Eva's Bookshelf Meme

Mariel tagged me for this meme. I loved it, although it took me a while to write it. Hope you enjoy reading it:)

The Rules
1. Tag 3-5 people, so the fun keeps going!
2. Leave a comment at the original post at A Striped Armchair, so that Eva can collect everyone’s answers.
3. If you leave a comment and link back to Eva as the meme’s creator, she will enter you in a book giveaway contest! She has a whole shelf devoted to giveaway books that you’ll be able to choose from, or a bookmooch point if you prefer.
4. Remember that this is all about enjoying books as physical objects, so feel free to describe the exact book you’re talking about, down to that warping from being dropped in the bath water…

the book that’s been on your shelves the longest:
In my house in Italy I still keep most of my childhood books in my room. They remind me of the first time I discovered the wonders of stories. First read to me so many times I'm sure my parents were nauseated by them, and then read by me even more times. I will never know which was was the first but I'm choosing the oldest and maybe the favourite, La Bambina dai Capelli d'Argento (the silver-haired child) by Modì. It's an old copy, probably impossible to find now, battered and falling apart, that belonged to my father when he was a child. Recently I've noticed, surprised, how I seem to love dramatic stories. But I shouldn't be surprised, because I've always been! This is a tear-jerker, melodramatic story of a child who is vexed by her evil step-mother and one day runs away with another guy who's in the circus. They travel with the circus happily till something happens (maybe the step-mother looks for her and they have to leave the caravans) and the two of them are forced to hide in a hollow tree in the midst of a snow torment. They end up dying there, and haunting the place. Jesus! Very pathetic. But I absolutely adored it and asked my parents to read it over and over and over and OVER again. I wished I could find a picture of the cover, but there's no trace of it on the web. One day maybe I'll scan it, when I'm back home.

A book that reminds you of something specific in your life (a person, a place, a time, etc.):
There's so many! Every book reminds me of a place, or maybe a person, or a time. How can I choose just one?
Ok, since I have to, I just thought about Isabel Allende and The House of the Spirits. This book reminds me of a whole phase of my life (at 15-16years-old) when, after I read it, I started reading Allende's books one after the other. I read Eva Luna first, but The House of the Spirits made me fall in love head over heels for Allende's writing. I remember lying on my bed during a cold winter in Sicily and be completely immersed in the book. I passed it on to my father (or did he read it first?I'm not sure anymore) and we both raved about it. It was cool because I felt I shared something with him that was special, that was only between me and him. Unfortunately, since this meme is also about the physicality of the book, I must say I don't own the original copy anymore, because it was somehow...destroyed, by our fiercest dog. She loved chewing on stuff (mostly hands of unknown visitors, ehmm ehmm) and when the book was left outside once, she literally shredded it to pieces. I was secretly devastated, but I was bought a new copy soon. I wished I could show you a picture of the destroyed book which was carefully put back together. This is the cover anyway:


I love Feltrinelli editions. This is their paperbacks series, and they will always be among my favourite books. I love the smell, the paper, the texture of the covers. They also publish nice trade paperbacks, that are more expensive, but I don't like them. They don't feel the same. Probably because the economic editions are forever linked, for me, to Allende and the spell that she put on me with her words.

a book you acquired in some interesting way (gift, serendipity in a used bookstore, prize, etc.):
The Bloodstone Bird by Inbali Iserles.

It was sent to me by the author herself, signed and everything! I was delighted. She had told me she wanted to send it to me, but it was still a surprise when I received it. This is one the best thing that has happened to me since I started blogging. Getting to know the author of a book I loved and then keeping in touch and even meet for a long and dense chat about a lot of stuff bookish and non bookish. So yes, receiving this book was very special. She also sent me the US version of The Tygrine Cat, when it came out. It's a lovely hardback and I plan to re-read it just to make this edition more mine:)

the most recent addition to your shelves:
The very last is a book in Italian that hasn't been translated called Tana per la bambina con i capelli a ombrellone by Monica Viola. It's actually a very interesting book not only because it's an interesting read, but also because it was published originally on the web, through an Italian publishing project that gathers a group of editors who choose books to edit and then publish them for free on their website, Vibrisselibri. I knew about Tana because a friend of mine did the editing for it. I downloaded it but never brought myself to read it. I should have printed it but I was lazy. Then it was picked up by one of the major publishing houses in Italy and given a different cover and an existence on paper.

