MEME | Book Habits Meme, Summer 2010 Edition

This meme has come back around again so I figure I'd do an update.

What is your favorite drink while reading?

Cool water or sometimes a diet Cherry Dr. Pepper.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?

Horrifies me to no end. I hate marring books in any manner.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?

Generally one of the many bookmarks I have. If it is a book I've been looking forward to I'll try to use a green leather bookmark I picked up in Ireland 8 years back.  It is sort of like my lucky sock when playing football only for books.

Fiction, nonfiction, or both?

Mostly Fiction for the last year.  Although I have a special place in my heart for travel narratives ala Bill Bryson and J. Maarten Troost (The Sex Lives of Cannibals). But I enjoy a good Science or History read for time to time as well. Such as 1491 by George Mann (no relation to the steampunk author) or the Edge.org books edited by John Brockman (What Do You Believe But Cannot Prove).

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere?

I can stop anywhere, but I usually will wait to the end of a chapter or section break. I rather wait until the end of the chapter because otherwise I'll end up re-reading a page.

Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you?

Not that I can't remember. I'm much more verbal than physical. I might curse it out, but that rarely happens.

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

Not usually. I'll usually have an idea of what it means given the context.

What are you currently reading?

I won't read two novels at the same time, but I'll certainly mix in some shorts and graphic novels. The Fortress of Solitude by Jonathan Lethem is the novel right now. So far it is quite amazing. On the graphic novel front I've been making my way through The Goon by Eric Powell. Really great series that I'll have to get more of soon.

What is the last book you bought?

Graphic Novels: Witchfinder by Mike Mignola, B.R.P.D.: 1946 by Mike Mignola, and The Mice Templar: Destiny.


Books: Plan B by Jonathan Tropper and Four and Twenty Black Birds by Cherie Priest.

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

Answered above. No more than one novel at a time, but shorts and comics do get worked in.

Do you have a favorite time/place to read?

Any place, any time. But weekends are the best as I'll usually get through one book while it takes me 5 workdays to get through one.

Do you prefer series books or stand alones?

No real preference, but I guess series.  I like to see characters and worlds grow and change so they usually work best for me.

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

Many. The names I've been saying for the past few years would be: Walter Moers, Jasper Fforde, Neil Gaiman, Patrick Rothfuss, Joe Abercrombie, Matt Ruff, Jim Butcher, John Scalzi, & Robert J. Sawyer.  Some newer names would be Ken Scholes, Mark Teppo, Cherie Priest, & Mike Carey.

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

By size and level of interest, but not much else.  Check out this post for more.


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