A Nerd goes to the Movies: 2012 edition

So, I do have a fascination with reading the source materials for movies, if possible before seeing them.  I know I am not alone,  So, here are THE books you need to read before going to the movies this year.

Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs:  This short story by the Grimms is generating two movies this year: Mirror Mirror (3/16) and Snow White and the Huntsman (6/1).  Can't wait to see all the stuff the producers and writers throw in there to fill out a couple hours.  These movies, being based on such a short story, are reminiscient of The Curious Case of Benjamin Button.  Something tells me the results will not be the same.

The Hunger Games: (3/23) This literary phenomenon has now been made into a blockbuster from Hollywood.  I just saw the preview a couple of days ago and it looks interesting.  I really liked Jennifer Lawrence in Winter's Bone, so this should prove to be a good one for a Saturday rental after it comes out on DVD.

Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter: (6/22)  While not really up my alley in terms of literary choice, I am intrigued by the fact that it is directed by Tim Burton.  -D is a big fan of Burton, but I do think he makes a misstep every once in a while.  What I am looking forward to more is his version of Dark Shadows later in the year (he does odd camp best).

The Hobbit: (12/14) The prequel to the Lord of the Rings is finally getting the full Hollywood a la Peter Jackson treatment.  I will be forced to see it with the hubby, so I might as well get to reading this one.  I tried once before, but I struggled in the first chapter and put it down.  We shall see...

The Great Gatsby: (12/25)  So if I get dragged to the theater to see the previous two picks, I will get to turn the tables for this one.  I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE Baz Luhrmann and cannotwait to see what he does with this one.  I will have to refresh my memory because 11th grade English was not kind to Fitzgerald.

and last but not least:

Team of Rivals (Lincoln): (December, I hope) Rarely do I get all tingly whilst reading the actor list on IMDB for an upcoming movie, but I did on this one!  I ablsolutely loved Dorris Kearns Goodwin's masterpiece on the Lincoln presidency (it is hand's down my favorite Lincoln book), so I cannot tell you how excited I am that it is coming out this year!  I won't force Drew to go see this one with me.  I loaned the book to my dad after I read it and he loved it as much as I did, so sounds like a dad-daughter outing is in the offing!!  Yea! 

Are there any books that are being adapted for the screen you are excited about this year?  Oh, I just realized I left off Twilight (how could that have happened? I wonder).  If Twilight is the movie you are most excited about, please do not let me know; I will mock you mercilessly inside my head.

-L

For Further Reading

I have been working on getting a little bit more into the book blog thing this week (new year's does that to me for some reason) and I thought I would give the literary blog hop hosted by Blue Bookcase a try to see if I can meet some like minded bloggers (that would not include the YA fanatic down the block). 

So the question up for discussion for the hop is: Do you like to supplement your reading with outside sources, like Sparknotes, academic articles, or other bloggers' reviews? Why or why not?

I have about two resources I count on when reading classics:
1. a dictionary or footnotes (if necessary) - pretty self explanatory.
2. the book 1001 books to read before you die.  This one is for no other reason than to discover just how far off base they are on their reviews.  I have discussed it before on Goodreads group for this book, but seriously, I would think the literary "experts" they got together would remember a basic thing like plot line or denouement.  I oftentimes think wrong and enjoy calling them on it in the quietness of my own mind.
Otherwise, I tend not to read other academic articles or reviews by other bloggers because I have a serious fear of finding out what is going to happen before I read it.  This happened to me one time and I was bitter about it for quite some time.

So, yeah, that's how I do it.  What about you?  Are you interested in what others have to say or are you a solo-going, my-thoughts-are-the-best-thoughts-so-why-read-anyone-else kind of person?  Discuss.

Here's Hoping

The title of this post is meant to be said in a sort of wistful sarcastic tone.  Reason: I have been such a bad reader lately and I would love to reform myself, but really, life happens and reading is not my life's pursuit. 
So, everyone seems to be setting book reading goals around the book blog community and I have to say, I too have some goals.  Here's hoping.

The Top Ten theme for this week over at The Broke and the Bookish is Top Ten Books I am Excited to Read in 2012.  Since I have a list (just made it this evening), I thought I would share it with you: (in no particular order)

1. When They Come for Us We'll Be Gone.  Not only an amazing title, but a promising non-fiction account of the attempt to save Jews during the Cold War in the Soviet Union. 

