Thursday, September 13, 2012

BBAW interview Meme

Got this one from Steve, who in turn got it from Book Blogger Appreciation Week.  We shall discover some of my reading habits. 

Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack?Absolutely not!  I think this comes from paper books as I tried to keep the book in the best condition possible. 

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
Ackkk! Write in books?  That is what they sell notebooks for, why mess up the book.  With the kindle I do take notes and highlight passages.  I like the highlighter.  I generally think my notes are stupid, but the highlighted passages I enjoy going back and reading.  I am pretty petty with my notes.  I tend to only note when I have a problem with what I am reading. 

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears?
Funny story:  I had been reading books on the kindle for about 6 months straight.  I was finally reading a paper book again and was on the train.  They announced my stop and I just closed the book without thinking about it.  I hadn't even packed anything as a bookmark.  I don't dog ear, see questions one and two.  I don't even like it when the spines break on a paperback (creases down the spine).  If it happens, I feel that I have somehow failed as a reader.  My current bookmark is a holographic one of the solar system.  I picked it up from the things left in books board at the library (no one had claimed it in like a month and I liked it).

Fiction, Non-fiction, or both?
Generally fiction, but I do read non fiction from time to time.  I have read two non fiction books recently:  How to read literature like a professor and The Psychopath Test.  Other good non fiction include Black Hawk Dawn, Into Thin Air, and Breakdown, a book about the Chosin Resevoir.  Psychopath Test was good too.  My blog here and ScifiMedia have plenty examples of the fiction that I like. 

Hard copy or audiobooks?
I can do both, but I generally enjoy reading much more unless I can give the audio book my undivided attention for the duration. 

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?
Did you know that if you read 10 pages a night that you can read a 300 page book in a month, unless that month is February.  I used to do at least 10 pages a night.  Oddly chapters don't break down like that, usually.  Now I read on the Subway and I stop at my stop. 

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop to look it up right away?
This is why I love the kindle.  Well one reason, at least.  If I can't get it from context on the kindle, I look it up.  In a paper book I just let it go, man, cause it is gone. 

What are you currently reading?
Parasite Eve by Hideaki Sena and The Mongoliad by Neal Stephenson and Friends.  About to start Among Others when I finish Parasite Eve.

What is the last book you bought?
Freak by Jennifer Hillier, a blogging buddy and darn good writer.  I actually pre ordered that one.  And The Lord of the Sands of Time by Issui Oggawa.  It had been on my wish list as a paper book for several years after I heard a review somewhere and I saw that it was available for the kindle and picked it up. 

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 can and will put a book down to read another one.  I do this usually because I have a library book that will have to go back, someone lends me a book, or I need to read something for book club.  I don't generally go back and forth between two or more things.  I do use Waldon as kind of an inbetween book.  If I finish something, I will pick that up until I decide what I want to read next.  I need that book in small doses, but I do like it. 

Do you have a favorite time of day and/or place to read?
I read on the subway going to and from work.  I will read at home as well, but usually comics and magazines.  I prefer a crowded areas or completely quiet areas.  I noticed in college that If I sat in one of the reading areas, I was constantly distracted by people walking by and I would have to go to a study desk, but I could read in the dining hall without being distracted.  So I need quiet or mayhem. 

Do you prefer series books or stand alone books?
It isn't that I don't like series, I do, but I just think too many people are doing them and I don't like waiting years upon years for the next book to come out.  I also feel obligated to read the rest of the series if I read the first book.  Picking up a series is daunting to me, because I am not commiting to that specific book but to the entire series.  I tend to stay away from them for that reason. 

Is there a specific book or author that you find yourself recommending over and over?
It was once Haruki Murakami-  But I have recently fallen out of love with his writing as his last couple of books have been mediocre at best and Murakami tropes get rather repetitive and stale.  I really like Neal Stephenson's stuff and do recommend him quite a bit.  Scott Sigler if you like horror or football. 

How do you organize your books? (By genre, title, author’s last name, etc.?)
My book cases aren't that full as I sold most of my books before I moved to Boston to cut down on shipping weight.  I have a fiction section, a classics section, and a non fiction section.  There is also a group of books that I have yet to read.  On my kindle I have a classics folder, a scifi folder, and a kidlit folder. 

Done, I think I may be a weird person that treats books like people. 

3 comments:

SteveB said...

Nicely done! I like the story of going back to a print book and forgetting to mark it before you "turned it off". That's pretty good.

I know what you mean about "quiet zones" being more distracting than busy places in a lot of ways.

Alex J. Cavanaugh said...

I'm so used to my iPad I'm sure I'd forget to stick a bookmark in the book as well.

Golden Eagle said...

I don't like dog-eared or marked books, either. Feels like sacrilege.