A stolen survey by way of Nicola

I stole this from Nicola who stole it from Book Travellers Inc..

Bookmark or bent page ?

• In textbook, bent page. In my own books, bookmark all the way. I used to collect bookmarks as a kid, and to this day I have a hard time not buying them. But I never seem to have them around when I need them, so I tend to use whatever is handy. Receipts, movie tickets, cards, cds, whatever.

Have you ever been offered a book ?

• Um. Yes. I'm a librarian, and lived with another library student for 2 years. It's how we roll. Although I guess that's more suggestions than actually giving me the book. That's mostly my parents. I have "temporarily owned" a lot of their books.

Do you read in your bath ?

• I agree with Nicola who I will now quote verbatim "I take a bath maybe once a year, and also no."

Have you already thought about writing a book ?

• For fiction, I did at one point. The greater desire has always been to edit fiction. My friend wrote a novel-length story in high school that I edited for her. She's picked that back up again after 7 years, and I would love to work with her again on it. As for non-fiction, I've done some editing, and will be lead author on a book chapter to be published this fall (knock on wood). During this process, I've come to realize, I'm a much better editor than writer, but I wouldn't mind taking another stab at it. As soon as I recover from this go round.

What do you think about books in several volumes ?

• I'm assuming by this, you mean books in a series, not in volumes. Who reads books in volumes? Do they do that outside of non-fiction much? I choose to answer the question, what do I think of series. I like series. I'm a selfish reader, I like characters and want to spend as much time with them as possible. I read Sue Grafton's alphabet series, I read all of Harry Potter, all of the Maximum Ride series. Becky + a series = fun times

Do you have a cult book ?

• Um...not sure I really get the question. So, no.

Do you like to re-read ?

• Absolutely. I've re-read An Abundance of Katherines twice, and listened to it on audiobook like 3 times (at least). I don't tend to re-read series all that often. I think it's that character thing again. I like to re-read the stand alone books so that I can re-visit a character or a setting I really liked.

What about meeting or not with the authors of the books you've liked ?

• To be honest, before I started watching John Green's videos, I really failed to imagine authors as people. I mean, I loved the Harry Potter books, but have no desire to meet J.K. at all. After watching Brotherhood 2.0 videos for a year, I really wanted to meet John and Hank. And boy did they not disappoint. I knew 2 people who were in charge of one of the events on their tour so we ended up getting to hang out with them back stage. It was absolutely surreal and totally comfortable at the same time. After the signing, we walked them (and Katherine) to Subway to say hi to a nerdfighter working there. The walk down and back was fun, and a great way to have a chance to see them as people, not "internet celebrities." If meeting all authors was like that, I'd be for it. But other than Maureen, I'm not sure I'd be up for meeting anyone.

Do you like to talk about the books you read ?

• Absolutely. In fact tonight, I'm hanging out on the ning to talk with a BEDA buddy about Graceling!

How do you pick your books ?

• For the past 2 years, almost exclusively off of recommendations from Amy, Emily, and John Green. They haven't steered me wrong yet. (Ok except for Catcher in the Rye, which I still can't get through.) Every once in a while I pick up a book off the new YA shelf at work, but those usually end up being something Amy talked about but I forgot ;)

Something you read, hard to confess ?

• Probably Twilight. But mostly because I really liked them. I mean, this is coming from a girl who freely admits to liking High School Musical, so how embarrassing can a book be?

Best places to read ?

• In bed, curled up on my couch, under a tree at Cornell, on the Union Terrace on Sunday morning with a cup of coffee in Madison.

The ideal book would be...

• unimaginable. Or I would have written it by now if I knew.

Read over people's shoulders ?

• When I was on the bus in Madison, I did it all the time.

TV, computer games or book ?

• They aren't mutually exclusive for me. I don't like the complete quiet usually, so it's not uncommon for me to have the tv on while I read. But if it's a situational thing, I watch tv when I want to be brain dead, and read a book when I want to engage my brain.

Read and eat ?

• ...is how I spend my lunch hours usually.

Read with music, in silence, whatever...

• When I'm reading somewhere other than my bed, I tend to need noise of some kind. In bed though, silence is ok.

E-books ?

• I spend too much time looking at a screen as it is.

Borrow or buy ?

• As a librarian, my first answer is borrow!! But the impatient side of me wins out a bit, and I end up buying some things that I can't wait for. I also buy books I know I'm going to love...John Green, Maureen Johnson. I'm also a huge used book buyer. Rummage sales are my weakness, but that's also how I get rid of a lot of mine once I'm done with them. My newest thing is to buy a YA book I can't wait for, and then donate it to the library when I'm done with it, knowing the budget doesn't exist to buy them.

What book are you reading now – which one is coming next ?

• I'm reading Chains by Laurie Halse Anderson. I've also got 3 other books for a children's lit class I'm helping with started. Next on the list is something else for Carolynne's class.

Have you already dropped a book ?

• All the time. I'm one of those people that if you don't hook me with the story right away I abandon you mid-stream. Especially problematic considering my habit of having 3 books started at any one time. I've never finished Catcher in the Rye. Most of the bookshelf in my bedroom are books I started and never finished. I probably will eventually, but I have to be in the mood.

What's the first book you just fell in love with ?

• As a kid: Beverly Cleary's Emily's Runaway Imagination, As a YA: Phillip Pullman's The Golden Compass, As an adult: John Green's An Abundance of Katherines

What about you? Feel free to steal this and put it in your BEDA, I want to see your responses! Or feel free to post it in the comments.