    Love your thoughts on reading more than one book. :)

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  16. Donna, nice. If I had a laptop nearby I'm sure I would be looking up a lot more words. Did you tell HB nerds are awesome? :)

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  17. I loved reading this! Hmm . . . I lay books flat but could never dog ear them.

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  18. Natasha, funny the different book handling idiosyncracies we each have.

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  19. Hunting Ground is the last book I bought too, I suspect that could be true for a lot of people!

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  20. Lisa, you're so right! Briggs release days are good days.

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