* to be sung to the tune of Two and a half men‘s theme tune.
Via Carl’s blog
- Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror?
- Hardback or Trade Paperback or Mass Market Paperback?
- Heinlein or Asimov?
- Amazon or Brick and Mortar?
- Barnes & Noble or Borders?
- Hitchhiker or Discworld?
- Bookmark or Dogear?
- Magazine: Asimov’s Science Fiction or Fantasy & Science Fiction?
- Alphabetize by author Alphabetize by title or random?
- Keep, Throw Away or Sell?
- Year’s Best Science Fiction series (edited by Gardner Dozois) or Years Best SF series (edited by David G. Hartwell)?
- Keep dustjacket or toss it?
- Read with dustjacket or remove it?
- Short story or novel?
- Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?
- Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?
- “It was a dark and stormy night†or “Once upon a time�
- Buy or Borrow?
- Buying choice: Book Reviews, Recommendation or Browse?
- Lewis or Tolkien?
- Hard SF or Space Opera?
- Collection (short stories by the same author) or Anthology (short stories by different authors)?
- Hugo or Nebula?
- Golden Age SF or New Wave SF?
- Tidy ending or Cliffhanger?
- Morning reading, Afternoon reading or Nighttime reading?
- Standalone or Series?
- Urban fantasy or high fantasy?
- New or used?
- Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?
- Top X favorite genre books read last year? (Where X is 5 or less)
- Thud! by Terry Pratchett
- The Temeraire series by Naomi Novik
- Smoke and Mirrors by Neil Gaiman
- A Song for Arbonne by Guy Gavriel Kay
- Beyond Black by Hilary Mantel
- Top X favorite genre books of all time? (Where X is 5 or less)
- X favorite genre series? (Where X is 5 or less)
- Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkien[3]
- The various Six Duchies & Liveship trilogies by Robin Hobb
- The Dark is Rising Sequence by Susan Cooper
- The New Crobuzon ‘verse of China Mieville
- The Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan
- Top X favorite genre short stories? (Where X is 5 or less)
- The Price
- Chivalry
- Snow, Glass, Apples.
- Current Top X favorite genre book cover artists? (Carl’s question)
- James Jean (Fables especially)
- John Howe
- Josh Kirby’s Discworld covers. I wasn’t a huge fan when I first saw[4] them, but I’ve come to really appreciate them, and miss them now.
All of the above, although more fantasy than any of the others. But really I like books that have a bit of everything thrown in.
Mass market. Easier to carry round, easier to read, I can fit more on the shelves :) Then hardback; trade are just awkward.
I’ve never read any Heinlein, and not much Asimov, so I’ll have to go with neither, or both.
If I’m buying books online I tend to go for play.com on account of the free shipping, but I prefer to use a shop, mainly because most of my purchases are impulse buys and you just don’t get the same feel for a book online as you do when you can pick it up and flick through it.
Neither. I use either Easons or Hodges Figgis, sometimes Waterstones, and for secondhand shopping Chapters[1] Which reminds me, I haven’t been in their new shop yet, really must pay a visit.
Discworld. Wasn’t that impressed with the Hitchhiker books when I read them, but that was more than ten years ago, so I’ll have to give them another go at some point. I do love Pratchett’s Discworld books, the later ones especially.
Both. I bookmark other people’s books, or ones belonging to the library, but my own I dogear, or if it is new just crack the spine[2] wherever I finish up.
Neither.
Fairly random. I just keep series together, everything else is shovelled onto the shelf whereever there is space. But when I get the space for my own private library then I’ll alphabetise by author.
Keep. Forever, until finally, one day when sorting through piles of books they’ll topple over and trap me for so long that people will believe me dead, killed by a little yellow boy with spikey hair, until eventually I free myself using Macgyver-style techniques and turn up in court, just in time to prove that crime doesn’t pay.
Whichever. I only tend to pick up anthologies based on how cheap they are in Chapters :)
Keep it.
