Swiped from Archie.
- Hardback or paperback?
- I don’t mind really. Paperbacks are easier to carry around but hardbacks look and feel nicer.
- Amazon or brick and mortar?
- I love wandering around bookshops but here in Sevilla there is a very limited selection of books in English, so Amazon is quite useful.
- Barnes & Noble or Borders?
- No comment.
- Bookmark or dog-ear?
- Bookmark. Though I sometimes dog-ear pages I want to go back to and I only ever dog-ear paperbacks.
- Alphabetize by author, alphabetize by title or random?
- Alphabetized by author in two sections – fiction and nonfiction.
- Keep, throw away, or sell?
- Keep!
- Keep dust jacket or toss it?
- Keep it.
- Read with dust jacket or remove it?
- I read with the dust jacket removed, otherwise it gets all ripped.
- Short story or novel?
- Novels, usually.
- Collection (by same author) or anthology (by different authors)?
- It depends, but once I find an author I like I tend to buy everything they’ve ever written.
- Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?
- Harry Potter (have no idea what the other one is).
- Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?
- I usually stop reading when I doze off, which can even happen in the middle of a sentence.
- ‘It was a dark and stormy night’ or ‘Once upon a time’?
- Either, depending on my mood.
- Buy or Borrow?
- Buy.
- New or used?
- There aren’t any good used-bookshops in Sevilla.
- Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation or browse?
- Usually browsing and personal recommendations.
- Tidy ending or cliffhanger?
- I like a proper satisfying ending – I always feel cheated when a story just fizzles out. Cliffhangers only work in a series.
- Morning reading, afternoon reading or nighttime reading?
- Anytime, though I usually tend to read at night.
- Standalone or series?
- Both.
- Favourite series?
- Discword (Terry Pratchett), Falco (Lindsay Davis), Harry Potter (what’s-her-name) and various trilogies, especially Robertson Davies.
Consider yourself tagged Ivan and psychocandy. 
Tuesday, 6 February 2007 at 1:48 pm
I’m always sad when I hear that avid readers haven’t got any used bookshops nearby.
Thanks for the tag- what fun!
Tuesday, 6 February 2007 at 2:08 pm
[...] been tagged with a book thang! Apparently, I’m to consider myself tagged by azahar… with a really cool little book “survey” [...]
Tuesday, 6 February 2007 at 8:00 pm
Being tagged didn’t even tickle.
I’ll put my answers up this evening.
Wednesday, 7 February 2007 at 8:58 am
OK – here’s my answers. I did consider starting a thread at my own place, but people are more likely to see it here…
*****************
Hardback or paperback?
- Either, as long as there’s words between the covers.
Amazon or brick and mortar?
- Real-world bookshops are a hell of a lot more fun.
Barnes & Noble or Borders?
- I’ve only ever had experience of Borders, and I’m much happier buing books just about anywhere else, but Borders does have a certain charm when there’s something in particular that I simply must have right then and there.
Bookmark or dog-ear?
- Bookmark, always. I find that dogs just don’t sit still long enough when their ears are slammed between the covers.
Alphabetise by author, alphabetise by title or random?
- Fiction: Strict alpha, by author. Non-fiction: By category, in a system that makes sense to nobody but me because aesthetics plays a role as well as subject matter.
Keep, throw away, or sell?
- Keep, of course. That’s what bookshelves are *for*.
Keep dust jacket or toss it?
- Keep it – with the exception of a couple that have come with secondhand books and have disintegrated.
Read with dust jacket or remove it?
- Removed, so that it is less likely to disintegrate in the near future.
Short story or novel?
- Either, both, whatever. I’m usually reading history anyway.
Collection (by same author) or anthology (by different authors)?
- Anthologies can be disappointing.
Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?
- Neither. I’d sooner stick pins in my eyes.
Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?
- I try to stop at a logical break in the narrative, of one sort or another. An exception is when I doze off and find myself getting smacked in the head with a falling book. At a time like that, it hardly matters.
‘It was a dark and stormy night’ or ‘Once upon a time’?
- They both sound pretty dismal.
Buy or Borrow?
- Buy, compulsively.
New or used?
- Sometimes both in the space of a few hours.
Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation or browse?
- Browsing, or occasionally recommendation. I don’t trust reviews.
Tidy ending or cliffhanger?
- It depends on the story, and whether it works as literature.
Morning reading, afternoon reading or nighttime reading?
- How can one possibly set such arbitrary limits? One of the great pleasures is reading All Day, and possibly not even getting out of bed.
Standalone or series?
- Both.
Favourite series?
- Jasper Ffforde’s Thursday Next books.
*******************
Do I have to tag people now?
Wednesday, 7 February 2007 at 9:53 pm
“I find that dogs just don’t sit still long enough when their ears are slammed between the covers.”
Monday, 23 April 2007 at 10:22 pm
Thank You
Wednesday, 2 January 2008 at 3:04 pm
Talking of Falco, the BBC has just started a radio dramatisation of Shadows in Bronze. Heaven knows why they started with that one, but there you go. And here it is: http://www.bbc.co.uk/bbc7/programmes/#f
Enjoy!
AB
Wednesday, 2 January 2008 at 10:59 pm
That looks great, Aphra – thanks!
This has also reminded me that it’s been ages since I’ve listened to any BBC radio programmes – will have to get back into the habit.