"A room without books is like a body without a soul." (Cicero) [UPDATED]

Katya>Babelbabe>Another Nutter>Sarah Louise (and many stops before and in between...)

updates in RED...

It was inevitable that I would do this meme...I've been reading voraciously since I learned in second grade. I worked for Barnes & Noble for 7 years, I've been a librarian for four. My first "job job" out of college was for a small press. Do I like books? Have you met me???

Hardback or trade paperback or mass market paperback? It depends on the book. If I love the book and want to treasure it forever, I will hunt down the hardcover. Otherwise, I prefer Trade Paper to Mass Market, but I'm not overly picky.

Amazon or brick and mortar? Wherever there are books, I'll buy them.

Barnes & Noble or Borders? Both, see above, even though my former B&N co-workers think I'm a traitor for going to Borders. I like going to Borders b/c there's one on the way home from work and b/c as a former B&N employee, I get so darn homesick when I go to B&N stores. I also have this annoying habit of merchandizing & straightening books whenever I visit a B&N.

Bookmark or dog-ear? Bookmark, but that's stretching it. More like napkin, knife, whatever's available. I dog-eared as a child, when most of my books were paperbacks from the Scholastic catalog.

Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random? Random. Although I try to keep types of books together (all my biographies, all my children's books...)

Keep, throw away, or sell? Generally keep or take to Goodwill. Although if I am disgusted by a book, I will throw it in the paper recycling.

Keep dust jacket or toss it? Keep it.

Read with dust jacket or remove it? It depends.

Short story or novel? Novels. Although Cynthia Rylant's A Couple of Kooks is a s. s. collection and it's in my top ten of favorite children's books.

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket? Harry Potter. I never had a desire to read Lemony Snicket. Actually, I never had a desire to read HP either, but as a new children's librarian, I was feeling guilty for not having read even one, so I took the first one out as an audio book and well, the rest is history.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks? It depends on how tired I am.

“It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”? Both. A Wrinkle in Time starts with "it was a..." and Homecoming (Tillerman bk. 1) ends with it. Dicey's Song (Tillerman bk. 2 starts with "and they lived happily ever after."

Buy or Borrow? Both. I have about 62 items on my library card at the moment. It's an occupational hazard.

New or used? Both.

Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation or browse? All of the above. I get recommends from fellow bloggers, from online newsletters...my browsing has died down quite a bit, but it still is a great way to find books. I tend to browse our library's "New Nonfiction" with lots of success.

Tidy ending or cliffhanger? If it's a cliffhanger, I must have the sequel nearby. (the Caroline B. Cooney "Janie" books fit into this category. And I don't need a tidy "a-la-Jane Austen or Nancy Drew" ending...the modern novel is much more leave it to your imagination what exactly happens after you close the book.

Morning reading, afternoon reading or nighttime reading? Anytime is reading time!

Stand-alone or series? Both. I've gotten quite attached to Meg Cabot's newest series with Heather something, former pop-star turned amateur sleuth. I also like series where the same story is told by different people (The Tillerman books by Cynthia Voigt.)

Favorite series? Trixie Belden.

Favorite children's book? Favorite YA book? That's like asking me which of my children I love the most!! Homecoming by Cynthia Voigt. Jacob have I loved by Katherine Paterson.

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard? Touched by Scott Campbell. I got it at Goodwill years ago.

Favorite books read last year? finishing up the Jennifer Weiner oevre. AND GILEAD by Marilynne Robinson. How could I have forgotten that???

Favorite books of all time? Thursday's Child and Skating Shoes by Noel Streatfield, Little Women, Writing Down the Bones by Natalie Goldberg, Walking on Water, A Small Rain, and Two Part Invention by Madeleine L'Engle, the Tillerman series by Cynthia Voigt, Briar Rose by Jane Yolen, A Kindness by Cynthia Rylant, Julius Baby of the World by Kevin Henkes, Eat Cake by Jeanne Ray, A Patchwork Planet by Anne Tyler, Tuck Everlasting by Natalie Babbit, Good to Great by Jim Collins, About a Boy by Nick Hornby, Persuasion by Jane Austen, The Bible (my two favorite translations are the Jerusalem and The Message)...we could be here for years. I'm sure I've forgotten many. (Such as Gilead, by Marilynne Robinson...)

Least favorite book you finished last year? I don't finish books I don't like. Most recently, I threw IN THE TRASH Missing Joseph by Elizabeth George.

What are you reading right now? In Her Shoes (third time), listening to Good to Great on audio.

What are you reading next? As the whim catches me, but potentially 1628 Country Shortcuts (it's like Hints from Heloise).

[And for Newlywifed, because she asked:] Favorite Mother Goose collections: The Original Mother Goose and Animal Crackers illustrated by Jane Dyer. As a librarian, I love the Annotated Mother Goose and hope someday to get one of the Opie's collections.

Books I have started and have not picked up for at least a week: Vanity Fair by W.M. Thackeray (I loved the movie, but my sister's copy has footnotes and notes from the "original manuscript" and the English is from like the 1800s, yo!); Irresistable Revolution by Shane Claiborne.