I don't know which one I like more. The first, on the left, has more sense, it tells more about the book. The second, on the right, is very attractive and I would have probably bought it in a bookshop if I didn't know about it previously. It's eye-catching. What do you think? Anyway, the most interesting thing about it, is that is published with a "copyleft" philosophy. Instead of stating that it's forbidden to reproduce it, it says that anyone can reproduce parts of it, or the whole book, and anyone can publish it on the web, provided it's not for commercial purposes. It also states that the author doesn't claim royalties for libraries loans. I didn't know authors could claim royalties for that.



a book that’s been with you to the most places:
I don't have a book in particular. I don't bring books with me unless I'm reading them or I'm going to read them. After that they belong to the bookshelf. So all the books on my tbr pile at the moment here have travelled with me in all my house-movings in the last couple of years! Still too many to mention:P

a bonus book that you want to talk about but doesn’t fit into the other questions:
again there's so many more special book to talk about. But I'llkeep it to just one. It's the first book I got signed. By my (then) favourite author, Dacia Maraini.
I was so excited my heart was pounding. She was sitting down, surrounded by eager fans, and she looked up at me and smiled the sweetest smile, and her eyes twinkled and I wanted to faint. I didn't even think I could have told her something. I just got the book signed and retreated. I was 17, maybe. The book was La lunga vita di Marianna Ucrìa translated into The Silent Duchess and it still is one of my most treasured books. This is was Amazon says about her and the book:

Dacia Maraini is something of a national treasure in Italy. The author of more than 50 books, a director of stage and screen, and an outspoken feminist, Maraini has never been afraid of controversy. The Silent Duchess won prestigious awards in Italy upon its publication there in 1990, and has since been translated into 14 languages. It tells the story of Marianna Ucria, an 18th-century noblewoman who is both deaf and mute following a mysterious childhood trauma. Though outwardly Marianna's life follows the same trajectory as most women's of her class and time--an arranged marriage and endless childbearing--her inner life is quite unique. Within the silent world she occupies, Marianna pursues a vigorous life of the mind; in fact, silence becomes a weapon she wields to defend her deepest, truest self against society's suppression of women's creativity and will. From the first, horrifying images of a child's hanging, through Marianna's forced marriage to her elderly uncle, and finally to her recollection of the trauma that scarred her, The Silent Duchess takes the reader on a remarkable journey through the mores and manners of 18th-century Sicily and into the mind of its enigmatic, courageous heroine.

There! This was long! Now I should tag 3-5 people. Please forgive me if you've been tagged already. If you were, I suggest you pass the tag on to different people, so that my tag doesn't get lost:)
Lesley
Alessandra
Annie
Trish
Zoe

Memes...

Aaaayges ago Melody tagged me for this meme that has been around a while, but I haven't done yet, so I'm doing it now!:D
It's the 1 2 3 pages meme.

here it goes:
1. Pick up the nearest book.
2. Open to page 123.
3. Find the fifth sentence.
4. Post the next three sentences.
5. Tag five people, and acknowledge who tagged you.

The Book is There's an egg in my soup by Tom Galvin. It's about the adventures of an Irishman in Poland in the 1990's. I just started it but it seems like I will enjoy it, even though I have no idea what to expect. Just to learn a bit more about Poland, I guess.

Page 123 - fifth sentence:

The dating game was all very old-fashioned. It kind of reminded me of tales of my parents, how they first met up and what they did on dates - sharing a single of chips, sitting and watching the river flow by, that sort of thing. In the background, of course, always lurked the mother, rather unfairly represented as the ogre figure that had to be dodged, bribed or softened up at all times.

Hmmm, I'm only at page 39, but I definitely want to get to the "date" part now :P

Now 5 people?? I have no idea!!! Let's see...

I tag: Mariel, Ranay, Alix, Trish, Alessandra.

Good. Done!

Now Nymeth tagged me for another meme which will take a bit more time, but I want to do it because it's interesting even though I've no idea what I'm going to write!

Its the 6 Random Things about Myself:

1) Today I've done some gardening for the first time in my life! I tried to have some pots on my balcony some years ago, but it never worked. Today, with my mum's input, who came to visit for few days, I've actually planted something in a real garden, and I'm pretty excited about it. They are all aromatic plants - mint, oregano, rosemary, thyme and rocket - which I will hopefully be able to use in my cooking, or for healing potions...finally feeding my "witches" ambitions :D

2) I think that quitting biting nails is harder than quitting smoking. I've basically quit smoking this year, but I've tried endless times to stop biting my nails, with no proper results. My fingers are awful looking...