2. Forgotten God.  I got this one from my husband for Christmas.  It is Francis Chan and Preston Sprinkle's book on the Holy Spirit.  It should prove good.  I loved Crazy Love, so I am really looking forward to delving into this one.

3. The Woman in White.  I read another novel by Wilkie Collins a couple years ago and wanted to take a good long break in between, so now is the time. 

4. Curse of the Narrows.  Another non-fiction account of events in Halifax, Nova Scotia during WWI: a crash of a munitions ship and another vessel, an atomic-bomb like explosion that caused a tsunami, and a blizzard that cut Halifax off from the outside world (all occurring on the same day).  Until I picked up this book, I had never even heard of these events, but the dust jacket is so riveting, I can't wait to hear the rest of the story. 

5.  The Crossing.  I started the Border Trilogy by Cormac McCarthy a while back and loved the first entry.  This is the second, and I assume it will be wondrously sparse, just like all the rest of his works.

6. Room.  I got this for my sister in law for Christmas last year and she read it very quickly and recommended it highly.  It has been sitting on my shelf way too long.  It will beckon me very soon.

7.  Half Broke Horses.  I started reading this the week before I gave birth last year, but never got back to it.  I loved the opening stories so much, I look forward to reading the rest.

8.  An Expensive Education.  Highly recommended thriller and who doesn't need a little thrill in their life?  If you get a chance to look at the picture of the author, Nick McDonell, on the back of the paperback, please tell me if you think he looks like he belongs on the cover of a romance novel?  Too funny!

9. The Great Gain of Godliness.  From my absolute favorite Puritan (yes, I have one).  I have a long standing goal to read all of the works of Thomas Watson I can get my hands on.  This is the one I will be reading this year.

10.  Only Time will Tell.  I was waiting on my dad to finish this one so I could save myself the cost of the book, but he lost it.  I will be buying it for my nook color soon.  So excited!  Archer is my favorite contemporary author!

What is on your list for this year?  Have you read any of my future reads?  Any advice on them?

Anniversay Book Hoarding

We celebrated our 7th anniversay this weekend (yes, we got married on 9/11 and are happy to celebrate something wonderful while recognizing a horrendous event also occurred on that day).  And on our way to our date night dinner, we strolled through the latest casualty of the economic downturn/fascination with reading words on a screen instead of on a page: Borders. 

Let me just say this:  we are supposed to be on a book buying ban, until we can get through some of the hundreds (literally hundreds) we need to read.  BUT, we struggle with book lust just like the rest of the book blogging community.  Thus, here are our latest purchases/future (although likely distant future) reads:

We got all these, plus The Book of Basketball for $30.00!  Not bad.

But we promise, really, we are on a book buying hiatus, really.  

Any good reads/buys for your ever growing pile?

-L

A Year in Review

At the beginning of this year we challenged one another to read a book a week and thus this blog was born.  Did we make it?   Not quite, but we tried hard and read much more than we did the previous year! 
For those of you looking for excuses for not finishing our project on time, well you aren't going to get those here; but I will say it is interesting how one book can throw you off your book-loving game and another can re-ignite your passion for reading.  So here's the report card for the year:

-L:
Books read: 47 (not too far off target)
Books started and not finished: 2 (The Reader - yeah, not so much into the porn, Vanity Fair - still holding out hope in the bedside basket for books better left for tomorrow).
Books finished and not yet reviewed: 7 (yeah, that list is long, blame it on the baby growing in my tummy, so good to know I will always and ever have someone to blame things on - welcome to parenting 101)
Favorites of the year: The Road, The Spy Who Came in From the Cold

-D:
Books read; 43 - farther off target, but could count 44 as I didn't count The Jesus Manifesto. Meh
Books started and not finished: Towers of Sunset, The Passage, The Stand, and Wolves of Calla. It's not that I don't want to finish the books, but I have some background to finish. With WoC I needed to read The Stand first. I stopped reading The Stand b/c of the size and thought I should try to get to 52 books but then started a couple 1000 page books in it's stead. I'm currently reading ToS and The Passage before picking the stand back up
Books finished and not yet reviewed: 1 - No Country for Old Men
Favourites of the year: That's a tough one - The Road, Soldiers Live, and The Gathering Storm. 

I was thinking about the fact that I didn't finish up 52 books this year, but I was able to read a ton of pages! I have nearly 10,000 pages in Robert Jordan, Brandon Sanderson, and Joe Abercrombie. That's eleven books only. That's 33 300 page books. =\ But our challenge wasn't to read the most pages, but to read 52 books in a year. 

