Posting challenge 7/17: Book meme

[magnetic_pole]

Who can resist a book meme? Thanks to therealsnape for leading the way.

Note: I do a lot of reading for work--in fact, almost exclusively reading for work these days, apart from the occasional fic. Which means that I don't read a lot of fiction. But I do read a real variety of non-fiction--academic, general audience, recent, not-so-recent, in my field, in other fields. So I'm going to go ahead and reply here, with a caveat that I really wish I read more fiction. One day!

I'd love to see what you have to say! I'll create a text box below if you want to do the meme yourself.

Bold the statements that apply to you.

1. You currently own more than 20 books.
Of course.

2. You currently own more than 50 books.
These first questions are just to stroke our bookish egos.

3. You currently own more than 100 books.
12 Billies, if you know the Ikea bookcase size. I've actually received four in the mail while typing this meme. I kid you not. This is what happens when you study the recent past. Everything is $.01 plus $3.99 shipping.

4. You amassed so many books you switched to an e-reader.
Mmmm, no. I don't read online very well yet. (And honestly between reading the news and reading articles in PDF form, I don't feel I need any more screen time than I already have.)

5. You read so much you have a ton of books AND an e-reader.

6. You have a book-organization system no one else understands.
It's actually pretty logical--mostly by subject, with a bit of size distribution to keep the bookcase stable. But I'm not sure a stranger could find something quickly.

7. You’re currently reading more than one book.
Always!

8. You read every single day.
I read the back of the cereal box over breakfast. I'm not sure how I'd get through a day without reading.

9. You’re reading a book right now, as you’re taking this book nerd quiz.
Of course! Two, since one is a bit dry.

10. Your essentials for leaving the house: wallet, phone, keys, and a book.
Always be prepared. (Metro riders in DC have to say this fairly often these days.)

11. You’ve pulled an all-nighter reading a book.
Actually, no. Reading fic, yes. Fic makes me obsessive. But not books.

12. You did not regret it for a second and would do it again.

13. You’ve figured out how to incorporate books into your workout.
Hm. If you have suggestions on this, let me know!

14. You’ve declined invitations to social activities in order to stay home and read.
I try never to decline the few social invitations that arrive, lest I turn into a hermit.

15. You view vacation time as “catch up on reading” time.
In the general sense that all good days are reading days.

16. You’ve sat in a bathtub full of tepid water with prune-y skin because you were engrossed in a book.

17. You’ve missed your stop on the bus or the train because you were engrossed in a book.

18. You’ve almost tripped over a pothole, sat on a bench with wet paint, walked into a telephone pole, or narrowly avoided other calamities because you were engrossed in a book.
No, and I've also never been mugged while reading a book. Gah! Do folks really walk around reading? Isn't that dangerous for a whole host of reasons?

19. You’ve laughed out loud in public while reading a book.

20. You’ve cried in public while reading a book (it’s okay, we won’t tell).
Just once, when Dumbledore died. Full on sobbing in an airport, I'm afraid to say.

21. You’re the one everyone goes to for book recommendations.
Well, my students. Usually a few days before papers are due. But every once in a while a student will e-mail and say "I've read everything you suggested in class last semester--do you have any other suggestions?" and I'm giddy with joy.

22. You take your role in recommending books very seriously and worry about what books your friends would enjoy.

23. Once you recommend a book to a friend, you keep bugging them about it.

24. If your friend doesn’t like the book you recommended, you’re heartbroken.

25. And you judge them. A little bit.

26. In fact, whenever you and a friend disagree about a book you secretly wonder what is wrong with them.

27. You’ve vowed to convert a non-reader into a reader.

28. And you’ve succeeded.

29. You’ve attended book readings, launches, and signings.

30. You own several signed books.
I'm collecting signed books by my colleagues, as we start to publish them.

31. You would recognize your favorite authors on the street.

32. In fact, you have.

33. If you could have dinner with anybody in the world, you’d choose your favorite writer.
If dead writers count, then yes!

34. You own a first-edition book.
Well, technically. But it's obscure and relatively recent stuff, nothing genuinely valuable.

35. You know what that is and why it matters to bibliophiles.

36. You tweet, post, blog, or talk about books every day.

37. You have a “favorite” literary prize.

38. And you read the winners of that prize every year.

39. You’ve recorded every book you’ve ever read and what you thought of it.
Wow. Not at all. I'm going to be curious to see who says yes to this one.

40. You have a designated reading nook in your home.

41. You have a literary-themed T-shirt, bag, tattoo, or item of home décor.
My favorite academic remainders bookstore used to sell these great canvas book bags. I've got two.

42. You gave your pet a literary name.

43. You make literary references and puns nobody else understands.

44. You’re a stickler for spelling and grammar, even when you’re just texting.
Mmmm. Is this really a related question? Yes, but only because I'm old and learned to skim using caps and punctuation. kids these days r hard 2 understand

45. You’ve given books as gifts for every occasion: birthdays, Valentine’s Day, graduations, Tuesdays...
Embarrassingly, I once gave a cultural history of Christmas to someone as a Christmas present. (In my defense, it looked great!) After that, the better half took charge of all of our gift-giving.