3) I have a bike named Deirdre that is now lying abandoned in town, locked on a bicycle railing, because I've lost the keys and haven't thought about a way of releasing her. It's been sitting there for 9 months now...

4) The children's section that I look after in the shop is more than 100 square meters. It's the biggest in Ireland.

5) When I was a child, about 9-10 years old, I decided I had to learn to write with my left hand. My dad encouraged me because he said that very intelligent people like Leonardo Da vinci could write with both hands. So I was practicing in a notebook, coping texts from books, and having lots of fun. I never managed to master my left-hand writing till perfection, but I got pretty good. I stopped at some stage because I realised it was pointless.

6) I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up. In primary school I wanted to be in order: an astronaut, a writer, a builder. Then in middle school a writer again, a translator, an interpreter, a bookseller. In secondary school a flight assistant. In college a scholar, a translator and an editor. Now? I want to open my own special café. I would make my cakes and tarts, have concerts, a library made by the people, internet, big comfy couches, film shows, exhibitions, parties... I'm still thinking about the name.


I can't think of anyone else to tag so I would tag the same people as above, but only if they feel like and have time to do it. All the rest of you, feel free to do it, it's fun! except that it takes ages to think of something to write :P

Non-fiction Challenge and Meme

I was looking forward to the Non-fiction Challenge 2008. I think I need a reason to read some non-fiction, and without a challenge I don't think I will ever be able to abandon my comfortable novels so I'm happy that it's finally up at Thoughts of Joy.
The Rules are HERE
I don't have a full list yet, but I'll come up with some more later.
For now I have:
Current Affairs: The Ordinary Person's Guide to Empire by Arundhati Roy - I've had this for ages, it's high time I read it!
Biography: Angela's Ashes by Frank McCourt - same as above
Travel Writing: There's an Egg in my Soup by Tom Galvin - It's about the experience of an Irish Man in Poland in the 90's. The Polish population in Ireland is amazingly big, therefore the need to learn more about their country and culture.

I might add something for History, True Crime, more Current Affairs (I've never read No Logo by Naomi Klein and this might be the right time), or possible some more biographies.
I have time till may to come up with something and the list can change anytime.

Edited: I've come up with 4 more titles!
- Little Girls in pretty boxes by Joan Ryan. It's about the hidden world of elite gymnastics and figure skating. It's almost a text book for any gymnastics fan, even though it casts a dark light on my beloved sport, I think I have to read it.
- No Logo by Naomi Klein. Another title I need to read!
- The Year 1000: What Life Was Like at the Turn of the First Millennium: An Englishman's World by Robert Lacey and Danny Danziger. Daily life in the year 1000, should be interesting.
- Female Chauvinist pigs - women and the rise of raunch culture by Ariel Levy. I've been wanting to read this for a while now.
There. I like my new list. I'm not sure I'll be able to read them all but I'll do my best!


So, since I'm here talking about Non-Fiction, I figure I'd do this meme I've seen everywhere, created by Guatami at My own little reading room!

a). What issues/topic interests you most--non-fiction, i.e, cooking, knitting, stitching, there are infinite topics that has nothing to do with novels?
I'm interested in many topics: art, biographies, mythology and folklore, politics...
I LOVE cookery books, especially those with beautiful pictures. I also like handcrafts and knitting books but I don't have many because I find knitting books hard to understand!

b). Would you like to review books concerning those? yes, of course, I like reviewing anything I read.

c). Would you like to be paid or do it as interest or hobby? Tell reasons for what ever you choose. Definitely!! It would be a dream job, second only to writer and editor.

d). Would you recommend those to your friends and how? Yes, why not. If I think a friend would be interested in the topic I would probably buy it for them or just talk about it a lot!

If you have already done something like this, link it to your post. I've reviewed Nadia Comaneci's autobiography and that'it, for now.

f). Please dont forget to link back here or whoever tags you Nobody did, I tagged myself!

Cool meme

I've been tagged by Em a while ago for this fun meme and I think it's high time for me to answer it!

