Here’s another meme from SF Signal, focusing this time on genre literature. As I pondered my answers, I realized that I’m not nearly as much of an SF junkie as I used to be, or at least as I used to imagine myself to be, because it was downright hard to answer some of these items. However, much of this meme can relate to book habits in general, so it’s still worth considering, if you’re interested in this sort of thing.

1. Science fiction, fantasy, or horror?
   Science fiction, although horror is a close second due to my Stephen King habit. Never have gotten much into fantasy, at least as it’s usually defined (elves and dragons and such).
2. Hardback, trade paperback, or mass-market paperback?
   They’ve all got their pros and cons, and ultimately a book is a book, regardless of format, but I probably lean toward mass-market PBs. They’re the most portable and the easiest to hold in your hand on the train or while slumped in a couch at the coffee house.
3. Heinlein or Asimov?
   Haven’t read either in years, but I recall that Heinlein always did more for me than ol’ Isaac.
4. Amazon or brick-and-mortar?
   Brick-and-mortar. I like the experience of browsing tangible objects far more than looking at items on a screen. Although Amazon is pretty slick if you know exactly what you’re after.
5. Barnes & Noble or Borders?
   B&N. My local Borders store isn’t bad, but it feels like it wants to be a B&N.
6. Hitchhiker or Discworld?
   Hitchhiker (assuming that means The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy); I’ve never read the Discworld books.
7. Bookmark or dog-ear?
   Bookmark, of course! Can’t go messing up the page…
8. Magazine: Asimov’s Science Fiction or Fantasy & Science Fiction?
   I’ve never been one to read the SF mags, so “N/A.”
9. Alphabetize by author, by title, or random?
   Preferably author’s last name, but in reality my collection is pretty random. Hey, blame the flood.
10. Keep, throw away, or sell?
    Keep, although I’m trying to get in the habit of selling and/or donating more titles if I know I’m not going to read them again. I would never throw a book in the trash!
11. Year’s Best Science Fiction series (edited by Gardner Dozois) or Years Best SF series (edited by David G. Hartwell)?
    I have no experience with either, so N/A.
12. Keep dustjacket or toss it?
    Keep it, often with one of those plastic sleeve things to protect it.
13. Read with dustjacket or remove it?
    Remove it, unless it has one of those plastic sleeve things mentioned above.
14. Short story or novel?
    Both, but mostly novels.
15. Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?
    Never read either.
16. Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?
    When tired, or when the train reaches my station.
17. “It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”?
    “Once upon a time”
18. Buy or borrow?
    Buy, although I’m trying to curb that impulse and use the library more. I simply have too many books to keep bringing more home!
19. Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation, or browse?
    Browsing. See the comment above about tangible objects. Although recommendations occasionally play into it.
20. Lewis or Tolkien?
    Never read Lewis, so Tolkien by default.
21. Hard SF or space opera?
    Space opera — give me warp speed and blasters over tiresome old relativity anyday.
22. Collection (short stories by the same author) or anthology (short stories by different authors)?
    Collections.
23. Hugo or Nebula?
    Awards are irrelevant to my reading choices.
24. Golden Age SF or New Wave SF?
    Golden Age. The old stories strike me as more optimistic and more interested in entertaining the reader than later ones.
25. Tidy ending or cliffhanger?
    Tidy ending.
26. Morning, afternoon, or nighttime reading?
    Whenever I get time, usually in the morning on the train, in the evening on the train, and at night before I go to bed.
27. Standalone or series?
    Standalone. The long series that always mine a concept for all it’s worth and never seem to reach a conclusion are one reason why I don’t follow the genre much anymore.
28. Urban fantasy or high fantasy?
    Urban fantasy.
29. New or used?
    Doesn’t matter, assuming that “used” means “in good condition, with a clean, uncreased cover and without somebody else’s notes in the margins or disgusting organic effluvia smeared on the page.” (Yes, there is a story behind that effluvia thing, and no, you don’t want to hear it…)
30. Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?
    The Armageddon Rag by George R.R. Martin
31. Top X favorite genre books read last year? (Where X is 5 or less)
    1. Paragaea: A Planetary Romance by Chris Roberson
    2. The Ghost Brigades by John Scalzi
    3. Cell by Stephen King
32. Top X favorite genre books of all time? (Where X is 5 or less)
    1. The Anubis Gates by Tim Powers
    2. Have Spacesuit, Will Travel by Robert Heinlein
    3. The Forever War by Joe Haldeman
    4. Han Solo at Star’s End by Brian Daley
    5. A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs
33. X favorite genre series? (Where X is 5 or less)
    1. The Martian Tales of Edgar Rice Burroughs
    2. The Han Solo trilogy by Brian Daley
    3. The Known Space stories of Larry Niven
    4. The juvenile novels of Robert Heinlein (not technically a series, as they’re all standalone novels, but they were created as part of the same contract and are considered something of a set.)
34. Top X favorite genre short stories? (Where X is 5 or less)
    1. “The Long Watch” by Robert Heinlein
    2. “Flowers for Algernon” by Daniel Keyes
    (I’m ashamed to admit these were the only short stories I could think of…)