Chatting about my reading habits: a delightful Q&A for booklovers everywhere

From the very earliest age, before I could even read myself, I have been an immensely passionate bookworm. Prior to developing the ability to decipher the printed word myself, I would soak up every story read to me with great interest and intensity, and treasured trips to the local book store in the town of Abbotsford where we lived at the time, where my parents would let me select a new children's title of my own to bring home and add with great love to the wee bookshelf in my pink bedroom.




Throughout my youth, no other destination brought me as much joy, nor saw me haunt it as frequently, as the public library. No matter how many times I visited, I always felt a fresh jolt of excitement at the thought of going and would return home with with my backpack bulging with a diverse selection of new reads.

Everything from the Babysitters Club series to titles in the excellent Eye Witness series to works by classic authors like Dickens and Emily Bronte (I think I was seven or eight when I read Wuthering Heights for the first time) were a part of my early reading repertoire, which would only continue to branch out in even more diverse directions as time went on.




My parents and grandparents encouraged and fostered my love of reading, as did my early childhood teachers and even some of my neighbours, and I will forever be grateful to all of them for doing so. In helping me not only become a voracious and devoted reader, but the kind of person who finds an immeasurable amount of joy in books, they enriched, enhanced, and at times even shaped my life in a powerful, and very important way (as well helping make books a deeply important catalyst and continual source of inspiration for my own writing, very much including blogging).




To this day, I'm never without at least one book on the go, still visit the library often (rather charmingly, it's the exact same one I haunted frequently as a child after my family moved to Penticton shortly before my ninth birthday), get giddy at the thought of visiting a bookstore (new or used), and have a beloved collection of books on a wildly diverse array of topics.

I also happened to, much to my immense delight, marry a fellow bookworm and together in 2010 we founded and have since run a fabulous free new book notification service website called Any New Books (which allows users to sign up to receive weekly emails featuring a hand picked selection of new book titles that have been released in a broad spectrum of topics, opting for the categories that most appeal to them; it is a truly stellar way to stay abreast of the latest releases that are relevant to your interests).




Adoring books so very, very much, I was flat out delighted to see a super fun blog post Q&A surface a few months ago (though it may very well predate that point, that's just when I caught wind of it first) on some of the great sites I follow, such as Purple Pinky Honey, that shines the spotlight on one's literary habits.




I knew the first moment I caught wind of this post idea, I'd be whipping up one of my own at some point and today, on this immensely lovely summer morning, before the hustle and bustle of the day starts and the temperature soars rapidly, I'd take some highly enjoyable time to do just that.



Do you snack while you read? If so, what is your favourite reading snack?

Very, very rarely as I'm not a snacker in general. If I am going to nosh while flipping pages though, I usually opt for something that's unlikely to risk damaging the book in any way if dirty finger prints got on the pages or there was a spill. Say, an apple, baked potato chips, or a few squares of gourmet dark chocolate.



What is your favourite drink while reading?

Much as with eating, I don't usually feel compelled to drink when I read, and I'm afraid my answer is woefully dull, when I do: water (it's the only beverage I drink, no joke, 99% of the time because so many others are challenging for me for medical reasons).



Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?

It doesn't horrify me, but it's not something I've ever done, save for textbooks or workbooks in school when we were explicitly instructed to do as much, and doubt I'll ever do as I really do like keep my books in the best shape possible.



How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?

Bookmarks, always. My very first business ever, when I was just ten years old, was actually going door-to-door with my two younger siblings and selling handmade bookmarks that we'd made to our neighbours and other homes in the general vicinity of ours. As such, I've always had a special spot in my heart for bookmarks of all sorts.



Fiction, non-fiction, or both?

From my teen years onward, I've leaned heavily in the direction of non-fiction, with titles in this vast category making up the bulk of my reading. That said, I'll always have an immense fondness for many of the classic writers (and an especially great love for nineteenth and early twentieth century Russian literature), whose work - along with a handful of modern fiction authors - I adore pouring over throughout a given year.



Are you the kind of person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere?

I can stop anywhere in a chapter, no problem, but do generally like to finish the end of the page that I'm on, if at all possible.



Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you?

Goodness, no! I don't have a fiery temper in the slightest and would never fathom potentially hurting a book by tossing it across the room (even if I thought it was the worst or most irksome book I'd ever read).



If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?

If at all possible, yes. This is something I've adored doing since I first learned to read and greatly appreciate how much it has helped expand my vocabulary. If I can't look up a word in the moment, then I try to jot it down on paper, the computer, or the notepad app in my phone and make sure to research it later.



What are you currently reading?

I'm actually in the midst of my annual summertime read reread of Kerouac's classic On the Road, which I've read almost every summer since I was nine years old (I point I discussed in this 2011 post about how I'm distantly related to Jack Kerouac). There's just something about the sticky, sweltering, marvelous dog days of summer that make me yearn for a similar cross country adventure of my own and that also seem so tremendously well suited to Kerouac's gritty, earnest, fantastic style of beat generation writing.



What is the last book you bought?

Baby, Let's Play House: Elvis Presley and the Women Who Loved Him by Alanna Nash. I haven't stared reading it yet, but the moment I've finished rereading On the Road and have wrapped up a couple of library books I have on the go, it will have its turn on my trusty nightstand right away.



Are you the type of person that reads one book at a time, or can you read more than one?

Definitely! I can easily read multiple books at once (well, in the same time span - not necessarily, literally, simultaneously :) ) and most often do just that.



Do you have a favourite time/place to read?

I've always been a late night reader in particular, but welcome the chance to read any time of the day. Ideally I like a cozy corner (be it a bed, couch or armchair), adequate light, and silence (I've never been the type of person who likes to listen to music or have the TV on while I'm reading - ditto for if I'm writing).



Do you prefer series books or stand-alones?

Reading primarily non-fiction, I'm not usually presented with my series. As a youngster, when I read a larger volume of fiction, I enjoyed stand-alones and series equally, reading scores of each.



Is there a specific book or author you find yourself recommending over and over?

Many! Though my suggestions really depend on the genre at hand. Some that I will forever recommend when it comes to fiction are Dickens, Dostoyevsky, Steinbeck, Vonnegut, and Fitzgerald.



How do you organize your books? (By genre, title, author's last name, etc.)

Much like most libraries, I organize by books by category, further breaking them down by subcategory, if applicable (I also keep my vintage books in area of my home library and my modern ones in another).

{To learn more about any of the image used throughout this post, please click on a photo or illustration to be taken to its respective source.}

If you're a fellow bibliophile, then this charming Q&A is certainly for you as well. I loved setting aside a slice of time today to really think about my reading habits, passions and interests, and highly recommend doing so yourself via this post (or simply in your own head or care of another kind of post pertaining to reading) anytime your heart desires.




After talking about books so much, in fact, I think I might just have to hightail it down to the beach today, find a spot of shade, and curl up on the gloriously warm sand with one of the many great reads that are waiting for me to crack open their spine for the first time and loose myself for a few marvelous, magical hours in their printed word, wisdom and literary loveliness.




Happy summer reading, everyone - I hope this magnificent season is giving you plenty of time to kick off your heels and cozy up with a terrific book as well.