It sounds like we're going to be a little busier next year so we might not get through the same amount of reading as this year. But we'll keep plugging along with Leah reading books that people are interested in and I'll live in my little fantasy world. 



Happy New Year!

Book Lovers Unite

Well, so much for trying to get some things done on this blog lately.  We have had quite the past couple of months and heading into the holiday season leaves little room for blogging, but I saw something today that I had to pass along to all our book loving readers. 

One Kings Lane (an entirely outrageous mostly home decor vendor) has a deal on books every once and again.  For the next 24 hours they are running a sale on Random House Classic Book Sets.  They have a lot of great book sets at decent discounts. 

If you are interested in checking out more of this sale, you have to sign up to receive their emails.  But wait, if you sign up under our account, you get $25 to spend however you like.  Please leave a comment (with a way to contact you through email) and I will send in a request for you to sign up and you will get $25! 

These are great gift ideas for the holiday season, if you can handle giving them away.

-L

Vanity of Vanities

I think it has been over a month since I have posted anything on this blog.  So what happened to a book a week? 

Do you ever put yourself on an unintended sabbatical from those things which you really enjoy?  You just slowly move away from that which brings you joy and then a little while later sense the distance by the small amount of empty space in your life.  Okay, maybe it's just me, but my unintended sabbatical (in the midst of a challenge to read a book a week for a year) has been from reading and then writing about it here.  Not that I haven't been reading at all, I just have not been reading everyday.   The thrill is gone. 

The culprit?  Vanity Fair! 

I just can't seem to propel myself through this one.  I know there must be some of you out there who will cry out (in horror), "It's such a good book."  Really?   I can't say I follow.  I have been reading this book for a month (A MONTH) and I am not even half way through it.  But, I insist on plodding through until the end, because I doubt I would pick it up again (and if I did, that I would remember ANY of the characters, because I only vaguely can point them out now).    At the moment it is hard to see the light at the end of the tunnel, but I am pressing on. 

Have you read a book you thought would never end, but perservered?  Was it worth it?

Any encouragement would be appreciated.  There just may be a scathing review in it for you.

-L

The Death of a Literary Giant

Well, maybe not a giant.  More like really small.  But really important! 

Have you noticed the "trend" (I am calling it this because I have read a few books like this lately) of modern authors to "forget" to use quotation marks?  I have.  And I am saddened by it.   Those little quotes help guide me along.  They tell me, "Wake up! Someone may say something important here."   Alternately, they tell me when one character stops talking and another picks up the conversation.  They also decorate pages of dialogue quite nicely (look at all the pretty commas!  It's like they are hanging themselves!). 

Why the infatuation with disregarding such an important literary piece of the puzzle?  I say bring them back and keep them FOREVER!

-L

This Week in Our Year

...was pretty quiet on the reading front.  Not so quiet on other fronts.  Should we read All Quiet on the Western Front soon? 

But I digress.  We only got around to reviewing one (count it) book this week.  And it wasn't all that great (not the review, the book).  Check the review for Gilead here.  We also begged you to tell us something funny to read and got some interesting responses.  I think I settled on something different.  Tune in next week about this time, to find out what it was. 

We promise to read more this week and let you know about it.  -D is almost done with his current read and -L is woefully behind on reading.

The question for this week's Book Blog Hop is do you listen to music whilst reading and if so, what do you listen to?  Well, why don't you open Pandora's box (not a promotion for Pandora, though it is currently on station Ryan Adams)?  How long do you have to discuss this particular topic?  We could start with -D's obsessive need to have "background noise" on.  Then move onto -L's love of peace and quiet, but on her own terms.  Then we could discuss the multitude of musical influences for our reading.  The discussion would end sometime next week, after we play all our favorite songs for you.

Let's just say, we do listen to background noise whilst reading and it is so varied we could not go into it here.  That and most people have never heard of the musicians we appreciate most. 

Have a great read this week!

Help! I need to Laugh

My current reading schedule has been a little on the dull side.  So I was thinking last night: I need to laugh.  I need one of those laugh-out loud, chortle, chortle, chortle, guffaw, guffaw, guffaw kind of reads.  The problem is, I am at a loss. 

Any suggestions? 

