Geekery

Hardback or Paperback?

Generally paperback — cheaper, smaller, and more convenient to schlep around with me. However, when I can afford it, there’s something quite satisfying about the heft of a good hardback edition. I’ve been picking up Neal Stephenson‘s latest books in hardback — something about a work of that length almost demands the hardback edition. Something of a measure of respect.

Highlight or Underline?

Neither, most of the time — I tend to be picky to the point of being anal about taking care of my books — but I have been known to scribble in the margins of a select few. My dad’s horrid about marking up his books, and there have been times when I’ve borrowed a book from him and then had to get my own copy just to be able to get through it.

Lewis or Tolkien?

Tolkien, though it’s close. Dad turned me on to C.S. Lewis‘ Space Trilogy series when I was much younger, and I tend to pick it up and re-read it about as often as I re-read The Lord of the Rings.

E.B. White or A.A. Milne?

In other words, Charlotte or Pooh? I’d definitely have to go with Pooh.

T.S. Eliot or e.e. cummings?

e.e. cummings, definitely — no offense to T.S. Eliot at all (as a long-time lover of musicals and having been in a professional children’s choir for ten years when I was younger, I do have all of Cats permanently embedded in my head, after all), but cummings has long been the only poetry I’ve ever really been able to get into.

Stephen King or Dean Koontz?

In the past, I definitely preferred Koontz — I felt that King tended to over-describe, while Koontz left more to the imagination, which always ends up scarier for me, as it let my brain choose things that would really get under my skin. However, the more I read of Koontz, the more apparent it became that he often just wrote the same story over and over and over again, and he lost some of his luster. Lately, Prairie’s been tossing a ton of King at me, and I’ve been enjoying it more than I initially thought I would. Call it a draw for the moment, leaning towards King.

Barnes & Noble or Borders?

Both are within easy walking distance of me, but B&N is just a touch closer than Borders (right across the street from where I work, in fact). Other than that, no real preference.

Waldenbooks or B. Dalton?

I haven’t seen either in years — no preference here.

Fantasy or Science Fiction?

Science Fiction, definitely, and then I go more for “hard” Sci-Fi rather than “pulp” Sci-Fi. Asimov is a long-time favorite, for instance, and I just turned Prairie on to Orson Scott Card‘s Ender’s Game. Fantasy often seems too restrictive of a genre to me — no matter how good the author is, there are always the same basic elements (swords and sorcery, wizards, trolls, goblins, etc.) (and yes, that’s a gross oversimplification, but in my view, not an entirely untrue one). Science Fiction by its very nature has the entire universe (or universes) to play with, and is limited only by the imagination of the author — and at times can even incorporate fantastic elements into it (such as Tad Williams‘ Otherland series, or Anne McCafferey‘s Pern books), giving you the best of both worlds.

Horror or Suspense?

When well written, both can be a lot of fun (and they’re not really all that seperate, are they?). No real preference here.

Bookmark or Dogear?

Bookmark, definitely — as I said above, I’m anal about the condition of my books.

Hemingway or Faulkner?

And here I start showing my ignorance of many of the “classics” of literature — I haven’t really read enough of either to have a preference.

Fitzgerald or Steinbeck?

Again, I haven’t really read enough of either to have a preference.

John Irving or John Updike?

Once more, I haven’t really read enough of either to have a preference.

Homer or Plato?

This is just starting to look bad now (I haven’t really read enough of either to have a preference).

Geoffrey Chaucer or Edmund Spenser?\

Whan that Aprille, with its shures sotes… (spelling mangled, I’m sure). I actually don’t know that I’ve read any Spenser, so it’d be Chaucer (after having to memorize the opening few stanzas of The Canterbury Tales in High School) by default.

Pen or Pencil?

On the off chance I do mark up a book…probably pen, for no reason other than that it’s what’s most likely to be close at hand. I’m honestly not sure if I even have a pencil in my apartment.

Looseleaf or Notebook?

Notebook, definitely. Helps keep things contained — I’m bad enough at cluttering things up without more loose sheets of paper fluttering around my apartment.

Alphabetize: By Author or By Title?

By author, of course. Last name, then first name. Multi-author collected works sorted by the primary editor’s name. I’ve occasionally toyed with the idea of sorting by genre also, but never got around to it. Heck, right now, I’d be happy to find a way to put up bookshelves just to get my books out of the boxes in my closet!

Dustjacket: On or Off?

Off, and and in the trash. They rarely do much good except as advertising while in the bookstore — once bought, they just slip around, make it slightly more difficult to hold on to the book, and are generally annoying. Besides, some hardbound books have some very nice binding, and it’s a shame to hide that.

Novella or Epic?

Either. I do have a fondness for big books, and often epics will catch my eye as I’m browsing bookshelves, but as long as the story’s good, I’m happy.

John Grisham or Scott Turow?

Does not having read either of these modern popular authors make up at all for all the classic authors listed above that I haven’t read?

J.K. Rowling or Lemony Snicket?

Not having read Snicket, Rowling gets this one by default (and I do really enjoy the Harry Potter series).

Fiction or Non-fiction?

Generally fiction, but I’m not averse to non-fiction — in fact, one of my favorite Asimov collections is a mix of short fiction and non-fiction scientific essays.

Historical Biography or Historical Romance?

Biography, of the two. Historical Fiction is a very fun genre, though, and can incorporate elements of both.

A Few Pages per Sitting or Finish at Least a Chapter?

Usually depends on how much time I have. If I’m settling down for an evening with a book, it’s not uncommon for me to finish the entire thing off. If I’m on the bus or on my lunch break, I’ll just get through as much as I can (though I do try to aim for chapter or section breaks).

Short Story or Creative Non-fiction Essay?

Short story. I’m a sucker for short story collections.

“It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”?

Once upon a time (especially if the Brothers Grimm are involved).

Buy or borrow?

Buy. I love the concept of libraries, and they have their uses for research, but when it comes to reading for pleasure…well, they have this silly idea that they want their books back, which I have issues with. Reading a book once is rarely enough.

Book Reviews or Word of Mouth?

Of the two, word of mouth, though I often stumble upon stuff just by browsing (the old adage about judging a book by its cover notwithstanding, that’s often how I go about finding new things). Lately it’s definitely been word of mouth, as Prairie and I have been trading books back and forth.

(via Mike)

“Sinister Exaggerator” by Primus from the album Miscellaneous Debris (1992, 3:37).