Book Tag – Wanna Play?

/ Marcia Meara

 

I saw this little game of Book Tag on Sarah Brentyn’s blog, Lemon Shark, and thought it would be fun. Happily, she invited the Immediate World to join in, so, on the count of three, here I go. *counts, here* 

Do you have a specific place for reading? 

I will read anywhere I can, but these days, I have very little time to indulge. I carry my Kindle in my purse, so any time I’m stuck in a waiting room, for instance, I read, as best I can. At home, I used to have a comfy chair which was my favorite reading spot, but it bit the dust, sadly. The new comfy chair turned out to be not so comfy. So now, I mostly read in bed. That’s about the only time I have to devote to it, anyway, since the rest of my day is usually spent writing.  

Bookmarks or random pieces of paper? 

Since I read most of the time on my Kindle, it’s not really a relevant question. Kindle very kindly opens right to the spot where I left off. If I’m reading one of my print books, I’ll use anything at hand. Sales receipts, paper scraps, or bookmarks, of which I have plenty. Just not always where I want them. 

Can you just stop anywhere or must it be at the end of a chapter? 

I prefer to finish a chapter, or at least a scene, but since I have to read whenever and wherever I can, that’s not always an option. Therefore, I have gotten pretty good at stopping when I have to, and picking the thread right back up again.  

Do you eat or drink while reading? 

Oh, absolutely. Almost the only daylight reading I do is during breakfast and lunch, where I have my Kindle propped on a little easel next to my plate. And if I’m sitting in the not-so-comfy chair, I usually have a cup of tea handy. Decaf in the evenings, of course. 

Music or TV while reading? 

Not one thing. Nothing. No music. No chitchat. No noise at all. Exactly as I am when writing. I want to be lost in an imaginary world with nothing to remind me that I’m sitting in my own family room. It would pull me right out of the story. Or drown out the voices of the characters. 

One book at a time or several? 

Usually one at a time, though I’ve been known to add a second book, if the first one is slow, and I need a break from it. Mostly, though, I stop reading slow books, and focus on one. I will binge read an entire series back to back, though. 

Do you prefer to read at home or elsewhere?

Home is better. I can control the environment more easily. But as I say, I do read in waiting rooms, and certainly I read in bed when I’m visiting family or the like. I just don’t sleep well if I haven’t read a little bit before dozing off. 

Read out loud or silently? 

I only read out loud when I have an audience. Since I do a lot of local Meet the Author things, there are often times when I read a scene from one of my own books for them. But that would be the only time. Otherwise, I read silently, lost in that imaginary world.

 Do you read ahead or skip pages? 

Absolutely, positively not. Under ANY circumstances. I’ve been known to cover the last page with a sheet of paper to avoid the risk of accidentally seeing how it ends before I actually get there. I can’t imagine reading ahead. Does. Not. Compute.

 Breaking the spine or keeping it like new? 

I try very hard not to damage my books. I have a LOT of them, you see. Floor to ceiling bookshelves in three rooms, and smaller ones elsewhere. I collect them like some people collect works of art, and indeed, consider cover art to be one of my favorite things. I would never, ever, intentionally damage any book. Period. 

Do you write in your books? 

See above. Writing in books is even more heinous than breaking the spine, which sometimes happens even with plenty of TLC. This is where Kindle comes in so very handy. You can underline to your heart’s content without damaging an actual book. I have many of my favorite books both on my shelves, where I can admire them, and on my Kindle, where I can READ them.

 And that’s it, folks. I’m going to do exactly what Sarah did, and suggest if you think you’d like to play along, you’re tagged. Just copy the questions, and have at it. Give it a whirl. It’s fun, and a bit cathartic, too.

 

27 thoughts on “Book Tag – Wanna Play?”

  1. I also try to never be caught without a book (one never knows when some reading-time will come up) and I would also never damage a book writing on it (unless it is a draft copy for corrections). Thanks, Marcia, and sorry about your not so comfortable chair…

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    • Thanks, Olga. I have plans to replace it soon. It’s miserable on my back. 😦 But, since I am dead tired by 9:00, I usually end up reading in bed, anyway, thankfully. 😀

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  3. 😀 Covering the last page! I don’t know anyone else who does this. I don’t want my eyes to flick down. I even do this with endings of chapters. Not writing in books, not bending spines, admiring, complete silence… We’re reading twins. (As for the collecting, I have a whole post on that. It’s silly but there you go. Admire. Look at covers. Smell pages.) 🙂

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    • I knew there was a reason I liked you! 😀 Besides your wonderful sense of humor, that is. And I’ve never known anyone who covered the last page, either. Oh, we ARE a bit OCD about our books now, aren’t we? And proudly so! And COVERS. Oooooooooh. Beautiful covers make me happy, even when I find the book less than riveting. I sound like a certain, well-known Gollem when I stop by to stroke my new acquisitions, whispering, “Soooooon, my precious. Sooooon.”

      I love never having to worry about damaging them, now that I have my Kindle Voyage, the PERFECT eReader. No splashed spaghetti sauce on the gorgeous covers, no quotes highlighted in Day-Glo yellow, no accidentally bent corners. (Don’t even get me started on anyone who would fold one down on purpose as a bookmark, though I SHOCKINGLY found out that one of my good on-line friends who shall go nameless–DEB!!–does that from time to time. Whatever shall we do with her???)

      It was nice to find this little game on your blog, Sarah, and I had fun playing along. Thanks for stopping by!! 😀

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  4. Very cool, Marcia! This was fun. 🙂

    I try to keep my books like new too, but I do write all over and highlight passages in most of the non-fiction books I read…or, I should say, those I use for research.

    Like you, I want absolute silence when I read…all the better to immerse myself into the spectacular worlds the writer introduces me too!

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    • Marking up reference books only gets you a 50% penalty. 😀 It’s understandable. Sort of. :p And oh, yeah, for silence when reading. Of course, I demand it when writing, too, otherwise, I’m not really “there” with my characters. I like to lose all sense of myself when I’m reading OR writing.

      It’s always interesting to see just how different we each are, isn’t it? 😀

      Glad you enjoyed the Book Tag!

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  8. Pingback: Book Tag ~ you’re it! | A Random Harvest

  11. I’m always so interested to have a glimpse at other readers’ habits. But I will admit that I have dogeared a page or two in my day (I know I know, please don’t throw something at me!)
    Interesting tag. I hope you don’t mind if I use it on my blog? Brand new blogger here in need of a good tag. 🙂

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    • I don’t mind a bit, and since you are a new blogger, I won’t throw anything at you, either. BUT. In the future . . . 😯 (I’m just sayin’ . . . ) 😀 (Not really, of course!)

      Welcome to this blog, and I hope you’ll visit often, as you find your way around the Blogiverse. Lots of interesting folks to meet, and if you enjoy writers and readers, this is one of the good places to meet a few. We have some great folks here! 🙂 And they will enjoy meeting you, too, and sharing your posts and so forth!

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        • The main thing is to enjoy yourself, and ignore any “trolls” who might show up here or there. You won’t see them on this blog, of course, because I’d smite them with a stout stick. Okay, I wouldn’t really, but I WOULD delete any rude posts. (If we ever got any, that is.) So far, none have ever popped up. This is a place to share with each other, learn from each other, and laugh with each other. Welcome to The Write Stuff! 🙂

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