Oh, and something to make you smile (laugh? chortle?):



-L

This Week in Our Year

Hello, there readers.  Welcome to Our Year in Books.  In today's edition of This Week in Our Year, we are hopping!  The weekly book blog party is hosted by Jennifer over at Crazy for Books.  Thanks to our hostess!  This week's question is what is your favorite new-to-you author of this year.  Our answers are:

-D: Brandon Sanderson - I've only read his additions to the Wheel of Time series, but that's enough to be happy with him.
-L: Cormac McCarthy - we both read the Road earlier this year and loved it.  We loved it so much we wrote a review together (if you could call it that).

So, this week's goings on around here include:

Review of Metro 2033
Review of The Awakening, followed by a lively discussion (dominated by women) in the comments...any guys out there wish to comment?
Review of A Homemade Life
Review of The Magic of Recluce

Thanks for stopping by!  Feel free to stalk us here or on twitter.  We will at least pay you back by glancing in your general direction. 

Is too much of a good thing bad?

My list of "books I plan on reading" continues to grow by leaps and bounds. This isn't all my fault either! Let's look at what I'm dealing with.

Currently Reading:
The Magic of Recluce (Recluce series, Book 1) - So I'm re-reading a great book from my high school years. It's a great start to a series that I never had time to finish. I've read only the first couple books because L.E. Modesitt Jr. never made it easy to figure out which book was which in the series. With the onset of Internet popularity it's been easier and easier to find out what I need to read next. Expect this review shortly.

Read a little of, and will finish:
The Stand: Expanded Edition: For the First Time Complete and Uncut (Signet) - I will finish this! I am really enjoying the book but didn't want to tackle a 1000 page book in a week. I'm halfway tempted to see this as my next review, but 900 pages to go. =\ And on my Nook that is about 2700 next clicks.

Blacklisted by History: The Untold Story of Senator Joe McCarthy and His Fight Against America's Enemies - I'm incredibly slow on historical books. They aren't always as exciting. Your imagination isn't used as much, and I like using that part of my brain. I'll probably start over since it's sorta applicable to our current situation - I'm not calling anyone communist, but it's being thrown around like crazy. No political stuff until I post a review, please. =)

The Forgotten Man: A New History of the Great Depression - Same thing as above! I'm slow to read, but applicable to today.

Books I own(will own shortly) that are on my list:
Wolves of the Calla (The Dark Tower, Book 5) - Got at Borders a couple weeks ago. Been trying to do new authors instead of reading all seven books like I did with the Robert Jordan.

The Princess Bride: S. Morgenstern's Classic Tale of True Love and High Adventure - Been waiting to purchase this one for a long time, and suddenly it appears on our doorstep! My wife decided to join a book club and purchased six new books. A couple of those ended up being books for me!

The Passage - This is the second book that Leah picked up for me. I don't know much about it, and I'm not sure I want to read any of the reviews. The one praise that Leah mentioned was, "If you loved the Stand, you'll love The Passage". We'll see if it's any good.

Best Served Cold - My wife has gotten better at picking Fantasy than I am. She found a Joe Abercrombie book for me at BN and picked it up. He has since moved into my list of elite authors that deserve to be read more than once. Best Served Cold is one of his books that I haven't read. It's another long one so I didn't want to start and be attempting 3 600+ page books at the same time.

The Neverending Story - I found a BN gift card from Christmas that I totally forgot about! Exciting day! So instead of purchasing Blu-Rays I'll finally pick up the novel that one of my favourite childhood movies was based on. w00t! I even had a cat named Falcore..... sure, it's great to name your cat after a flying dog.

Rest of the recluse series - I think there's nine books for the series and I'm finishing up book one.

Books that I can't see myself finishing, or picking up again, but might:
The Dragon Factory - 24 meets CSI meets NYPD meets meh.... zombies, Nazis and weapons should make a great story, but this one was found a little lacking. I might try again, as I said in a previous post, but am not sure.

Graceling - I don't have anything against the book, but I have so many others that are more engaging than the first hundred pages were for this.

Aspire Higher: Winning On and Off the Court with Determination, Discipline, and Decisions - I enjoyed Avery Johnson as a coach, and as a player, but as an author? not so much. No offense, but his desire, as shown in this book, seems a little more self-serving than motivational.

:rolling dice: come on good times!

