The Book Habits Meme

I saw this on Floor to Ceiling Books (who saw it on Genre Reader and The World in the Satin Bag) and I thought it was fun and interesting so decided to give it a go myself.

Do you snack while you read? If so, favourite reading snack:

Very rarely. I tend to find it too distracting. Occasionally I may eat some biscuits or a bar of chocolate but only if I’m really hungry!

What is your favourite drink while reading?

I normally don’t drink while reading either! When I do then it’s blackcurrant squash. Or maybe a hot chocolate if I feel cold.

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

I couldn’t write in a book ! If I do want to mark something I’ll use a scrap of paper or a post it note but that is very rare anyway.

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

I use a bookmark. At the moment I am using a Budleigh Salterton postcard as my bookmark. I did have a proper bookmark but my husband replaced it with the postcard so that’s what I’m now using. I have also been known to use leaflets (Kelevdon Hatch being the favourite) as bookmarks and even an old envelope in the absence of anything better. I will also lay the book flat to keep the place if I’m only leaving it for a short period. Anything longer than a couple of minutes and the bookmark goes in. I NEVER turn down the corner. I hate that.

Fiction, non-fiction, or both?

Mostly fiction. For me reading is a fun pastime done for entertainment and fiction delivers that. I do occasionally read non-fiction as well though. I enjoy a good autobiography and I enjoy reading non-fiction books on subjects that are of particular interest to me (most notably seaside piers, I have a good collection of books on the subject).

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

I prefer reading to the end of a chapter but I will stop in other places as well. I have to get to a convenient stopping point though such as the end of a paragraph. I couldn’t stop mid-sentence or at the end of a sentence mid-paragraph. When I was a child I always insisted on reading to the end of the chapter. That was mostly a ruse to get more reading time when told to stop reading and go to sleep though!

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

No. I’d have to be really, really irritated to even come close to throwing the book and I’d probably have stopped reading the book long before I got to that point if it was that bad.

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

No, I don’t like interrupting my reading flow. I can generally work out what words mean anyway (if not the exact meaning then at least a general idea of what it means).

What are you currently reading?

I have just started No Night is too Long by Barbara Vine.

What is the last book you bought?

I bought 3, I went into a new shop that had opened up and was just leaving when I noticed their book section which contained cheap books. I came away with 102 Minutes – The Untold Story of the Fight to Survive Inside the Twin Towers by Jim Dwyer and Kevin Flynn; The Road Taken by Michael Buerk (autobiography) and another book about an unknown actor who does extra work (it’s called something like Tales of an Unknown Actor) but I can’t remember the exact title or author at the moment and a quick search of Amazon has proved fruitless (it’s at home and I’m at work which is why I can’t just get the book and have a look).

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

Just one at a time for me. I can’t understand why people would want to read more than one book at once anyway.

Do you have a favourite time/place to read?

My favourite place to read is in bed. I mostly read before going to sleep. I’ll read pretty much anywhere though except for in a car / coach / bus as that makes me feel sick !

Do you prefer series books or stand alones?

I like both. If I had to choose I’d go for stand alone but there are some great series as well. Ones that spring instantly to mind are the Dark Tower books by Stephen King and the Sookie Stackhouse books by Charlaine Harris (of which I am eagerly awaiting the release of book 10 in a few weeks).

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

It depends who I’m recommending too! But I have always loved Stephen King and will always recommend him (the particular book I recommend would depend on who I was recommending it too based on what they like). I would always recommend Swan Song By Robert R McCammon (I got my sister to read it and even she enjoyed it and we have very different reading tastes).

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

I keep all my signed books together (in no particular order) and all my first editions together (again no particular order, they are mostly Stephen Kings as I have tried to avoid starting other collections of first editions). My paperback books are just randomly scattered round the bookcases really! I have two dedicated Stephen King paperback shelves and I did start trying to group by author but it didn’t really last long! I’m tempted to sort them all out by author but I don’t have the time at the moment.