From Miss Mellifluous
Hardback or trade paperback or mass market paperback?
The format isn't a determining factor, and I rarely have a choice!
Online purchase or brick and mortar?
I love bookshops, but the proportion of my books that are bought in them is low. Amazon is just too easy and cheap, and life is too busy.
Barnes & Noble or Borders?
Any university-standard bookshop will do.
Bookmark or dog-ear?
Neither. What do you call those ribbon bookmarks that Bibles and books like that have? I'll use those, if they are there – Robert Lacey's Great Tales from English History has them, which are what I am currently working my way through (H/T Amanda and Jonathan). And a good reason for having a hardback is that you can mark the page with the dust cover.
Mark or not mark?
Rarely mark – though I might put a piece of paper inside with some jotted notes.
Alphabetise by author or alphabetize by title or random?
With shelves and books as varied as ours, they just fit in wherever they can.
Keep, throw away, or sell?
Keep and lend, or give away. Lending is good – it makes it look as though there aren't so many books kicking around.
Keep dustjacket or toss it?
Keep, to protect the book as long as possible ....
Read with dustjacket or remove it?
With jacket.
Short story or novel?
Either – but novel is more likely. And non-fiction substantially more likely.
Collection (short stories by same author) or anthology (short stories by different authors)?
Collection.
Lord of the Rings or Narnia?
Lord of the Rings
Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?
Hmm. Normally stop reading when Liz is tired .... Ouch! Okay, when I'm tired.
“It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”?
Yawn. Neither. “When we consider the subject matter addressed by the title, we must first bear in mind the following ....” Now, that's a promising start!
Buy or Borrow?
Buy, or receive.
New or used?
Normally new.
Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation or browse?
Recommendation is about the only one that works at all for me.
Tidy ending or cliffhanger?
Whatever fits the story.
Morning reading, afternoon reading or night time reading?
As the opportunity arises.
Standalone or series?
Both.
Favorite series?
Um, does The Lord of the Rings count?
Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?
Nobody else?
To the best of my knowledge, nobody I know has read Through a Glass Darkly, by Jostein Gaarder, which was probably the most moving book I have read as an adult.
Favorite books read last year?
Human Traces, by Sebastian Faulks. A Meaningful World, by Ben Wiker and Jonathan Witt.
Favorite book of all time?
Um, can I not count the Bible and Shakespeare, on Desert Island Discs rules?
Actually, that doesn't help much. A Francis Schaeffer Trilogy, perhaps.
Pass it on. And don’t forget to buy a beautiful custom made bookmark.