-D

Six Degrees of Tim Burton

My wife decided to share a hilarious video of Tim Burton(or is it... I can't tell!!) over on our other shared blog. If you want to catch it go over at The Reliquiarium. I recommend clicking the link since I went with one of the hardest words to spell that no one truly knows! Yay for Latin! We'll also put a couple buttons up for our other blogs - The Reli and SeldomMade so it's easier to run over there if you're interested in other happenings in our household.

Back to what I really wanted to talk about, Tim Burton was posted on our blog. It reminded me that Tim Burton published a book that I had really been desiring for a while. At the time, we weren't doing a blog and didn't think to tell the earth about a cornucopia of Burton greatness.

If you haven't seen any of Tim Burton's movies then you are missing out on some of the best quirky Gothic stuff out there. Let me recommend a few of my favourites:

1. Batman
2. Batman Returns
3. The Nightmare Before Christmas
4. Edward Scissorhands
5. Beetlejuice
6. Mars Attacks!
7. Corpse Bride
8. Big Fish
9. Coraline

You can miss out on:

1. Sweeney Todd
2. Planet of the Apes

I can say that he does have a specific look to about 90% of his films. That was one of the sore parts of Planet of the Apes. Not only was the story awful, but the look of the film didn't look like anything Tim Burton would do. But, the book takes you back to what makes Tim Burton so interesting. His art reminds me of what I would expect The Cure to sing about. In the picture below, you'd have a tough time figuring out if that's Burton or Robert Smith on the sleeve. It's Gothic, but you haven't lost any of the fun or whimsy of it.

I do have to say I would love to have this book. It's not on our shelves yet, and I'm not sure if it's worth holding out to magically have $300.00 to spend on the signed version. Go check it out at Steeles Publishing and see what you think. It's a cool conversation book.

-D

Ingathering

It seems our long hiatus of book purchasing is behind us and we are hitting the book shelves like a crack addict on a day-pass.  -D posted about his latest book purchases last week and I had a great book shop day, so I thought I would share with the class.  Show and tell!

Members of a former-book club-hopefully-reunited and I went to the Rancho Mirage Library to check out books after a lengthy discussion of what we should read next.  I was the virgin of the group...I had been meaning to get around to it, but just hadn't made it, yet.

Here's the finds:

The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood (hardback).  This is on the list of 1001 Books to Read before you Die, but one of the members of the aforementioned book club read The Handmaid's Tale a couple years ago and I thought it was about time I got some more Atwood in me.






Gilead by Marilynne Robinson (hardback).  Winner of the Pulitzer Prize at some point.  I saw this mentioned somewhere and thought it sounded good. 








Giant by Edna Ferber.  Another winner of the Pulitzer.  Purchased for 2 reasons.  1.  It is set in Texas (enough said)  2.  One of my favorite songs mentions the movie adaptation of this book (...and a screen without a picture since Giant came to town...)







A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius by Dave Eggers.  Pointed out to me by a member of aforementioned book club.  Upon picking it up, I discovered it is not only signed by the author, but illustrated as well.   Not bad for a buck.






All told, these cost $3.50.  I shall return Rancho Mirage Library.  Consider yourself warned, home book shelves. 

On a related note,  I have some books up for swap on GoodReads if you are interested in helping me get rid of some of my books to make more room for recent purchases.  I don't recommend any of the books on the swap listing, but hey, you would be doing me a favor by getting them off my hands. 

Any great finds lately?

-L

New Authors! well... a couple....

I shouldn't be allowed in a bookstore.... Leah may get a ton of books, but there's two people involved there. This time I was able to pick up some books that I had seen before, but didn't grab at the time. Maybe it'll add a little more flavor to my reviews. Maybe not, it's still fantasy type stuff.

This one worked out great! It was time for the next Dark Tower book. At Barnes & Nobles they had book six on the clearance section. I'm in need of book five, and figured that I'd just continue on the eBook reads of King. Lo and Behold, they had book five at Borders. They must have heard that I was coming by and decided to throw a couple on the shelves. It ended up being cheaper than picking up the eBook... no brainer! I'm not going to start this one right away. We need some new blood on the blog... keep people interested.



Boneshaker has been on my amazon wish list for a while now. I've had so many other books that I've been trying to read through that I didn't follow up. Good for me they had this sitting on the "Buy One Get One 50% Off" shelf. This'll be my first steampunk novel. Rather than explain what Steampunk is please go here. The Bioshock series of video games have given a little more credence to the concept. Look for a review shortly, and I do hope it's good!



