Hardback or trade paperback or mass market paperback?
Hardcover or trade paperback because I like the size and the quality. Don’t mind mass market, though.
Amazon or brick and mortar?
Both. I love being able to buy without leaving home, and I love browsing through new and used bookstores.
Barnes & Noble or Borders?
I’m Canadian, so neither. Back in the day when it was Chapters vs. Indigo, I was a Chapters girl all the way.
Bookmark or dog ear?
Bookmark!
Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random?
First categorized by subject (non-fiction, mystery, sci-fi & fantasy, fiction & lit, Canadian lit, poetry & drama) and then by author.
Keep, throw away, or sell?
Keep, keep, keep. Or if I really don’t want them, give to charity. Although I’ve recently become interested injh BookMooch.
Keep dust jacket or toss it
Keep it!
Read with dust jacket or remove it?
With. I’ve never even thought about removing it while reading.
Short story or novel?
Both. Mostly novel, but I’ve enjoyed pretty much all the short stories I’ve read.
Collection (short stories by same author) or anthology (short stories by different authors)?
Collection, definitely. Although I’m not morally opposed to reading anthologies, or anything.
Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?
Harry Potter all the way. But my sister, who at fourteen is eight years younger than me, is a die-hard Snicket girl (Snicketeer?).
Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?
When I’m tired, or, fairly often, just when the book is finished. I don’t notice much when I’m reading, especially chapter breaks. Or clocks.
“It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”?
Both, please!
Buy or Borrow?
Both. Especially now that my library fines are paid in full. Some books you want to read over and over; others you don’t. And some books, even some good books, have covers so awful they shouldn’t be allowed to exist, much less occupy space in my home.
New or used?
Used or remaindered, usually, as long as they’re in good condition. I don’t often buy books at full price—only when I can’t find them anywhere else, or when I love the author so much I have to buy the book as soon as it’s released.
Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation or browse?
Usually I buy only books I know I like, or authors I know I like. I browse at book sales, discount bookstores, and used bookstores, and very occasionally I browse at new stores or buy from recommendations/reviews I trust.
Tidy ending or cliffhanger?
Tidy ending. Although I don’t mind a cliffhanger if the next in the series is already out.
Morning reading, afternoon reading or nighttime reading?
24 hours a day.
Standalone or series?
Both.
Favourite series?
Just one? Laurie R. King’s Mary Russell series, Lois McMaster Bujold’s Vorkosigan saga, and Terry Pratchett’s Discword series are tied for first place at the moment, I think.
Favourite book of which nobody else has heard?
My Family and Other Animals and its sequel, Birds, Beasts, and Relatives by Gerald Durrell and What the Body Remembers and English Lessons and Other Stories by Shauna Singh Baldwin are pretty obscure, unfortunately.
Favourite books read last year?
Memoirs of a Geisha by Arthur Golden, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini, The Lions of Al-Rassan and The Last Light of the Sun by Guy Gavriel Kay, Locked Rooms by Laurie R. King, The Curse of Chalion by Lois McMaster Bujold…that’s all I can think of that I know for sure are from last year.
Favourite books of all time?
What the Body Remembers by Shauna Singh Baldwin, The Lions of Al-Rassan by Guy Gavriel Kay, The Beekeeper’s Apprentice by Laurie R. King, Fifth Business by Robertson Davies, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen, Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll, Winnie-the-Pooh and The House at Pooh Corner by A.A. Milne, Night Watch and Going Postal by Terry Pratchett, and probably a great many others I’m forgetting to list.