Which book do you irrationally cringe away from reading, despite seeing only positive reviews?
Honestly, if a book has received only positive reviews (which is very very rare), the only reason why I haven' t read it is because I haven't got around it yet. I can think of a number of books that have enjoyed a great commercial success that I'm not going to read, but that haven't had completely positive reviews. The Da Vinci Code springs to my mind. I've heard a lot of people saying it was great but also a lot saying it was crap. I have absolutely no intention of reading it. Same goes for big Irish hit Ps: I love you, mainly because I don't usually read chick-lit.
Probably I'm cringing away from On Chesil beach by Ian McEwan, and The Road by Cormac McCarthy, but I'm not saying I won't read them one day.

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?

I'd love to go with Stargirl to one of her enchanted places and ask her to teach me how to erase myself.
I would take tea with Jane Eyre and I'd ask her to tell me how is her life with Rochester going.
I would invite Liesel from the Book Thief to come to my library and read with me all day.

(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?

I must say for me it was an so-called Italian masterpiece I promessi Sposi ("The Betrothed") by Alessandro Manzoni. It is a mandatory read in school, but I could never push myself to finish it. How I hated it!I only know one person who actually read it and enjoyed it. That's what mandatory reads do for you!

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

See above. One summer I actually managed to read half of it but then I gave up...
Of course in class we were all supposed to know it by heart.

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?
Not really.

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 personalise the VIP)
Whoa I'd love that job! If it's an Irish VIP I would recommend Roddy Doyle's The Commitments or The Snapper. So easy to read and so funny.
Anyone else, The last elf by Silvana De Mari. i haven't heard anyone yet who hasn't loved it.

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?
Japanese!!! I could read all the mangas in original, watch animes without subtitles, read their novels in original...heaven!

A mischievous 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?
Charlotte's Web! It's short and would remind me every year about the beauty of the cycle of nature and about the importance of friendship.

I know that the book blogging community, and its various challenges, have pushed my reading borders. What’s one bookish thing you ‘discovered’ from book blogging (maybe a new genre, or author, or new appreciation for cover art-anything)
First of all I've discovered Challenges! Before June last year I had no idea they existed. Since then I've read a lot of books that I would not have read, the best was The Giver by Lois Lowry.

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.
My dream library would be more about the room itself. It would be a room entirely dedicated to books. Wooden shelves over every wall, a comfy couch to read, nice carpet, a big wooden desk to write. All my favourite authors would have signed my copies of their works. I would have a specific section for mangas, comics, graphic novels and picture books. Everything would be by genre, and by author, all nice and tidy. I would also have a database on paper! like in a real old-fashion library. Also, I'd have original illustrations by Oliver Jeffers, Emily Gravett, Catherine Rayner, and other favourites on the walls.

There!
I've seen this all over the places so if you like it and haven't done it, go ahead!:)

8 random things about myself

Darla at Books and other thoughts has tagged me for this,so here am I again with another meme, not about books though. Or not entirely. Enjoy. I will also have to tag 8 more people...

1)I like making things. It can be food, knitted scarves, notebooks, cards, cosmetics…I like the process of making them, sometimes more than the finished product. I love the feeling of the dough for a cake in my hands, the softness of the yarn while I knit and the pride of watching the knitting taking form, the joy of mixing colours on paper before painting. I’d love to learn how to make pottery, because I like handling clay. One day I’m going to learn how to sew properly and maybe design my own clothes.

2)I am an artistic gymnastics fan. That sport with the beam, uneven bars, floor and vault. Not with clubs and ribbons. That’s rhythmic gymnastics. I did some gymnastics when I was younger, and I was actually good but never had proper coaches nor proper gyms. I have an insane amount of tapes of recorded gymnastics competitions, which I got through trading with other gymnastics fans. In 2004 I even went to Athens to watch the Olympics.

3)I have a thing for Japan. Food, mangas, 80’s anime, Harajuku’s street style, all that kind of things. My dream is to have enough money to go on a backpacker’s trip to Japan, travel around, sleep in a traditional Ryokan, and take a bath in its hot spring common bathroom, possibly in some remote little village on top of a mountain. Then taste all sorts of food, go to one of their festivals and look at all the colourful stalls, write a wish on a strip of paper and hang it on a bamboo branch. I’d like to be there for the blossoming of the cherry trees and have lunch in a park surrounded by pink petals, enjoying the arrival of spring. Then I would spend few days in hectic Tokyo, and visit all the manga shops and spend a fortune on silly gadgets. I might even buy a cartoon costume and be a cosplayer for a day. Anybody wants to come with me?