Last on the list, The Dragon Factory by Jonathan Maberry. The book is listed as Horror, and I'm not one for horror films. That could mean that I'm going to be disappointed with the story. It's an odd tale about a government agency, some guy, crazy genetics, and a new wave of Nazi's! Sounds incredibly fun! If I'm reading King, and he's considered Horror, then I'll probably be OK with this one. If it's good, then I'll pick up the other novel by the same author: Patient Zero: A Joe Ledger Novel.



So there you have it! I promise that I won't read more than the first hundred pages before finishing the other book that I'm attempting to finish. *sigh*, it is another Robert Jordan book, BUT I'M SO CLOSE TO THE NEWEST BOOK! It's an addiction... I'd apologize, but I wouldn't mean it.

-D

Books to Start a Life

This week, a friend graduated from college with her RN degree.  We were so proud of her!  It got me thinking about graduation gifts.  There is the gold standard of grad gifts: Oh, the Places You'll Go!  Then there are those small books on leadership and pursuing your dreams.  Those are great choices for encouraging grads, but it got me thinking: What book would I choose to give a graduate.  Here's what I came up with:

1. Letters to a Young Poet - you don't have to be a poet to get something out of this book.  I "reviewed" it earlier this year, but it is eminently quotable and deep enough to require re-reading to get it all.  It is one of those books a young person needs on their desk to refer back to in uncertain times. 

2. East of Eden - the concepts taught about choosing how your life will go can be freeing to a young person as they set out in life.   Thou mayest.

3.  The Complete O. Henry - little gems, short stories, happy reading.

4.  The Compete (Fill In the Blank) Poems - it doesn't matter who writes the poetry, having the classic poets around will help you when you first fall in love, the first time you lose your job, when your room mate goes crazy and you think you are going to have to call the cops (wait, maybe that won't happen in everyone's life).

5.  A Journal - I know this sounds corny, but what are graduation presents for.  This is not just any journal - if you can find one, get one without lines.  Even if the graduate isn't a writer, they will enjoy the metaphor of filling the pages of a life they haven't yet begun. 

What would book would you get for a graduate?  What books start a life?

-L

On the Nightstand

Here at Our Year in Books, most of our reading is done before bed, whilst laying (in various positions) in bed.  I was cleaning our bedroom earlier today and got an idea about a post.  The title is a dead giveaway, isn't it?  Here's what's currently on the nightstands:

-D: (the nook isn't present, but can be considered)
3 issues of Maximum PC (one current)
Saki: Complete and Unabridged
Mental Floss presents: In the Beginning (A Mouthwatering Guide to the Origins of Everything)
The Complete Chronicles of Narnia (we started reading this together approx. 1-2 years ago) by C.S. Lewis
Knife of Dreams by Robert Jordan (it's downstairs, but only because I carried it from the nightstand)

-L:
Let the Great World Spin by Colum McCann
The Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck
American Creation by Joseph Ellis
Musicophilia by Oliver Sacks

Lots of great reads.  We aren't reading the majority of them.  This is an exercise, in part, to make us change it by the next time we post. What's on your nightstand?  Which book are you most excited to read? And where do you do most of your reading?

Birthday Books

We got some great books for our birthdays this year (some digital, some literal).  Here are the highlights:

Reading Habits

We had a fellow book blogger stop by and post a comment earlier today, so we went by her blog to spy (ahem, check) on her.  Drew spotted the following questionnaire and said, "We could do that."  So we did.  Enjoy.

Do you snack while you read? If so, favourite reading snack:

L: Yes, often.  I do not have a favorite snack, but I refuse to eat popcorn while reading (buttery pages, no thank you).
D - I'm sure I do, but it's a little difficult to eat and read at the same time. I'll probably go with anything that I can drink while reading; made easier by the Nook. One handed reading without cramps!

What is your favourite drink while reading?
L: I am not so much on the hydration front (I get carried away and forget to drink); but if I remember: coffee.
D - Well, I like drinking just about anything except coffee. I'll take a soda (Dr.Pepper preferable, but that doesn't mean that I won't dumb myself down for Pepsi if that's all there is) or milk.
Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
L: I would love to mark my books, but Drew does not allow me (in certain books).  I will if it is a book I know he will not read.  But I have been making notes on index cards lately.
D - Sorry, but books are not made to be written in. If you want to take notes then you do it in a notepad, or on the computer. Funny that the wife wants to keep books looking like they've never been read, but then she'll write in them if she can. No sense.... not to mention, I don't want to buy a book that's been covered in ink other than the authors.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?
L: I am utterly opposed to dog-ears and laying the book flat.  Books are treasures.  One does not bend treasures.  How unthinkable!  To keep my place, I either remember the page number or use a piece of paper.
D - I'll use a bookmark with a real book, and the Nook takes care of it for you. This may be something for the last question, but the Nook allows you to add bookmarks if you want. I guess for keeping quotes fresh.