46. Whenever someone asks what your favorite book is, your brain goes into overdrive and you can’t choose just one. You end up naming twelve books.
Doesn't anyone else not have favorites this way? I could name a handful that really touched me or influenced me in some way, but I don't have a favorite.

47. You love the smell of books.
Ergh, not really. I buy a lot of things from the 1960s and 19070s and am always a little worried that smell is a toxic mold of some sort.

48. You’ve binge-read an entire series or an author’s whole oeuvre in just a few days.

49. You’ve actually felt your heart rate go up while reading an incredible book.
Hm. Held my breath, definitely!

50. When you turn the last page of a good book, you feel as if you’ve finally come up for air and returned from a great adventure.

And here's my TRS's very own addition:

51. You found out about a new book you want to read while doing this meme.
I did! Twitterature: The World's Greatest Books Retold Through Twitter via TRS. This looks light and fun. And to contribute one of my own, since I didn't discuss specifics above: Empire of Cotton: A Global History

1. You currently own more than 20 books. 2. You currently own more than 50 books. 3. You currently own more than 100 books. 4. You amassed so many books you switched to an e-reader. 5. You read so much you have a ton of books AND an e-reader. 6. You have a book-organization system no one else understands. 7. You’re currently reading more than one book. 8. You read every single day. 9. You’re reading a book right now, as you’re taking this book nerd quiz. 10. Your essentials for leaving the house: wallet, phone, keys, and a book. 11. You’ve pulled an all-nighter reading a book. 12. You did not regret it for a second and would do it again. 13. You’ve figured out how to incorporate books into your workout. 14. You’ve declined invitations to social activities in order to stay home and read. 15. You view vacation time as “catch up on reading” time. 16. You’ve sat in a bathtub full of tepid water with prune-y skin because you were engrossed in a book. 17. You’ve missed your stop on the bus or the train because you were engrossed in a book. 18. You’ve almost tripped over a pothole, sat on a bench with wet paint, walked into a telephone pole, or narrowly avoided other calamities because you were engrossed in a book. 19. You’ve laughed out loud in public while reading a book. 20. You’ve cried in public while reading a book (it’s okay, we won’t tell). 21. You’re the one everyone goes to for book recommendations. 22. You take your role in recommending books very seriously and worry about what books your friends would enjoy. 23. Once you recommend a book to a friend, you keep bugging them about it. 24. If your friend doesn’t like the book you recommended, you’re heartbroken. 25. And you judge them. A little bit. 26. In fact, whenever you and a friend disagree about a book you secretly wonder what is wrong with them. 27. You’ve vowed to convert a non-reader into a reader. 28. And you’ve succeeded. 29. You’ve attended book readings, launches, and signings. 30. You own several signed books. 31. You would recognize your favorite authors on the street. 32. In fact, you have. 33. If you could have dinner with anybody in the world, you’d choose your favorite writer. 34. You own a first-edition book. 35. You know what that is and why it matters to bibliophiles. 36. You tweet, post, blog, or talk about books every day. 37. You have a “favorite” literary prize. 38. And you read the winners of that prize every year. 39. You’ve recorded every book you’ve ever read and what you thought of it. 40. You have a designated reading nook in your home. 41. You have a literary-themed T-shirt, bag, tattoo, or item of home décor. 42. You gave your pet a literary name. 43. You make literary references and puns nobody else understands. 44. You’re a stickler for spelling and grammar, even when you’re just texting. 45. You’ve given books as gifts for every occasion: birthdays, Valentine’s Day, graduations, Tuesdays... 46. Whenever someone asks what your favorite book is, your brain goes into overdrive and you can’t choose just one. You end up naming twelve books. 47. You love the smell of books. 48. You’ve binge-read an entire series or an author’s whole oeuvre in just a few days. 49. You’ve actually felt your heart rate go up while reading an incredible book. 50. When you turn the last page of a good book, you feel as if you’ve finally come up for air and returned from a great adventure. And here's <strike>my</strike> TRS's very own addition: 51. You found out about a new book you want to read while doing this meme.

Comments

[torachan]

These days I usually do all my walking with Carla, so we're chatting as we walk, but when I didn't have a car and had to walk for all my errands and stuff, I would read whenever I walked. Honestly, it's not difficult at all. I am still able to pay attention to where I'm going while I'm reading, and I've never walked into anything or walked out into traffic.

As to incorporating reading into a workout, the easiest way I'd say would be if you had an exercise bike or treadmill or something like that. I used to read on the exercise bike all the time.

[magnetic_pole]

I am, sadly, so traumatized by exercising at all that I suspect I couldn't do two things at once. :( I've been on a treadmill and would have difficulty reading while jogging even if I were in better shape. But I can see how you might be able to do something else while on an exercise bike, On a related note: there's a man a few blocks down who's pulled his exercise bike out onto his porch and watches folks walk by. Seems like the best of both worlds to me--the safely of not biking in the street while also getting to be outside.

Walking and chatting is the best, isn't it? M.

