BBAW: Reading Meme

Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack?
I read while I'm eating dinner all the time, but I don't normally snack while I read.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
It horrifies me a little, though college probably cured me of that, mostly. No, I just rarely have a need to note anything in the book I'm reading.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?
Usually, I use the receipt for the book as a bookmark. I love to pull a book off the shelf and find the old receipt, or some other marker that tells me where the book came from. It always brings back a good memory!

Fiction, Non-fiction, or both?
Both - mostly fiction, but I also like quirky memoirs, food books, and popular history.

Hard copy or audiobooks?
Hard copy. When my husband and I were first dating, we lived 5 hours away from each other by car for a year. I made that drive dozens of times and I couldn't have done it without audiobooks. I don't think I've listened to a single one since, though.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of chapters, or are you able to put a book down at any point?
Unless my eyes are closing from exhaustion, I always read to the end of the chapter - or the section break, at least.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop to look it up right away?
No.

What are you currently reading?
Spook: Science Tackles the Afterlife by Mary Roach, author of Stiff: The Curious Lives of Human Cadavers.

What is the last book you bought?
The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery. It is my next book club book.

Are you the type of person that only reads one book at a time or can you read more than one at a time?
I prefer to read multiple books at the same time. I especially like to mix it up - a nonfiction history and a YA fantasy, or an Agatha Christie mystery and a memoir.

Do you have a favorite time of day and/or place to read?
Between the hours of 7 am and 11 pm, 7 days a week. Favorite place is my (new king size!) bed, with my husband nearby, also reading. Heaven.

Do you prefer series books or stand alone books?
I do tend to read a lot of series, and I think that's because if I like a character, I like getting to know them over time. Stand alone books are good, but series are a real draw for me. But I don't like it when series go on too long (15 books is too much, for example), as I just think the quality goes down.

Is there a specific book or author that you find yourself recommending over and over?
Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain. It's just fascinating and funny. I'm also surprised when I meet someone who watches his show but has never read his books.

How do you organize your books? (By genre, title, author’s last name, etc.?)
By however they will fit on our poor, cramped bookshelves!