Category Archives: memes

So many books, so little time …

I found this book meme at In the Headlights and as it’s about books I couldn’t resist, being as I am an inveterate book hoarder.

Hardback or paperback: Depends. If I know I want to keep it as reference, or as part of “the collection” then usually hardback. If it is for general reading, bedtime reading, idle interest or for travel reading then paperback. It also depends what’s available, especially as I often buy secondhand books.

Amazon or brick and mortar: Amazon, eBay or Abebooks. Not because I don’t like real bookshops, I love them, and always seek them out when on holiday or visiting somewhere. But there are too new bookstores with too little range of stock of interest to me. And there also aren’t that many secondhand bookshops around. I know they’ve died partly because of Amazon et al. but getting to a bookstore is a major problem given one’s working hours etc.

Barnes and Noble or Border’s: Neither; I’m on the wrong side of the big pond. Book bookstores like Waterstones (or whatever they’re called this week) I find dull and boring. That’s largely because I don’t read much fiction and they just don’t stock a decent range of non-fiction. If I come across something I want I tend to go in for instant gratification and order from Amazon for quick delivery. But I also keep a list of (mostly out of print) books I want and search for these when I get to a secondhand bookshop — or even on eBay.

Bookmark or dog-ear: Always, always bookmark. I hate having books with dog-eared corners — I’m afraid it’s all part of the way I was brought up.

Alphabetize by author, alphabetize by subject, or random: None of those. Books are kept largely by subject, but not well sorted within subject — except the history is largely in chronological order. And there are interesting categories too, like “books by people we know”.

Keep, throw away or sell: Once read, or even if not completely read, books are kept. Books are a treasure trove. This is why we have a house full of books — in fact they’ve taken over. Eventually as they become less mainstream (for us) they get relegated to behind the other books; and every few years we have a purge and dispose of ones we really no longer want: we might give them to friends (if they want them) or to the charity shop, or to a friend who does a car boot sale for his writer’s circle, or sell them on eBay. Books don’t get thrown away unless they are really, really beyond any use.

Keep the dust jacket or toss it: I always keep dustjackets; again part of my upbringing. They are part of the book, make useful substitute bookmarks and (if one cares about such things) enhance its future value. OTOH they irritate me when reading the book, so I often remove them temporarily.

Short story or novel: If I have to choose, novel. But I mostly read non-fiction.

Collection (same author) or anthology (different authors): I don’t really know. I guess it depends. I can read either. It’s more a question of reading what I fancy reading than worrying about artificial distinctions.

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket: I’ve not read either. But I guess if I have to choose it would be Harry Potter. Or Terry Pratchett. Or Douglas Adams.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks: Oh, stop at chapter (or at least section) breaks if I can manage to stay awake — not always possible!

“It was a dark and storm night” or “once upon a time?”: Don’t care. I don’t read a lot of fiction so it doesn’t matter. It’s more a case of whether the book interests me.

Buy or borrow: Buy; always. I never borrow books and I never lend books. If I want to read something I’ll buy it; after all I may well want to keep it and read it again or refer back to it.

New or used: Either. Not everything I want is available new; and some of the old books I want are cheaper in reprints than secondhand. Also factor in that there are books I would like to look at and can often pick up cheaply on eBay rather than having to pay full price.

Buying choice: How do I choose what to read? Usually either books I come across by chance, or I want a book on a particular subject, or they’re get recommended/mentioned to me by friends. I seldom read book reviews, and even less often use them as a source of information.

Tidy endings or cliffhangers: I’m organised, so I prefer tidy endings; except when I don’t.

Morning reading, afternoon reading, or nighttime reading: Whenever I can. Which usually means a few minutes in bed at night or when I’m ill. So I don’t actually get through a lot of reading, something which is made worse by being a slow reader.

Stand-alone or series: Not bothered. But see previous comments on fiction vs non-fiction.

Favorite series: Anthony Powell‘s A Dance to the Music of Time — now what did you really expect me to say? Do Lewis Carroll’s two Alice in Wonderland books count as a series? Then there’s Douglas Adams‘s Hitch-Hikers Guide to the Galaxy.

That’s all, except that, inevitably, TAG, you’re it. If you enjoyed this, please perpetuate the meme and comment here so we can all enjoy your answers. I’d like to see Jilly and Kelly take up the challenge. I’d add Noreen and JohnMon as well but I’ve yet not persuaded them to get weblogs (hah; chicken!).

Friday Five: Not Doing

1. What do you try to stay away from?
Germs, crowds, the London Underground, buses (yeuch!)

2. Are you clumsy or graceful?
Clumsy.

3. What is it too late for?
Getting somewhere in life. Making a real difference. A decent pension.

4. What/who was your first love?
Sandra Shorer. I think we were eight; maybe as old as ten. She wasn’t interested. OMG that’s a lifetime ago; nearly 50 years!