Again it depends. If the dustjacket is covered and non-slip then I’ll leave it on, though usually I’ll take it off while reading. They are just too awkward otherwise.
Novel. I prefer indepth characters and that can be hard to do with a short story.
I’ve never read any Lemony Snicket, so I’ll have to go with Potter, though I did enjoy the Snicket film.
Usually at chapter breaks, but it depends where I am when I’m reading, or how long I’ve been reading for. I sometimes read while watching telly, and in that case the three minute ad break usually isn’t long enough to finish a chapter.
Once it was a dark and stormy time
Both. There are too many books out there to buy them all.
Recommendations and browsing usually. I count bloggers’ book reviews as recommendations.
No contest; Tolkien.
Both have their good points. Once they are well written either’ll do, although since I sometimes end up skimming the science bits I’d better say Space Opera.
Certain authors’ collections, otherwise Anthologies.
Makes no difference to me whether a book has won an award or not.
Either. Both. Whichever, it’s all good.
Once it is well written and in keeping with the whole story I don’t mind.
yes.
I don’t mind. Once the story is well told and the characters are real then I’m happy to spend as long as possible with them, though a certain RJ should be wary of writing entire books where nothing happens.
Again, both have their appeal. Some urban fantasy is great, some high fantasy is far too-Tolkien-lite. But there are great books in both sub-genres.
Either.
I have no idea. I mean surely no matter how unpopular the book the author will have heard of it ;)
Last year….
I can’t answer this. How’m I supposed to limit it to five!
Under protest I’ll answer this one:
I haven’t read too many recently, but there were three that I really enjoyed in Neil Gaiman’s Smoke and Mirrors:
- not the US chain ↩
- dramatic pause for the gasps of horror from certain sections ↩
- (yes, you can argue about whether it was a series or not, I’m listing it ↩
- so many, many years ago ↩
Great answers – enjoyed reading through. And I did utter a little gasp of horror. ;)
I'm personally more of a Paul Kidby fan than Josh Kirby, although that doesn't mean a huge amount since I loved his artwork too. Kidby's just feels more like the Discworld in my head.
Hi Quixotic,
I do love Paul Kidby's character work, but he has only done the covers since 2001, and I started reading them way before that.
Oh yes, I've been immersed in the Discworld for years. I think I just have more of a connection with Kidby's style.
Just wanted to say, I also love John Howe's artwork. Great choices!
I crack spines too, all the time: how on earth are you supposed to read the end of words if you don't??
And although I don't dog-ear, I don't mind if people I lend my books to do.
Quixotic, glad to see that you could figure out that Hower had an R that really shouldn't have been present. Course now that I've gone back and edited it no one will know what I'm talking about :)
I don't mind either Anne, but some people feel very strongly about it, so I wouldn't want to ruin someone else book.
*gasp of horror*
Nicely done! I fainted during the cracked spine bit but managed to wake up later and finish reading. Years ago when I was being allowed to borrow my uncle's paperbacks I learned to read without cracking the spines. It is as easy as pie and a skill I am very proud of, much to my wife's chagrin.
On another note, everytime I log into your site on my home PC it gives me the windows error 'send' or 'don't send' thing and shuts the browser down. Very odd.
*pat on the back* there there, things aren't quite so horrific, deep breaths and soon everything will be fine.
I can read without cracking spines, I just prefer to crack 'em, nothing looks better than a spine with loads of lines through it :) Means it is well read.
Is that problem still happening Carl? Cause I don't think I'm asking for anything to be sent, so odd indeed.
If I'm reading a paperback and the book is new, then I'll always read it without cracking the spine, so the book still looks nearly new when I've finished with it.
If I lend a book to someone and it comes back dogeared, I'm not too bothered these days. If it was going to bother me, then I wouldn't let them borrow that particular book in the first place! :)
Some good answers there – I'll have a go myself at some point (just can't get onto Blogger from the work pc…)
But cracking the spine is sooooo satisfying. it is a sign the book is really yours, for ever and ever ;)