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Thursday, August 26, 2010

Please watch the mess!


This page is still under construction - hopefully I'll have it organized soon! ;-)

Thursday, September 24, 2009

My Rating Guidelines (tenatively)

My (overall) ratings system is very simple (for the most part), and fairly self-explanatory:

Keeper - book to purchase/re-read
One Read - good, but no desire to re-read/purchase
Not For Me - just not my cup of tea

I'm still eeking out my "language" and "heat" ratings, as below; they're still works in progress, so any imput is appreciated!

Language Ratings:
Meek
Strong
Every Second Word

Heat Ratings:*
Sweet
Mild
Warm
Spicy
Be Prepared to Blush!

*Shameless pilfered from All About Romance's Sensuality Ratings

Tuesday, September 8, 2009

Notes

"Readers of Romance Challenge" blog - finished working back through July 2008 posts

Friday, August 28, 2009

Contradictions....

I love the night - the smell, the sky, the stars, the mysteriousness of it all...
          ...yet I hate the dark.

I love to see the stars,...
          ...but I live in the city (and rarely get the chance.)

I can be moody and (occasionally) depressed (unfortunately it's genetic)...
          ...except when I'm around my cat.

Around people I'm tongue-tied and shy...
          ...but with the written word, I can take on the world!

Wednesday, August 26, 2009

Book Meme

Hardback or trade paperback or mass market paperback?

Hardback for a favourite author/series, then trade paper and lastly mass market (the paperbacks just don't last).

Bookmark or dog-ear?

I must admit: I am a bad girl when it comes to this. I like bookmarks, and I usually pick one up when buying a book, but I've always seemed to have misplaced them when it's time to use them. So I dog-ear.

Barnes & Noble or Borders?

Neither - I'm Canadian, we have Chapters.

Amazon or brick-and-mortar?

Brick-and-mortar. Nothing beats browsing through worn wooden shelving, a creeky floor underneath your feet, feeling the texture of books as you flip through the pages...[smile] heaven

Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random?

Half and half. We're in the middle of reorganizing, so one book case is alphabetized by author's surname (then given, if there are two authors with the same last name), and then by title (unless it's a series - in which case, they go in series order). The other half is in boxes.

Keep, throw away or sell?

Who throws away their books?! I'm a horder by nature...

Read with dust jacket or remove it?

Remove it - and then I usually loose it.

Keep dustjacket or toss it?

Keep - but then I usually misplace it when it's time for it go back on the book...

Last book you bought?

Sherrilyn Kenyon's "Bad moon rising"

Last book someone bought for you?

Ummm...gift cards - I haven't received a book as a present in a very long time...
What are some of the books on your to-buy list?

The last two books in the Jim Butcher, "Dresden Files" series, Patricia Briggs' latest Mercy Thompson book, Poul Anderson's "Operation" series...

Collection (short stories, same author) or anthology (short stories, different author)?

Usually anthology - I find lots of new authors this way!

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?

HP - though I actually prefer Artemis Fowl.

Morning reading, afternoon reading, or nighttime reading?

Anytime reading! But usually nighttime, since I'm not an early bird and I work all day.

Do you read anywhere and anytime you can or do you have a set reading time and/or place?

Any place I can make time.

Do you have seasonal reading habits?

Usually less in summer, more in winter.

Do you read one book at a time or do you have two or more books going at once?

Usually just one book at a time, but it depends on the book. If it's a non-fiction that needs time, I'll usually have a fiction on the side.

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

Spoiling them (exactly what you're thinking...); smelling of smoke...

Name one book you surprised yourself by liking

None that I can think of off the top of my head...

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

I've just started blogging, so my lack of review's stem from lack of time. ;-)

Short story or novel?

Usually novel, but I will read anthologies. Depends what I'm in the mood for.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?

Chapter breaks - though if I force myself to read through to a break at night, I usually have to go back through the prior few pages then next morning.

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

"Once upon a time", even though I'm generally the type that sees the glass as half empty (but again, depends on the mood).

Buy or borrow?

Buy, usually. I'm a bad returner.

New or used?

Either.

Buying choice: book reviews, recommendations, or browse?

Browse - I rarely go by book reviews, and usually when it's time to buy, I've forgotten the recommendation...

Tidy ending or cliffhanger?

Depends on the book, could go either way...

Stand-alone or series?

Both, though I do like series (except it usually gets "tired" around book 8-10, and then I slack off)

Favorite series?

At the moment, Dark-Hunter's by Sherrilyn Kenyon

Favorite children’s book?

Picture book - David Melling's "The kiss that missed"
Chapter book - (at the moment...) "Muddle earth" by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell

Favorite YA book?

Eoin Colfer's Artemis Fowl series

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?

Ahhh... no idea

Favorite books read last year?

Probably the newest Terry Pratchett, "Making money"

Favorite books of all time?

Jane Austen's "Pride and prejudice"

What are you reading right now?

A biography of Beatrix Potter and an overview guide on Greek mythology.

What are you reading next?

A stack (depending on my mood)...

Favorite book to recommend to an 11-year-old?

Depends what they're into (and, though I hate to say it, if it's a boy or a girl).

"Barnaby Grimes" series by Paul Stewart and Chris Riddell (fantasy/horror), "Dear Canada/Dear America" series by various authors (mostly girls; history), "Geronimo Stilton" series (adventure), especially if they're having trouble/not interested in reading...

I usually walk the shelves with patrons to see what they've read in the past, what they've like (and what they didn't) and go from there...

Favorite book to re-read?

Julie Garwood's "The secret"

Do you ever smell books?

I work in a library - you wouldn't believe the condition some of the books are returned in... so, that would be yes, I will take a sniff (especially used).

Do you ever read primary source documents like letters or diaries?

Yep - it's one reading source that's never worn off since university.

Books I want to blog about...

1. Calling on dragons (Wrede) - finished 20 Aug
2. Complete idiot's guide to running a bed and breakfast (Park) - finished 2 Aug
3. Confession of Fitzwilliam Darcy (Street) - read May
4. Dream warrior (Kenyon) - finished Feb
5. Kiss that missed (Melling) - read 2008
6. Ottoline goes to school (Riddell) - finished 16 Aug
7. Return of the emerald skull (Stewart/Riddell) - finished 16 Aug
8. Scaredy Squirrel at night (Watt) - finished 13 Aug
9. Welcome to the jungle (Butcher) - finished Feb
10. Elements of murder: a history of poison (Emsley) - finished 23 Aug (chlg bk)
11. A night in lonesome October (Zelazny) - finished 25 Aug (chlg bk)

Notes

* pick up:
1. Dante's "Divine Comedy"
2. Dante nf. book
3. science books on "nature's wonders" (3)
      found 4 possibilities
4. "Gailelo's [sp?] daughter"
5. Daisy Dalrumple series - book 1?
      ordered bk 1 - took only book in, instead
6. go through classical lit section (4-6)
      only found 2

*add rating system
*add an "about me" page (done! - but have to format) - move over favourite authors, etc., keep lists on this page...