Book Meme

I read this on LiberryDwarf's blog and couldn't resist doing it myself :)

Do you snack while reading? I do most of my reading at mealtimes. Yes I'm the kind of person who would read the back of the Cornflakes packet if there was nothing else around,

What is your favourite drink while reading? Whatever I'm drinking with the meal? Usually water.

Do you tend to mark your books while you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you? I've only ever marked a book once.  My Year 12 copy of Pride and Prejudice and I believe we were forced to - to mark where Elizabeth's feelings changed etc etc.  Also I work in a public library; I am disgusted by people who deface books that other people are waiting to read.

How do you keep your place? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book open flat? I am ashamed to say that I have occasionally dog-eared a library book.  For my own books I usually memorise the page number I'm on. A trait born of too many years of running out of bookmarks and refusing to dog-ear or destroy the spine of my own books.

Fiction, non-fiction or both? Mostly fiction but definitely both.  As long as the subject matter keeps me interested I'll read almost anything.

Do you tend to read to the end of a chapter or can you stop anywhere? I stop only when an alarm goes off or the phone rings or the train reaches my station or any other form of interruption. Yes I set alarms when I start to read.

Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you? I have done so but very rarely. The most recent was with Twilight. Couldn't get past the second chapter, the actual writing was awful!

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away? I rarely find words that I don't know or cannot judge from context. When I truly am stumped I tend to be lazy and ask on Twitter :)

What are you currently reading? Pinocchio - Vampire Slayer. I kid you not, its a graphic novel I grabbed from the library - the writing is awful and the illustrations are mediocre, but hey with a title like that you have to at least give it a look!

What is the last book you bought? A Heston Blumenthal book for my Dad for his birthday.  Already planned the Kitchen Chemistry book and DVD set for father's day :)

Do you have a favourite time/place to read? Well I've just moved house so I'm still finding/creating favourite nooks.  Favourite time to read is over brunch on a day off work, because I don't have to stop reading.

Do you prefer series books or stand-alones?  As long as the subject matter keeps me interested I'll read almost anything. I do have issues with series books that really should have been condensed into one novel, or in the case of Stephen King, 1000+ page tomes that really should have been novellas.

Is there a specific book or author you find yourself recommending over and over? I work in a public library, its my job to recommend books.  I find it a much more successful match to find out what the borrower wants and recommend books that match their desires, rather than to foist my own favourites onto them.

How do you organize your books (by genre, title, author’s last name, etc.)? I spent many years as a cataloguer.  So just like mechanics have faulty car and plumbers have dripping taps, I have my books organised into "does it fit on that shelf?"

So .... who's next?

Blind-sided

I was completely blind-sided last night.

I had picked up the latest James Patterson thriller from the library, had a crappy day at work and prepared to sit down and escape into a book for a while where the goodies were good and the baddies were bad and it was a thrill a minute.

As an aside.  I read mysteries, I reader thrillers, I read fantasy, science fiction. I read pulp. I love to read as pure escapism.  I don't read high literary art.  I don't read novels that explore complex human interactions in stupefyingly dull prose.  I love a boys own rollicking good read.  For the same reason I do not read true-crime.  As most friends can attest, I don't even know who most real life crime psycho killers are!

I'm not interested in how much hurt we can do to each other.  I can read that in the newspapers.  I want a book that has tension, and action and leaves you quivering for What Happens Next (tm), a happy ending, or at least a resolution, where most of the major characters make it out alive and are ready to face the baddies in the next book.

And yes - you guessed it.  James Patterson in his latest Alex Cross novel takes our hero to Africa.  To Nigeria. To Darfur.  He introduces us to characters and then describes the atrocities they have witnessed.  Atrocities they have been victims of and then he kills them in horrifying manners through the book.   We witness our hero being tortured, we see the realities of bribery as a way of life, we hear 80% of all women in the country are raped, sometimes with pieces of wood.

James Patterson is a skilled writer.  He brought those atrocities, that are happening now, into my reality.

And he described the hopelessness of the situation.  There there's not a damn thing a normal person can do to help.

I've been thinking about this all day.  I doubt its gong to change my life in a dramatic fashion, but it reminded me of humanities passion for power and hatred of other humans.

I'm not going anywhere with this; I just had to get my thoughts out.

I'm going back to Terry Pratchett - you know where you stand in Discworld :)