Bookish Memes!

I am taking these memes from the wonderful Steph Su, since I have nothing else to post today. :D

Hardback, trade paperback or mass market paperback?

I like trade paperback because they are cheaper, but hardcovers look prettier and don't get beat up as easily. Mass market paperbacks SUCK though. The spines are so easy to break! AHHH. My OCD-ish self will not allow me to breaking the spine on any book, which makes mass markets hard to read.

Barnes & Noble or Borders?

I'm basing my decision only one my local B&N and Borders, so I'm going with B&N. Mine has a much larger selection, and their books are not beat up like the ones at Borders. The books there are ALWAYS bent and scratched and ripped and EEK it's awful. And Borders's YA shelves are like half the size of B&N's.

Bookmark or dog-ear?

BOOKMARK. O_O Who on earth dog ears? That's like abuse.

Amazon or brick-and-mortar?
Brick and mortar! I like being able to see the pretty covers without the "search inside!" above them, and I like seeing the books all set up and gorgeous. Plus, you can't book stalk with Amazon.

Alphabetize by author, or alphabetize by title, or random?
Unfortunately my shelves are odd and I can't have a system of organization, which I hate. I'm only allowed to put paperbacks above my TV, and some of my other shelves are so short that I have to put books sideways instead. I always put books by the same author by each other though.

Keep, throw away, or sell?
THROW AWAY?! PEOPLE THROW AWAY BOOKS?! That's insane and I do not approve.

I mostly keep mine, because I can't bring myself to get rid of even the ones I don't really like. If I do want to get rid of some, I'll swap/donate them to a giveaway or something.

Keep dust jacket or toss it?
Toss? Who would toss the dust jacket? That's the pretty part!

Read with dust jacket or remove it?
Depends. If the jacket will actually stay on the book, I'll read with it on. But sometimes they slide all over the place, so I remove it then.

Short story or novel?
NOVEL! I never seem to like short stories, or short story anthologies (Prom Nights from Hell) I always want more.

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?
First off, why are they asking my to pick a series or author, not author or author, or series or series?

I love A Series of Unfortunate Events, and will always hold a ~special place in my heart~ for Lemony Snicket since he was the first author I ever met, but I have to go with Harry Potter. LOVE that series. I can read them over and over and never tire of them.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?
Chapter breaks. If I do that it's easier to remember what happened before I stopped; if I stop in the middle of a chapter, I won't remember the stuff before I stopped.

“It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”?
"It was a dark and stormy night"! Bring on the doom and gloom!

Buy or borrow?
Buy! The closest library nears me sucks, so buybuybuy.

Buying choice: book reviews, recommendations, or browse?
Hmm. All three. Whenever I go to B&N I try to get something someone said was good or gave a good review, and something I see that looks interesting.

Tidy ending or cliffhanger?
If we are talking a series, cliffhanger! Unless they happen to be the meanest cliffhanger ever, like Shadow Kiss.

Morning reading, afternoon reading, or nighttime reading?
Not morning; I am much too tired in the morning to pay attention to what I'm reading. The other two are equally good.

Stand-alone or series?
Stand alones; I hate waiting for a series to come out, and whenever I read the second book in a series I always manage to forget the first book.

Favorite series?
Would it be cheap if I went with Harry Potter?

Favorite children’s book?
I don't remember many children's books I've read, but I remember loving The Phantom Tollbooth, even though I can't remember what happened in it. I also really liked The Egypt Game, but I'm not sure if that counts as a children's book. I also LOVED A Long Way from Chicago and A Year Down Yonder in 5th grade- I need to get copies of them and read them before the third book in the series comes out.

Favorite YA book?
I like too many! I cannot be expected to pick just one. But I will just say The Outsiders because it got me back to reading again. :D

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?
Any book by David Levithan. I am APPALLED at the number of people who have not read his books. APPALLED.

I also thought Madapple by Christina Meldrum was extremely great, but not many people seem to have read it.

Skinny by Ibi Kaslik was fabulous.