5. Friday fill in:I believe that the sun will turn green in 38 days time.

[Brought to you courtesy of Friday Fiver]

Sunday Seven

No Friday Five this week, so we’ll have a Sunday Seven instead. My Sunday Seven is easier as it is seven answers to one question rather than having to wrote something about five questions.

Seven things I will not do …

  1. Wear evening dress
  2. Wear a tie or jacket on holiday
  3. Play golf
  4. Ballroom dancing
  5. Role play
  6. Eat anything that’s still alive
  7. Plumbing

Friday Five: Birthdays

1. When is your birthday?
Yesterday!

2. How old will you be?
I was 56. Probably a good average. Body feels more like 76 and brain about like 26.

3. Do you prefer to throw a party or attend a party?
I’m a grumpy old git so I don’t often do parties. Guess it’s partly because I didn’t get into the habit as a kid. Giving parties is stressful. And as I don’t give parties no-one invites me to theirs. Easy really!

4. Presents: take’em or leave’em?
As my birthday doesn’t worry me particularly (see a couple of posts below), neither do presents. It’s nice to get them, but it isn’t essential. I’m just as happy for someone to say “happy birthday” and buy me a beer.

5. Best birthday so far?
Not a clue. I’ve had a lot and not many have been sparkling — just the way my birthdays are. Had a couple of good ones as a post-grad student with friends lining up more gin & tonics on the bar than I could (un)reasonably drink!

[Brought to you courtesy of Friday Fiver]

Friday Five: Questions

I thought we’d have a bonus Friday Five this week. Why? Because I feel like it. 😉

1. What feels like home?
Duh? Home? 🙂

2 Do you look at yourself carefully in the mirror before you leave for the day?
Nah, I’m not really into sacks of potatoes. Nor am I vain, which is just as well, really.

3. How do you feel right now?
The end of the week: somewhat jaded and in need of a good curry.

4. Are you a star-gazer?
Guess I would be if I didn’t live in the the suburbs of one of the most polluted cities in Europe: London.

5. Friday Fill-In:How much time has passed since you last _____?
Had a cup of tea? About 5 minutes.

[Brought to you courtesy of Friday Fiver]

Friday Five: Pets

1. Do you have any pets? If so, how many, and what are their names?
Yes, two cats aged about 8 called Harry and Sally. We think they’re siblings, but as they’re rescues we aren’t sure. Oh and the names weren’t our choice, but those of the rehoming centre staff.
We also have lots of fish: both freshwater tropicals and pond fish. They don’t have names. Surprisingly the cats take no interest in them at all.

2. What was your very first pet? Do you remember its name?
Throughout my childhood we always had a cat. Most of them were black, and the first one (which I think my parents got just before I was born) was called Sooty. She had lots of kittens — we always seemed to have kittens around the house when I was a kid.
Then when I was 7 or 8 we got a small dog called Sue, which was supposedly mine. But of course like all kids I didn’t look after her!
After that I suppose my real first pets were our first two cats: Floss and Pickle which Noreen and I got soon after we moved into our own house in 1981.

3. Is there an animal you would never have as a pet?
Basically anything wild or which I knew I couldn’t look after — so that’s most things! Personally I don’t think I’d ever keep marine fish, snakes or other reptiles, terrapins, etc. Nor anything which is a cat’s natural prey.

4. What common pet have you always wanted but never had? Why not?
I love parrots and would love to have one. But I know little about them except that they need a lot of entertaining and I don’t think it fair to keep birds with cats.

5. What wild animal (extinct or not) would you own if you didn’t have to worry about its adjustment or the cost of captivity?
Now that’s hard. I like tigers (indeed most big cats except lions and cheetahs), but I don’t think I’d want to keep one; they’re much better in the wild. And anyway just think of the meat bills! I guess the nearest I get is parrots (see above).

[Brought to you courtesy of Friday Five]

Friday Five: Its beginning to smell a lot like Christmas…

1. Will you be having a white Christmas?
If we do it’ll be because most of England is fog-bound. In all my 50+ years I don’t think I’ve ever seen a single snow-flake on Christmas Day; heavy frost, yes; and heavy snow on Boxing Day; but never on Christmas Day.

2. Best present you could get/have already received this season?
A £2M+ lottery win.

3. Egg nog or snogging under the mistletoe?
Definitely snogging. Egg nog — yeuch!

4. Is time on your side?
Nope. But then it probably never was.

5. Favorite holiday tradition?
Opening presents on Christmas morning with a large G&T.

[Brought to you courtesy of Friday Fiver]