Fiction, non-fiction, or both?
L: Both, with a strong lean toward non-fiction
D - Both, with a strong lean toward fiction

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere?
L: I can and will stop anywhere, but I believe the authors placed the chapter divisions for a reason.  Thus, reading the book this way works for me.
D - I'll usually read till I get tired and stop there. If I feel like I'm behind on the book I'm reading for the blog then I'll usually give myself goals on X amount of chapters, but that's rare. I'd prefer to read as much as I possibly can unless it's just a horrible book.
Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you?
L: No.  There are better ways of expressing disgust, like closing the book.
D - It'd probably have to be something by Al Gore or Michael Moore, but that would be out of enjoyment AND irritation. Otherwise, if the book is boring, I'll set it aside for a few months and try again.
If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?
L:  I do not look it up right away unless I have a dictionary close by.  Otherwise, I write it down and look it up later.  But, context is king.
D - If I can't figure it out I'll ask Leah, and if she doesn't know then I might go check it out. Re-reading the paragraph will tend to give you an idea of what the author is trying to say.

What are you currently reading?
L: The Poisonwood Bible; Eats, Shoots, and Leaves; Letters to a Young Poet; The Light and the Glory; Taste and See; and 4 books of the Bible.
D - Reading Dark Tower IV by Stephen King and another Robert Jordan book. I'll probably a very short novel by Saki this weekend for the book blog. (got me beat this time!)

What is the last book you bought?
L:  H.P. Lovecraft Collected works (We took a cross-half-country journey last December in part in search of this book.  We found it less than 2 hours away from home, in the opposite direction)
D - I'm not too sure. It's either Dark Tower IV or a Glen Cook book. hmmm.......
Are you the type of person that reads one book at a time, or can you read more than one?
L:  Please see the above list.  But it is very out of the ordinary for me to be reading more than one book, the Bible, and a devotional-type book.
D - I'll tend to read three books at a time. I'll get in a Robert Jordan sized book(600+ pages), a non-fiction book(too boring to read all the way through without some relief), and a smaller book(200-400 pages). I just can't decide on what I want to read.
Do you have a favourite time/place to read?
L: No. But I love to read in the afternoon.  Every time I make a slow-cooker dinner, I look forward to using the afternoon to enjoy a good book.
D - Well, usually in bed or just in the bedroom, but I've been reading a lot downstairs in the living room. The chair is majorly uncomfortable, but that's where I have the nook charger.
Do you prefer series books or stand alones?
L: One-offs.  I have tried only one modern series I can think of and it was tedious because the author did not have his books edited properly.
D - I would say stand alone novels just b/c I don't want to be boxed in to what I actually read. If you look over the book blog you'd have to believe series books and that's pretty much the case. I love being able to sit down with an epic one day and end up a couple months later finally finishing it off. You figure you have a bakers dozen of Robert Jordan novels and 7,000 pages or more. LOVE IT!

Is there a specific book or author you find yourself recommending over and over?
L:  Jeffrey Archer (any, but more specifically As The Crow Flies), Mrs. Dalloway by Virginia Wolfe, Redeeming Love by Francine Rivers
D - I keep on adding more authors to the list. I have Robert Jordan, Glen Cook, Tad Williams, Joe Abercrombie, and Weis/Hickman at the top of my list. I'll have you know that Cook and Abercrombie are on the list b/c my wife saw them at the bookstore and pointed them out.
How do you organize your books? (by genre, title, author's last name, etc.)
L:  By color (I bet there aren't many who will say that)
D - I don't have a specific way of organizing my books. Leah filled up the bookshelves and I happen to be relegated to two locations. I am in the far back middle of the last bookshelf. I'm assuming that's so HER friends can come by and she won't be embarrassed by my collection of Fantasy novels. Mind you, there's nothing risque about these! The other location is behind the door when you walk in and that's for my biographies and non-fiction. I have no clue why they get put there b/c we do share the same political and socio-economic ideals. Other than that, they'll get put by series and in random order.