4)I’m the best at NOT keeping resolutions. I’ve just bought a book when I had said I wasn’t going to buy anymore books this year. It’s a special one, I’ve been wanting to read it for two years now, and I’ve ordered it especially from the States. I meant to keep it for the shop and let other people buy it. But I couldn’t refrain myself and here I am, reading a book that’s not in my tbr list, that’s new and not even part of a challenge. But, hey, another resolution was not to get stressed over reading, and to read for pleasure, so there you go. Even.

5)My heaven on earth is called Levanzo and it’s a tiny island in Sicily. I’ve been going there on holiday since I was born and I believe it has a magic effect on me. It recharges my batteries. There I feel inspired, relaxed, creative. I’m going to live on that island when I retire, one day. Or possibly sooner, if I make enough money to buy a house there. (sigh).

6)As a kid I never believed in Santa. For some reason I always knew it was my parents who were buying the presents. But I believed in a guy called Asdrubale (pronunciation for he English speakers: as-droo-ba-lay). He was the product of my playschool teacher’s imagination, who told us that he was the coolest guy, a sort of super robot. He could fly and he had lots of buttons to press. If u pressed one you could have a shower of sweets. With another one a bunch of flowers. He was an almighty hero for all of us kids. And I firmly believed in him. Until some other kid cruelly said: “I bet he doesn’t exist. I bet he’ll never come to us. He’s only an invention of our teacher”. Hence instilling the doubt in my faithful child’s heart.

7)The first book I’ve ever read is “How babies are born” (I still have that book!). Every day I would sit down, look at the watch, and dutifully read for 30 minutes straight. I was barely 6 and I thought the book was very boring and not clear at all, what with all the bees, and flowers, and chickens. Also I thought “spermatozoon” was the weirdest word ever!

8)I like sleeping a lot. I get grumpy if I don’t sleep my 8 hours at least. If I don’t sleep enough my whole day is going to be ruined. I would have headaches and a general feeling of hatred for everything that’s around me, except my bed. Which remind me that I work tomorrow at 9 and it’s way past bed-time…

That was fun!
Now for the tagging, I've no idea who did this already but let's try. I'll randomly tag:
trish
Tiny little librarians
melody
alisonwonderland
carl v
chris
raidergirl
aloi

Reading Trouble Meme

Back at the end of November Lisa at Books on the brain tagged me for this fun meme, and I've let it waiting far too long, so here it is!

1. Have you ever gotten into trouble for reading?

Not really in trouble, but in secondary school I used to read my own books during classes. Not all the time, just when it was getting boring or the teacher was particularly annoying. So I would sit in the last row and hide my novel behind the school book. I've done this regularly during English classes at 16/17, as a protest against our teacher who was one of the most obnoxious person I had the displeasure to meet. It was a sort of boycott against her teaching. Fortunately I was pretty good at English so I didn't need to listen to her much. Whenever she tried to check if I was actually listening I had my answers ready so no trouble there. I wish I could say I missed classes because I was reading in the bathroom and got caught, or something like that, but I didn't.
If trouble is lack of social life because I liked books more than hanging out with people my age, than yes! I got into a LOT of trouble:P

2. Has reading ever SAVED you from getting into trouble?

Again my mind goes back to the good(?) old school times...I remember I got away with a lot of non studying because I read a lot of non-requested books. That helped when confronted with questions in tests about things you were supposed to know from school books. Of course that was only for literary subjects. I miserably failed almost all my scientific tests, so no help there. Arts teachers usually loved me because I I was "the one that reads books", even if I didn't do all the homeworks all the time. So I guess that saved me from getting into trouble more than once.

What was the first book you read that you KNEW you would get into trouble reading if caught?


I don't know if I would have got into trouble for reading it, because my family is very liberal, but I felt like I had to hide anytime I sneakily read a page or two from a book called "Everything you wanted to know about sex but never dared to ask" or something like that. It was there, in the library, with the rest of the books, not particularly hidden, but I knew I didn't WANT to be caught reading it because it would have been too embarassing! I was 12 or 13.
I could think of a lot of movies or tv programmes that I wasn't supposed to watch (like the soap "The Bold and the Beautiful" ahhh I was so addicted at 13 and my dad kept forbidding me to watch it,I thought it was so unfair. Now I kind of agree with him) but it's harder with books.

I'm not sure if I'm supposed to tag someone so I'll leave it to anyone who wants to join in. Feel free to answer the meme and leave a link to it:)

Brief comment on Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Spoilers Free!) and a book meme.

