Monday Meme

I think I’ve done this before, but I’m not sure which blog it ended up on, so here it is again.  Boosted this time from NurseExec. Thanks, Babe!

Hardback or trade paperback or mass market paperback?

I have a bunch of each.  Most of my college teaching books are hardback (they give them away free that way – can you imagine?!).  I’ve got one or two trade paperbacks, but I prefer the mass-markets.  I’m a book whore, but I’m a cheap book whore.

Bookmark or dog-ear?

Bookmarks, ALWAYS.  If I’m desperate, I’ll make a teeny-tiny dog-ear, but that’s literally as a last resort.  I’ve gone so far as to pull a hair from my head to mark my place; no lie.

Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random?

We’re missing a category here; organize by genre.  I’ve got the library software that Mr. Chili gave me that organizes everything in any way I want – by author, genre, title or ISBN (and probably a bunch of other categories I’ve not thought of) – all at the click of a button.  The books are arranged in the bookshelves according to loose genres; I’ve got general fiction, writing and public speaking, social justice (the Civil Rights movement and the Holocaust, and queer lit and studies), anthologies, and the “canon” of books that typically get read in high school and college (Hawthorne and Hemmingway, that sort of thing).

Keep, throw away or sell?

KEEP.  Always, always keep (unless the book is a real dud that I know I’ll never want to read again.  Can you say Lady and the Unicorn?)

Keep dust jacket or toss it?

I take them off while I’m reading, unless I’m desperate for the above-mentioned bookmark; the little flaps on the front or back are good for that in a pinch.  Usually, though, I take them off when I’m reading a hard cover; I put them back on when I’m done.

Last book you bought?

A Brief History of the Dead by Kevin Brockmeier.  Damned thing hasn’t come from the second-seller at Amazon yet, though.  Bastid!  If it doesn’t appear tomorrow, I’m going to start complaining.

Last book someone bought for you?

Um….  OH!  I know!  Auntie bought me two books, both having to do with literature and teaching.

What are some of the books on your to-buy list?

Oh, the Amazon wish list!  I’ve got a bunch of Eric Hoffer books, a few histories of the Holocaust, and one or two special editions of novels I already have (specifically, the MLA Approaches to Teaching series for Night and The Scarlet Letter).  I tend to put “work” books on the wish list; I come by my fiction by browsing the bookstores.

Collection (short stories, same author) or anthology (short stories, different authors)?

Yes.  I’m an English teacher, y’all; I’ve got collections and anthologies out to HERE!

Harry Potter, Lemony Snicket, or the velvety embrace of Death?

Harry Potter, though Punkin’ and I are enjoying the experience of reading the Twilight series together (well, she reads them first, then gives them to me.  We’ve blown through the first two and are waiting for the third installment to come back to the library; we’re on the waiting list.  We’ll buy the thing when it’s out in paperback).

Morning reading, afternoon reading, or nighttime reading?

Yes.  In the car waiting in a parking lot reading, in a doctor’s office waiting for an appointment reading, before class starts reading, between student conferences reading… get it?

The books you need to go with other books on your shelves?

I don’t really have an answer for this one.  There are a few Holocaust works that I feel I need (some stuff by Primo Levi and Elie Weisel, specifically, but some histories, too), but that’s about it.

Do you read anywhere and anytime you can or do you have a set reading time and/or place?

Anytime, anywhere. Not in the bathroom though.

Do you have seasonal reading habits?

No, though I do read A Christmas Carol every year in December.  Luckily, I get to read it with a lit class this year, but if I don’t have a class handy, I read it by myself.

Do you read one book at a time or do you have two or more books going at once?

I almost ALWAYS have more than one book going at a time (sometimes up to three) but, strangely, they’re never of the same genre; I’ll do one fiction, one history, and a collection of essays, for example; right now, I’m reading The Good German for the DSBC, I’m finally finishing up John Adams, and I’m trying to knock off a chapter every few days of The Culture Wars (see sidebar for details).

What are your pet peeves about the way people treat books?

My answer is EXACTLY the opposite of Nurse Exec’s here; I DO treat my books with (perhaps obsessive) loving care.  I don’t write in them (something my colleages sometimes give me shit about – they love to annotate their books), I don’t break the spines (which makes Kizz wonder how I get inside enough to actually read them), and I don’t just toss them in bags or the back of my car.  It doesn’t bother me, though, that other people DO treat their books that way, just as long as they don’t treat MINE that way.

Name one book you surprised yourself by liking.

Oh, that’s a hard one – I’m actually more surprised when I DON’T like a book.  I didn’t like either of the two Tracy Chevalier books I read (Girl With the Pearl Earring and Lady and the Unicorn) and I intensely disliked An Innocent Man, even though most of Grisham’s collection appeals to me (though, come to think of it, A Painted House was a bit of a snore).  Oh, wait; I was surprised by how completely the Outlander series captured my imagination.  The first book in the series was literally thrust upon me by O’Mama, and I have to admit to thinking that she was probably overstating its wonderfulness.  I suppose I ought to apologize for doubting her; I love that series with a fierceness that almost embarrasses me.

How often do you read a book and not review it on your blog? What are your reasons for not blogging about a book?

Actually, I read a ton of stuff I don’t review on my blog.  Perhaps I ought to start doing that.  Of course, we’ve got the Dark and Stormy Book Club blog for that, but I read a lot more than just the one book a month we choose.  Maybe I’ll make book reviews another regular feature?