We are coming to the end of Book Blogger Appreciation Week and this meme has been going around as part of it and I thought I’d play along.

Do you snack while you read?  If so, favorite reading snack?  I love to snack when I read. I read during lunch breaks at work so that doesn’t count as snacking that’s just lunch, but in the evenings when it is cool out a cup of hot cocoa is a marvelous thing. On weekends I love reading in the middle of the afternoon and having a cup of coffee and a cookie or brownie or cupcake, whatever delicious concoction my Bookman felt like baking.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?  It depends on the book. Most of the time I don’t mark in my books but sometimes I feel compelled to if the book is a particularly difficult read or the author makes me grumpy and I talk back in the margins. Most of the time I mark passages I want to copy into my commonplace book or remember for blogging with page points.

How do you keep your place while reading a book?  Bookmark?  Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?  The thought of laying a book flat open and breaking its spine makes me cringe. I have a large collection of bookmarks that seems to somehow grow of its own accord and I love choosing one that will go with the book.

Fiction, Non-fiction, or both?  Both. I do not discriminate.

Hard copy or audiobooks?  I am not much of an audiobook “reader.” I don’t have a car commute and sitting and listening to one while at home I tend to get restless. Though on occasion my Bookman and I will listen to one together and I occupy myself by knitting while listening.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of chapters, or are you able to put down a book at any point?  I prefer to read to the end of the chapter or one of those page breaks that some books use instead of chapters or in addition to chapters. If I can’t do that, then I like to stop at the end of a paragraph. Sometimes I can’t even do that though since the bus and train don’t run their schedule according to my reading.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look  it up right away?  I rarely look up words I don’t know. Does that make me a bad person? I will look up words if they are so curious that I am intrigued to find out what they mean or I see them over and over again and am tired of wondering. I don’t feel compelled to look up words because most of the time you can get the gist of its meaning from the context.

What are you currently reading?  I don’t think either of us has time for me to go through the pile of books I consider myself reading. The sidebar list will give you a little idea but I’ve not been good at keeping it up. Let’s just say I’m reading about 8-10 books and leave it at that.

What was the last book you bought? XML Visual Quickstart Guide. Not much plot but we can’t always have everything.

Are you the type of person that only reads one book at a time or can you read more than one at a time?  You saw my answer about what I am currently reading a couple questions ago, does it look like I read just one book at a time?

Do you have a favorite time of day and/or place to read?  Any time of day is a good time to read.

Do you prefer series books or stand alone books? I prefer stand alones. All too often a series goes on much longer than it should especially if it is a commercial success. Anne Rice’s Vampire series anyone? Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series. Oh and Jean Auel. And Terry Brooks. Stephen R. Donaldson. Just stop it already. Please.

Is there a specific book or author that you find yourself recommending over and over?  No, not really. I rarely recommend books unless someone asks and then I only suggest books after I have grilled them on what they have read and who they like so I can at least feel like they might read my recommendation.

How do you organize your books?  (By genre, title, author’s last name, etc).  Mostly alphabetical by author’s last name and according to fiction, nonfiction, and poetry. But there are books that end up on a shelf together because they are all from the same publisher or about a certain topic or meet some vague collection criteria. Then there are my TBR books. These are not organized at all, they are on their own two shelves and the ones that don’t fit on the shelves are stacked on the floor next to them.

***
And just a brief note of appreciation to all who visit my little corner and to everyone who blogs about books. You keep me on my toes, you keep me reading, you keep my tbr pile huge, but most of all you keep me from getting cynical and grumpy about the state of literary culture. Clearly there are plenty of people left in the world who still love books and the pleasures of a well-told story. Thank you.