So, I finished it,yes. It took me longer than many other people. So I found out I'm not that fast, and I'm glad I'm not. I like to live with the books a bit longer than few hours, I like missing them while I do something else, and come back to them with anticipation, I like knowing that there's still something to find out. And I'm happy I lived with this last Harry Potter for at least three days. It was so worth the waiting. The only thing I can say is "brilliant!". It has definitely become my favourite HP, replacing, at last, The Prisoner of Azkaban.
I won't say anything else, but if you want to discuss what happens in the book I suggest you visit this blog: Discuss Deathly Hallows

So instead of giving you an unnecessary review of HP7 I'll do this meme which I've been wanting to do in a while :-)
I stole it from Your Friendly Neighborhood Book Dragon. Oh if you want to steal it too, please post a comment with your answers here!
so there you go:
Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror? Fantasy! I can barely stand horror on screen. I'm not a fan of scary books, even if sometimes creepy is good. I'm interested in science fiction, but I haven't read enough to choose it over fantasy.
Hardback or Trade Paperback or Mass Market Paperback? Few days ago I would have said "Mass Market Paperback!" with no doubt, but now, even though I still don't like the Trade paperback because they look too big and ugly, I sometimes enjoy the good old Hardback. I decided it while I was reading HP7. It gives a feeling of reading something really important, to treasure. I'd still go for pocket sizes most of the times though!
Amazon or Brick and Mortar? Er, what's Brick and Mortar? I like buying books in bookshops anyway, and on second-hand stalls if possible.
Barnes & Noble or Borders? I don't live in the States, so neither of those.
Hitchhiker or Discworld?Hitchhiker. But only because I haven't read any Discworld books. YET!
Bookmark or Dogear? I like Bookmarks, I have a very cute one at the moment,with Piglet from Winnie the pooh on it, but I tend to loose them very often, like I do with most of my belongings, so I'm not against dogear at all. It makes the book more used, and more mine. I really don't like random bookmarks though, for some reason, like a piece of paper, or anything you find at hand-reach. Don't know why!
Asimov’s Science Fiction or Fantasy & Science Fiction? Fantasy & Science fiction, like Bradley's Darkover series for example.
Alphabetize by author, Alphabetize by title, or random? In my house? none of the above. They are divided by To be read and read. That's it. In the shop though, is a completely different matter. Chapter books and picture books HAVE to be by author. The rest by subject OR publishers. No excuse.
Keep, Throw Away or Sell? Before I discovered Bookcrossing I was all for keeping books. Now I just released them in the wild.
Keep dust-jacket or toss it? Oh keep it,I don't like them without, they look naked and anonymous. I tried to read HP without its cover,but it didn't do, it had to be on!
Short story or novel? Novel. I don't like short stories.
Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket? I read the first two books of Lemony Snicket series, but even though I enjoyed them, I didn't find them great. Harry Potter is good, but His Dark Materials even better!
Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks? when tired...if I have time. Otherwise when lunch break is over, when I reach my stop on the bus, when 15mins break is over...
"It was a dark and stormy night" or "Once upon a time? hmm, what about "Once upon a time it was a dark stormy night..."? can't choose.
Buy or Borrow? Buy. I want to be able to keep the book if I liked it.
Buying choice: Book Reviews, Recommendation or Browse? Usually browsing, but I take recommendation every now and then. I like reviews also.
Lewis or Tolkien? Tolkien.
Collection (short stories by the same author) or Anthology (short stories by different authors)?Not a fan of any of those, but maybe Collection.
Tidy ending or Cliffhanger? Tidy tidy ending. even if it's a series.
Morning reading, Afternoon reading or Nighttime reading? whenever I can, but I prefer quite afternoons.
Standalone or Series? Both. I like standalones, but when I really loved a character is such a pleasure to read more about them in the next books.
New or used? Both again. There's something good in both. I loved the smell of new books, but I like used books history.
Favorite book of which nobody else has heard? Hmm,hard question. can't think of any...
Top 5 favorite genre books of all time? Norther lights, The tiger in the well, A wizard of Earthsea, Momo, Thendara House.
Favorite genre series? Let's mention something else than Philip Pullman: The Renunciate's Trilogy by M.Z.Bradley.
Oh also Daniel Pennac's Malaussene books. But hardly any English speaker knows Pennac. He's great!
Currently Reading? Just finished HP7 so technically I'm not reading anything at the moment.
Uhhh it's done. Longer that I thought!