A reading meme

I’m packing again for a short trip home to the parents. No time for anything other than a meme, really.

Saved by Charlotte again.

1. Do you remember learning to read? How old were you?

I don’t remember learning to read but have been told I could read by the time I started school at the age of five.

2. What do you find most challenging to read?

I try to approach all genres with an open mind but I do find fantasy/science fiction challenging (and I’m trying not to think about why that might be). And dry as dust scholarly tomes. Where is it written that a little humour or personality can’t be written into required texts?

3. What are your library habits?

I approach the library the way I wish I could approach a bookstore — with abandon, at least once a week. I haven’t yet managed to max out my card but I’ve come close at times. Too many books I want to read and too little self-control is what that is. And too many enthusiastic or compelling reviews from other bloggers which lead me to add a book to my borrowing pile without even reading the back cover.

4. Have your library habits changed since you were younger?

Not really. I always loved the library as a youngster as there were so many new-to-me books. I still borrow far too many books to read in the three weeks I’m allowed but these days I can renew my borrowings online. The use of the library’s online catalogue for browsing and requesting would be the biggest change in my library habits. But I still like to pop in to the building down the street every week to run my fingertips along the rows and rows of books (and perhaps find more books than I have time to read).

5. How has blogging changed your reading life?

I’ve always been a voracious reader but now I’m reading a far wider range of books in a far wider range of genres than I used to based on what other bloggers have written about what they are reading.

6. What percentage of your books do you get from new book stores, second hand book stores, the library, online exchange sites, online retailers, other?

The library provides about 80% of my reading material with the remaining 20% split between new book and second hand book stores. Very little procurement of my reading material happens online.

7. How often do you read a book and not review it on your blog? What are your reasons for not blogging about a book?

Most of what I read does not get reviewed. I keep a list of what I’ve been reading but unless a book touches me in some way — makes me cry, laugh or want to throw it against the wall in anger — I won’t mention it. My reasons? Too many other people writing about books so much better than I believe I can. The fear of looking like an idiot because I’ve missed the point/don’t have the language to talk critically about writing.

8. What are your pet peeves about the way people treat books?

I don’t have many pet peeves (because that would be hypocritical from the woman who still occasionally dog ears pages because she can’t find her bookmark) but if I see a book fully face down I do bristle and become quite indignant. If you can’t find a bookmark and you need to put the book down at least hang it over an edge so the spine doesn’t crack. I also hate it when people I lend books to let them burn in house fires or fall off the deck of a boat into a river. Not that either of those has ever happened to me.

9. Do you ever read for pleasure at work?

Only during my breaks. Promise. However, if I’m reading something particularly engrossing I’ve been known to sneak a few pages at my desk. When no-one else is around, of course.

10. When you give people books as gifts, how do you decide what to give them?

I try to base my decision on my knowledge of that person and what they like. And then I factor in how I feel about what they like and amend the decision a little. Occasionally (and sometimes regrettably because there is nothing worse than an unloved book) I ignore all of that and give them something I think they should read or something that I’ve loved and hope that they love it too.