prettyashley.com

(stolen from dix, my knitting buddy but not book soulmate… danielle steel? really? i heart you, dix.)

also, quick job update. so my job rules. really freaking hard. they told me today that i only need to drive to lincoln county on mondays and fridays and i can work from home the remainder of the time. i’m already searching for an appropriate desk. and i have plans to take my (NEW) laptop to panera bread and eat cinnamon bagels and drink iced green tea while working. i am pretty much the luckiest person in the whole world. great job, great boyfriend, great cat. i am pretty pleased with how i turned out.

Hardback or trade paperback or mass market paperback?
so dix, let me explain to you the difference between the two. trade paperbacks are the bigger ones. mass market are those short and thick ones you can buy for like, 7 dollars. i prefer trade paperbacks. mass market, the spine bends too easily. hardback, i hate dealing with the dust jackets.

Amazon or brick and mortar?
i like amazon a lot. i went to books-a-million the other day and i couldn’t find CRAP. it took me like, 15 minutes to even find the design section. and then they didn’t even have what i needed. i mean, i’m a bit biased seeing how amazon gave me thousands of dollars last year in exchange for me sitting in a chair and knitting, but still. amazon rules.

Barnes & Noble or Borders?
they’re pretty much the same thing. i say borders because we have one around here. but i don’t shun b&n when i’m near one. i don’t have borders loyalty like i do amazon loyalty.

Bookmark or dogear?
i don’t do either. i can normally find where i left off pretty quickly.

Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random?
haha this is like one time when my mom tried to alphabetize her cd collection. it worked for about 10 days. they’re random, though i try to group my authors together, so if i’m having a chuck palahniuk craving, i can just go to the palahniuk section and pick a book from it.

Keep, throw away, or sell?
i keep all my books. all of them. because i read them over and over again. do not get between me and my books.

Keep dust jacket or toss it?
i hate the dust jacket, but i like to keep it. however, if it gets lost, i’m not upset about it.

Read with dust jacket or remove it?
REMOVE. i hate dust jackets, they get all rustly and IN MY WAY OF READING.

Short story or novel?
i mostly do novels, but i love collections of stories by authors like david sedaris and augusten burroughs. funny stories. (mostly) true stories.

Collection (short stories by same author) or anthology (short stories by different authors)?
see above. collections. anthologies are good too, but i don’t read a lot of them.

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket?
uh, harry potter. duh. i’m bummed that i left amazon before they gave us harry potter stuff this summer. maybe someone with the initials E.P. will save me a t-shirt. but seriously. i love harry potter. i love harry potter so much that i actually go to websites about harry potter, with harry potter theories. it’s ridiculous. i’m 24 going on 10.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks?
stop… reading? i generally devour books in one sitting. i only stop reading when i have to.

“It was a dark and stormy night” or “Once upon a time”?
meh. dark and stormy night usually means mystery. once upon a time means fantasy. neither float my boat.

Buy or Borrow?
if by borrow you mean keep, then borrow. otherwise, buy. i keep all books i read.

New or used?
i don’t care. books are books.

Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation or browse?
all of the above.

Tidy ending or cliffhanger?
i don’t care. i just hate when books end ambiguously.

Morning reading, afternoon reading or nighttime reading?
i love reading in bed.

Stand-alone or series?
i don’t really like series, except for harry potter.

Favorite series?
um, harry potter.

Favorite children’s book?
i loved all things roald dahl, especially matilda and the witches.

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard?
i don’t know. i love “middlesex” by jeffrey eugenides, but i mean, it won a pulitzer. chuck klosterman’s “killing yourself to live” was fun. oh, “waiting” by debra ginsberg was REALLY interesting. i read a lot of books.

Favorite books read last year?
last year? i read a lot of books last year. “the history of love” by nicole krauss, “fargo rock city” by chuck klosterman, “extremely loud and incredibly close” by jonathan safran foer. um… wow. there are more.

Favorite books of all time?
i always forget books, but the ones that come to mind are “middlesex” by jeffrey eugenides, “sex, drugs, and cocoa puffs” by chuck klosterman, “everything is illuminated” by jonathan safran foer, “house of the spirits” by isabel allende, “love in the time of cholera” by gabriel garcia marquez, “stardust” by neil gaiman, “dry” by augusten burroughs, “naked” by david sedaris, and “invisible monsters” by chuck palahniuk. there are a LOT more.

Least favorite book you finished last year?
um, i love chuck klosterman. and should chuck klosterman ever decide to read my weblog, i hope he knows i love him. but i wasn’t overly impressed by “IV”. i’m sorry. i love you.

What are you reading right now?
i just finished “the commitment” by dan savage (so cute) and i’m in the middle of “eva luna” by isabel allende.

What are you reading next?
i don’t have any books on order. i just ordered a macromedia freehand book for work so i imagine i might be reading that. i’d also like to read “alternadad” by neal pollack, “sickened” by julie gregory, and “fragile things” by neil gaiman.