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Reading Habits

Reading Habits is a  meme going around the blogoshphere right now. I'm not sure where it started, but I first saw it on YA Addict. So here goes...

Do you snack while you read? If so, favourite reading snack:
I don't always snack when I read, but if I do it's definitely York Peppermint Patties. They are the best!

 What is your favourite drink while reading?
Water. It's pretty much the only thing I drink.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
Oh no. No book marking! That's a bad thing.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?
I used to be a dog-ear person because I bought 95% of the books I read. Then I started working in a library 2 years ago and we have tons of bookmarks. I am always telling the students to take bookmarks so they don't wreck our books. And, now that most of the books I read come from my school library I use bookmarks.

Fiction, non-fiction, or both?
Mostly fiction, but I do go on non-fiction benders every few months where I'll read 2 or 3 non-fiction in a row.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere?
I much prefer stopping at the end of a chapter, but will also stop at a break between paragraphs (you know, where there's extra blank lines). I can also stop at the bottom of a page, but only if it's the end of a sentence. Gosh, I sound so neurotic!

Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you?
Nope. Can't throw books. I can bang them on my lap in frustration though.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?
I am so bad at looking up words I don't know. It's probably the reason I did so badly on the verbal portion of the SATs! I just figure out what it means from context and move on.

What are you currently reading?
I am a little way into Blame by Michelle Huneven. It's pretty good so far, but I am not loving it.

What is the last book you bought?
I went to May Madness at the Music Academy of the West and bought 9 books for 9 dollars! 6 went to my school library and I kept 3: Unaccustomed Earth by Jhumpa Lahiri; Resistance by Anita Shreve; and The Language of Threads by Gail Tsukiyama

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

Do you have a favourite time/place to read?
I can read anywhere, anytime. But, I do love reading on my couch in the middle of the day or in bed after everyone else has gone to sleep.

Do you prefer series books or stand alones?
I don't have a preference. I don't read very many series though.

Is there a specific book or author you find yourself recommending over and over?
At my school I recommend Hunger Games, House of the Scorpion, Walter Dean Myers, Patricia McCormick and many others over and over.

How do you organize your books? (by genre, title, author's last name, etc.)
I have three sections of books: Fiction I've read (alphabetized by author); Non-fiction I've read (by topic); and waiting to be read (alphabetized by author)

That was fun! Now you know me better as a reader. Did you do the Reading Habits meme? Leave a link so I can see yours!

9 comments

Athira said...

You sound so much like me!! I try to stop reading at the end of a page too, if not at the end of a sentence. Haha! Book marking? Never! Banging on the lap, more like it!

Bonnie Jacobs said...

It's a mystery to me what makes a book stick in my mind. I can be bubbling with ideas and thoughts about a book I've just finished, sure that I'll always remember it and at least some of the details. Yet it can vanish in the ether within months. (Nah, more accurately, it sort of fades out.) Other books, even some that I really didn't think I much liked, stick ... like glue.

The Language of Threads by Gail Tsukiyama was not (is not) really a favorite, but something about it sticks with me. I usually trade in the books I'm not likely to re-read, but this one is still on my shelf. Maybe part of the reason is the beautiful green and gold cover of the earlier paperback edition I have. (I'm a very visual person, needing to SEE if I am to remember -- which means writing out notes in a class I take, rather than merely hearing a lecture.) I really hope you enjoy reading about that time and place, as I did.

Jhumpa Lahiri's The Namesake was the first book I wrote about on my book blog (http://bonniesbooks.blogspot.com/2007/01/namesake.html), but I haven't read Unaccustomed Earth. I like novels, rather than stories. But I would have bought it as you did, if I had run across it at a good price.

Yes, now I know you better as a reader. I'll try to find time to do the Reading Habits meme soon, though I'll be busy much of today.

Helen's Book Blog said...

Aths--I just can't imagine writing in a book that wasn't for my college/grad work!

Bonnie--That's so true! Books that I think are good, but not great end up creeping into my thoughts for days sometimes. Interesting that you haven't gotten rid of Language of Threads yet.... I've already been over to read your version of the meme, which was great.

Bonnie Jacobs said...

I added a comment after yours, related to what I wrote about taking the book when ex-husband and I parted ways, if you want to read it:
http://bonniesbooks.blogspot.com/2010/05/reading-habits-meme-and-book-i-bought.html

Anonymous said...

I'm craving peppermint patties and like you I NEVER mark in my books!

Helen's Book Blog said...

Reederreads--peppermint patties are the BEST!

christa @ mental foodie said...

How fun! Here is mine :)

http://mentalfoodie.blogspot.com/2010/05/reading-habits-meme.html

Helen's Book Blog said...

Christa--thanks for sending me your meme URL. Now I am a follower of yours!

Color Online said...

Enjoyed reading your responses.