This Or That Book Tag

This tag was created by Wendy @ Falconer’s Library. <-- Go check out the original. 

--> This Or That <--

Buy new or buy used?

If I was rich, I’d only buy new books, but sadly, money is extinct in my world. Almost all of my books are used books that I traded for.

Eat while you read or read while you eat?

Nooo! I’m a germophobe. What I hate most about used books is that they’re often covered in mystery stains. I’m not going to do anything that could contribute more germs to their pages. Yuck. 

Reread old favorites or preorder upcoming possibilities?

I’ve never preordered a book. (I’m broke, remember?) I do love rereading my favorites, though. 

Read every single word or skim at times?

When I was in school, I almost always skimmed my textbooks and assigned reading. No one wants to read that boring school crap. I wanted to get it over with as quickly as possible. When I read for fun, I read every word.

Happy endings or tragic?

Realistic? I don’t like books that wrap everything up too neatly. That’s why I have a hard time with middlegrade fiction. The endings are too perfect. I also don’t like books that kill off characters at the very end for no reason. *Mumble* Divergent trilogy *mumble.* If an ending is realistic, I don’t care if it’s happy or tragic.

Audiobooks or ebooks?

Ebooks. I like my Kindle, especially for traveling. I’ve only listened to one audiobook and couldn’t pay attention to it. My mind kept wandering. Maybe I should try an audiobook while running? That might give me something to concentrate on besides how much my ankles hurt. I don’t even know where to find affordable audiobooks.

Multiple books at once, or one at a time?

Ideally, I’d be a book polygamist. I prefer to read one short story collection and one other book at the same time. If I don’t have any short story collections on my TBR shelf, then I’m a book monogamist. I don’t like reading multiple similar books at the same time.

Mostly one genre, or a little bit of everything?

Everything! I’m a believer in reading widely.

Lifelong obsession or later discovery?

I loathed reading when I was a little kid and refused to do it. When I was in fifth/sixth grade, I stumbled across a few books that didn’t suck, and my bookish obsession grew from there.

Classics—yea or nay?

I don’t read as many classics as I used to, but I try to finish a few each year. Classic horror is my jam right now. (Do people actually say “my jam”? Is that a thing?)

Read aloud to others or be read to?

Be read to. I hate reading aloud. That’s probably one of the reasons I disliked reading as a kid. My teachers used to make us take turns reading aloud to the class. I’m way too anxious for that. Nope, nope, not going to do it.

Absolute silence or background noise?

I need silence to read. I remember trying to read The Stepford Wives in an airport last year, and I had to start the book over when I got home because I was too distracted by airport stuff to absorb anything I read.

Cover on or naked?

I used to leave the cover on so that I didn’t lose it, but now that I have carpel tunnel, I can’t do that anymore. The cover slides around too much, which makes the book harder to hold, which murders my wrists. My books have to get naked before I hold them.

Dog-ear or bookmark?

Only demons dog-ear their books. Civilized humans don’t do that. Be a good person and use a bookmark, especially if you’re going to trade the book when you’re done with it. Nobody wants to spend their time flattening out your demonic book mutilations.

Movie covers or originals?

Originals. I hate movie covers because the characters in my head never look like the actors plastered on the cover. Also, I’m a hipster. Movie covers are way too commercial for me.