Favorite books read last year?
Thankfully I wrote a post saying what my favorites RELEASED in 2008 were, and they were: Madapple, Shadow Kiss, Paper Towns, I Wanna Be Your Joey Ramone, Violet in Private, Suite Scarlett, Cracked Up to Be, Living Dead Girl, and Lock and Key. Also, Boy Meets Boy, but that wasn't released in 2008.

I'm honestly surprised at this list; if I wrote it now it would be much different.

Favorite books of all time?
The Outsiders, Harry Potter series, Boy Meets Boy, Looking for Alaska, Hate List (OH MY GOSH IT COMES OUT SO SOON AND IS SO GOOD YOU MUST READ IT), and I dunno what else.

What are you reading right now?
Never Cry Werewolf, because I'm trying to get through the rest of my paranormal/fantasy books so I don't have to read anymore.

What are you reading next?
No idea.

Favorite book to recommend to an 11-year-old?
Er...um. I like Taylor Morris's MG books. And the Shadow Children series.

Favorite book to re-read?
The Outsiders! I've read it 8 times and never tire of it. I haven't reread it in a while though, but have been wanting to.

Do you ever smell books?
...maybe.

Do you ever read primary source documents like letters or diaries?
Nope.

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Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews?
I'm sure there are plenty of these, but the only one I can think of at the moment is The Forest of Hands and Teeth. But that one doesn't really fit the question since there are plenty of negative reviews. I've mainly seen very fangirly review of that one, or ones that say it stinks, so I've been avoiding reading it.

If you could bring three characters to life for a social event (afternoon tea, a night of clubbing, perhaps a world cruise), who would they be and what would the event be?
This is a hard question. Spencer from Suite Scarlett, Rose from the Vampire Academy series, and Georgia Nicolson because she seems ridiculously fun to hang out with. I'm sure Rose would get tired of Spencer and Georgia easily and may hurt them, but whatever.

(Borrowing shamelessly from the Thursday Next series by Jasper Fforde): you are told you can’t die until you read the most boring novel on the planet. While this immortality is great for awhile, eventually you realize it’s past time to die. Which book would you expect to get you a nice grave?
Anything from English class last year. All the books I read for that class last year were pretty bad.

Come on, we’ve all been there. Which book have you pretended, or at least hinted, that you’ve read, when in fact you’ve been nowhere near it?
I can't think of anything. Unlike many of my English class peers, I read the books assigned.

As an addition to the last question, has there been a book that you really thought you had read, only to realise when you read a review about it/go to ‘reread’ it that you haven’t? Which book?
I can't think of any specific examples, but often if someone mentions a children's book, I can't remember if I've read it or not.

You’re interviewing for the post of Official Book Advisor to some VIP (who’s not a big reader). What’s the first book you’d recommend and why? (If you feel like you’d have to know the person, go ahead and personalize the VIP.)
Um. Too much pressure! I'll steal Steph Su's answer and go with The Hunger Games, since everyone seems to love that book more than I do. (I really like it, but I'm not going to go kill someone for Catching Fire, and the ending didn't make me that mad.)

A good fairy comes and grants you one wish: you will have perfect reading comprehension in the foreign language of your choice. Which language do you go with?
Latin sounds good to me.

A mischievious fairy comes and says that you must choose one book that you will reread once a year for the rest of your life (you can read other books as well). Which book would you pick?
The Outsiders, because I've already read it a bunch of times and don't get sick of it.

That good fairy is back for one final visit. Now, she’s granting you your dream library! Describe it. Is everything leatherbound? Is it full of first edition hardcovers? Pristine trade paperbacks? Perhaps a few favourite authors have inscribed their works? Go ahead—let your imagination run free.
All hardcovers! And the series books match, and they are organized by genre and then author. In the front there would be a giant display of my favorite books. The library would be huge and have a bunch of comfy chairs and computers and there would also be a restaurant in there somewhere because I like food. Also, there would be a house on the top floor so I wouldn't have to leave.