Reading Habits

Ok, Ok I know I said I was going to bed but I just saw this posted on YA Addict and thought I had to do it as well cos I'm a sucker for memes :P

Do you snack while you read? If so, favourite reading snack?
Hmm I think most of the time I don't eat around my books because with my mind occupied the chances of me dropping crumbs into the pages are pretty high and it's terribly awkward to try and get the crumbs out of the binding once they've gotten stuck - believe me I've tried it.

What is your favourite drink while reading?
Tea!! I am a full-blown addict and I'm forever holding onto my book with one hand whilst sipping at my tea with the other (it is an acquired skill to turn the pages whilst holding a book with one hand). If I don't want the caffeine rush - which is the case when I'm reading in bed, which is nearly all the time- I love drinking hot fruit squash or Vimto (I have no idea what squash translates as in the US I'm afraid) it's nice and warm without it making me feel really awake.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
Egads!! Writing!! In Books!! *faints* I could never bring myself to write in my fiction books, in the books I may have to study at uni I can manage so long as it's in pencil but I would actually die if someone wrote *in pen* in any book I owned. Ugh the mere thought of it fills me with dread *shudders*

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ear? Laying the book flat open?
Up until recently I would rarely use a bookmark as I could remember what page number I was on fairly easily. But in the last year or so I've started using bookmarks more as I have some really pretty ones and I thought it a shame to just keep them in the drawer. I actually shout at people who dog ear books (seriously I scolded a friend of my sister's for doing it once) and people who lay it flat... *fingers twitch towards DoomStick* let's just say I have a less than good opinion of them as they are destroying the binding of their books by doing that.

Fiction, non-fiction or Both?
Fiction mostly, I do read the odd non-fiction book but it will normally be of a historical nature or something random that I read on a whim. Fiction and in particular *fantasy* books are perhaps the only thing keeping me on the good side of insanity (yes I do mean that - there is a bad side) and provide an escape from all the chaos that life throws at me. Some days I don't want to face responsibility so I bury myself in another world and live vicariously through amazing characters for several hours until *sigh* I must return to the real world, which in my opinion can really suck sometimes.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere?
I'm an end-of-chapter gal - if I got told to put my book down mid-chapter I'd weedle and plead to be allowed to read "just to the end of this chapter, promise". Of course I'd carry on reading for another 10 chapters or even finish the book cos I'm never one for listening to folk who tell me to stop reading (Sorry Parentals )

Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you?
I may jest about tossing the book across the room if a cliffhanger particularly riles me up (I'm looking at you Rachel Caine) but I have never actually done it... yet. I have slapped a book against my legs in frustration but no book of mine has had flying lessons to date.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?
To the best of my knowledge I haven't specifically looked up a word as a result of seeing it in a book I've read. I may see strange words and ponder their meaning but I wouldn't want to purposefully put down the book to hunt up a dictionary for one word.

What are you currently reading?
Alas I am between books at the moment although I do have several books which I have started and put aside for a while so I some point I may get back to those.

What is the last book you bought?
Erm I think that will be Julius by Daphne du Maurier last week. I haven't bought any books this week which is shocking so I may change that tomorrow when I'm out in town as a treat to myself for finishing my essay and my speaking exams :P

Are you the type of person that reads one book at a time, or can you read more than one?
I *can* read more than one book at a time but they may have to be different genres as I would probably get confused if I was switching between two fantasy books or whatever. But on the whole I prefer to read one at a time and considering how quickly I read I move on from one book to another in a short space of time.

Do you have a favourite time/place to read?
I do indeed, while I'm at university I tend to do my reading in bed before I go to sleep, which does often result in serious disruption to my sleeping pattern when a book is so engrossing that I stay up until 4/5am to finish it in one sitting (Yes I am utterly mad). When I'm at home I'll either read in bed or on the floor with my back against the radiator which is lovely in the winter as I stay all toasty and warm. I also like reading in the car (when I'm not driving obv) as I'm one of those lucky people who rarely gets carsick so it's a fab way to spend long and boring car journeys.

Do you prefer series books or stand-alones?
Gah well as much as I love following a set of characters over a series I do like not having to be obliged to buy a ruck of books potentially over many years to get my next-book-in-series fix which is what you get with Stand-alones. I do have a *lot* more series books than I do stand-alones so I think I probably prefer the series as I am just too addicted to certain characters to ever let them go.

Is there a specific book or author  you find yourself  recommending over and over?
Hmm I don't often find myself in a position in real life where I'm recommending books to people unless it's to my sister. To her I've pimped out Nicholas Sparks and Sarah Dessen with a fair degree of success one day I hope to shove The Hunger Games trilogy onto her. To my best friend *waves at Jess* I ordered her to read Tamora Pierce books as I absolutely *adore* that woman and the sheer number of fantasy books she's written mean that you can follow some of the most amazing characters ever IMO over years and years! Alas I don't have many real life friends who read anywhere near as much as I do (my flatmate thinks I'm completely barking with how much I manage to read) so I rarely get chance to rave about the awesome books I've read recently - that's what the internet is for!!! :D

How do you organise your books? (by genre, title, author's last name etc)
Well since I'm away from home I have two libraries of sorts, my Uni collection (which incidentally I vlogged about here if you want to see) is organised by height for the most part although there are several stacks on top cos my shelf isn't big enough for all my books. Any books I've read get put in a box under my bed until I get chance to go home. At home it's a totally different system. In my book cupboard there are two shelves dedicated to Fantasy books which is organised by author's last name, a shelf of Vampire books (I have that many they have their own shelf although it's being encroached upon by the normal Fantasy stuff), a shelf of non-fiction which are not really organised in any particular way, a shelf of teen fiction with a good dollop of Famous Five books and Anthony Horowitz, and a shelf with general fiction, classics and historical non-fiction. I also have separate set of shelves which I'm currently using to house my TBR books although I've had to double stack my Gossip Girl/It Girl books in front as they've been ousted from the Teen Shelf due to spatial issues *CoughIHaveTooManyBooksCough* Most of the shelves are full so heaven only knows where I'm going to put the 80+ books I have with me at university....

There, that's me as a reader summarised rather neatly methinks.
If you do this meme yourself do leave a link in the comments I'm always nosy to read other people's responses ;-)
Now I really am going to bed
LadyV