A meme about reading, ganked from Jaquandor:
- Do you remember learning to read? How old were you?
I don’t specifically remember learning to read, but I do fondly recall my mom reading with me when I was very small, as well as these particular storybooks I loved around that same time. They were illustrated with photos of these little doll-like model people posed appropriately for the story’s action. I couldn’t have been very old when I was reading these, maybe three or four. And in case you’re wondering, yes, I still have them, somewhere down in the fabulous Bennion Archives. - What do you find most challenging to read?
Literary theory, i.e., all the tedious, pretentious stuff that presumes to tell you how you’re supposed to think as you read things, generally written by Frenchmen who use a lot of esoteric jargon and beloved of a certain generation of English professors. I lost all interest in pursuing a graduate degree in literature when I learned my studies would be less focused on the literature itself than on the impenetrable writings of these guys. - What are your library habits?
I have no particular habit. I go to the library from time to time, usually when I’ve learned there’s a new book out that I’d like to read but don’t feel moved to go buy it, for whatever reason. - Have your library habits changed since you were younger?
Yes; when I was a kid, I owned very few books of my own and went to the library nearly every week. I’d check out a huge stack of paperbacks, somehow manage to carry them home on my bike, and plow through them in a matter of days. I haven’t done that in years; now, I have a huge library of my own, filled with volumes I haven’t gotten around to reading yet, so I rarely visit the public library. When I do, I only check out one or two books at a time. - How has blogging changed your reading life?
I can’t see that it has, really, aside from gleaning the occasional recommendation from blogs. I suppose I discovered the novels of John Scalzi — which I really enjoy, by the way — because I enjoyed his blog. - What percentage of your books do you get from: New book stores, second hand book stores, the library, online exchange sites, online retailers, other?
This one seems to vary with time. For a while, I was buying a lot of used books, then I drifted into wanting brand-new stuff, then when I realized just how damn many books I own, I stopped buying pretty much altogether. Nowadays, I occasionally buy something from Amazon or my local bookseller, and I visit the library every couple of months or so. I’ve never used an online exchange site. - How often do you read a book and NOT review it in your blog?
That would be ALL the time, actually. As I said the other day, that’s something I’m going to try and change this year. - What are your pet peeves about ways people abuse books? Dog-earing pages? Reading in the bath?
I personally like my books to remain as new-looking as possible, so pretty much everything average people do to them drives me bats. Dog-earing pages is a horror. Writing in books or using flourescent highlighters is anathema. Dunking them in the bath water is physically painful. And if you really want to give me a heart attack, just fold your paperback in half along the spine as you read. Arggg!
(One of these days, I must remember to tell the story of what happened the day my sixth-grade tormentor decided to abuse my brand-new Flash Gordon book… it wasn’t pretty, but someday it may made a good scene in a novel or screenplay!) - Do you ever read for pleasure at work?
If you count blogs, yes. Doesn’t everyone? - When you give people books as gifts, how do you decide what to give them?
It varies. Sometimes I give books that have impressed me and that I wish to share. Other times, I’ll try to find something specific to the individual. I find the Amazon Wish List to be a miraculous convenience, even if it does remove a bit of the pleasure that comes from finding the gift that someone never even knew they wanted…
Oh Jas, you would kill me. I dog ear all my books because I can’t keep a book marker to save my life. (Incidentally, my kids keep theirs very, very well in their books!) My book are always water logged from dropping them in the dang tub. Of course this is my only time I relax, so I read in the tub pretty much every day when I get home from work. I’m very clumsy I guess…..so sorry….
I do buy used books for this exact reason….
“Though this be madness, yet there is method in ‘t.” Hamlet II.ii
#8 is one of the few things we disagree about. Although in latter years I try not to crack the spine or dunk the book in the bathwater, I do think that dog-ears and judicious pencil marks are the signs of a well read book. Paperbacks should look a little worn around the corners, suggesting that the reader has carried the book on his or her daily rounds and lived with it for a time.
Which brings me to the one question conspicuously absent from the meme: Do you keep the dustjacket on the book while you read, lay it aside while you read and replace it when finished, or throw it away upon purchase of the book? Personally, I regard the dustjacket as wrapper with an advertisement on it, like those enormous boxes CDs used to come in. I throw it away. It’s not like the thing is protecting the book from dust. There are rare exceptions where the artwork is unique enough–or the actual book design ugly enough–that I will keep the dustjacket, in which case I lay it aside while reading. The damn thing just gets in the way.
Steph, Robert, I suspect I’m probably in the minority when it comes to the way I handle my books, and I further think I’m mildly obsessive/compulsive and the book thing is one of the symptoms. My friend Dave says I have a “collector’s mentality” about everything. In other words, I tend to try to keep everything mint-in-package, to maintain any potential value as a collectible. (I see it as just wanting things I care about to last, as opposed to believing these things are any kind of real investment.) I’m the same way about VHS tapes, DVDs, and CDs, too; I keep them all in their original cases (I don’t mean the cardboard long boxes, but the plastic cases) and I try to keep the cases nice.
I also tend to have an eye on resale value just in case the book turns out to be something I’m not going to keep. The better its condition, the easier it is to unload on eBay or at Sam Weller’s, and the more trade-in value it has.
As for the dustjacket question, Robert, I’m willing to bet you can guess my answer: I remove the jacket while reading, unless I have one of those plastic slipcover things over it (all of my Star Wars books, for example, have the plastic). On hardcover books, the dustjacket is what provides whatever aesthetic appeal the book may have, as the books themselves are almost always very plain in appearance. I like the artwork and/or graphic design, and, again, I like to keep things looking new. I think it’s very pleasing to run across an item that’s 20 or 30 years old and still shiny. Think of antique cars, for example. Same difference, in my mind.
I have to say Robert, I’ve met lots of people who don’t care about the dustjackets, but never anyone who outright throws them away…
What can I say? I try to maintain moderation by being extreme in all things.
There is some discussion on LibraryThing: http://www.librarything.com/talktopic.php?topic=3698#33156. The majority seems to favor keeping the dustjacket, but some do throw it away.
The discussion refers to an article I haven’t read yet about the evolution of the dustjacket: http://www.readingbooks.info/Dustjackets.htm
I suppose it shouldn’t surprise me that someone has developed a history of dustjackets, but it does…
As for throwing it away, to each their own, I suppose… I’m fairly extreme in my actions, too… 🙂