[out_there]

While I don't own over 20 books (I'm a big believer in libraries rather than ownership), in high school I often walked while reading. One memorable day, I did walk into a pole. (It was sticking out of a ute/truck and wasn't usually there, but it was high enough that I didn't see it in my peripheral vision, and therefore clunk to the forehead.)

[magnetic_pole]

That's what T was saying above! I guess walking and reading isn't as odd as it sounded. (I suppose the other relevant background here is that sometimes I bump into things while paying 100% attention, so I'm not a good candidate for multitasking.)

The better half is like you--everything comes from the local public library and goes back again. So we actually have very little fiction in the house--less than a Billy. Her rule is that we can't buy it unless we're going to read it multiple times. Do you buy favorites like that? M.

[out_there]

Hee! That's my rule of thumb too. If I'm not likely to read it again -- and this applies to already owned books when we're moving furniture and culling -- it doesn't need to stay. Most of the few books I own I actually haven't bought -- they've been gifts from others.

[magnetic_pole]

Nothing better than moving for really thinking through what's necessary. We've also become much better about passing along not-totally-necessary books now that we've found a local library that sells used books for fundraisers and a little free library nearby (do you have those in your part of the world--little cabinets to put out in your front yard, leave a book, take a book?). M.

[out_there]

I have occasionally walked passed them! Never used them, but the fact that they exist is randomly cool.

Nothing better than moving for really thinking through what's necessary.

OMG, that is so totally true. After three days of packing, you no longer care about any of it.

[therealsnape]

How alike we are on 14!

And what a shame we live so far apart. Not only would it increase the number of fun social engagements, but I could also invite you so often between now and December 25, sez the Slytherin, that I would qualify for what sounds like the ultimate Christmas gift.

Also, yay! My local library has Empire of Cotton. I'll look for it on my next visit!

[magnetic_pole]

See, the internet brings out My People. I thought a cultural history of Christmas was a great gift! Who doesn't want to know more about all the odd an highly culturally specific customs of the holidays? How could that not be interesting? Even if you don't want to read it cover to cover?

*sigh* This was a fun meme. Thanks again for sharing it.

I hope you enjoy Empire of Cotton! M.

[secretsolitaire]

33. If you could have dinner with anybody in the world, you’d choose your favorite writer.
If dead writers count, then yes!

Which dead writers, pray tell?

This meme looks fun. Will try to fill it out tomorrow. :)

[magnetic_pole]

Jane Jacobs, the journalist and writer on cities. (She's on wikipedia, too, but this was a more concise link.) She wrote an extraordinarily influential book about cities in the early 1960s and then moved onto broader issues (largely economics) later in life, and I've alway been curious to hear what she might have said about cities today. Generally I feel about authors the way I feel about actors (Don't talk--write! It's what you're good at!) but this might be an exception.

Sorry it's taken me so long to reply! I'll check to see if you had time to do this one. M.

[perverse_idyll]

I hope the reading you do in your field provides you with books you genuinely enjoy. If I had to narrow my scope to a single subject, even one as wide-ranging as architecture, I'd get incredibly restless and eventually rebel. This used to be a challenge in school when I was supposed to be concentrating on supplemental reading for classes and instead flipped into overdrive and went on mad poetry-reading binges, the likes of which I've never repeated. (I still read poetry; I just don't binge as if my life depended on it.)

A cultural history of Christmas is a marvelous premise for a book! I admit, for nonfiction I do tend to hold out for a persuasive, anecdotal, and moderately witty style, but I can be lured in by the promise of incisive analysis or oddball, overstuffed, knick-knacky, sumptuous erudition. I love learnéd writers who have attics for brains where all the handwritten diaries, beaded gowns, taxidermied lapdogs, bills of lading, family bibles, property deeds, corn husk dolls, and other such evidence are piled up and treated as a playground for intellectual curiosity.

As for favorites - oh yes, I have them, but favorites always come in plurals. And categories. Aesthetic vs. sentimental, for instance. So I have books I'm passionate about, books I re-read and recommend and books that represent certain periods of my life.

I may have to try this meme when I'm a little more coherent and not about to nod off over my keyboard.

[magnetic_pole]

I would *love* to read your reply to this, P. You have a bookish, literary life that outpaces mine dramatically. :) And your categories--aesthetic and sentimental, books that spark passion, books that represent periods in your life--only pique my interest.

I really do enjoy reading non-fiction. I realized that just today when, walking into a local book store, I headed right to recent non-fiction, spent some time in history, browed a bit in sociology and area studies, and made sure there was nothing new in architecture or urban studies before dropping by the fiction section. It's not that I don't also want to read fiction, but I'm still building a base of knowledge about the world for teaching and writing. Even the fiction I've read recently has been intended to help me understand periods of time and parts of the world I don't know much about. A hazard of the trade, I suppose--getting started professionally so slowly, and still learning on the job in my early 40s.

Hmmm....no poetry binges recently? Do you binge on fic, or are you just more moderate generally? (And as I write that I realize I'd really love a meme on reading of all sorts, not just books. I may have to make that one up myself.)

See, this is why I love LJ/DW--you all would appreciate a cultural history of Christmas. My People.

Sorry I'm so slow in replying--we've had house guests and I'm bad at doing more than one thing at once. I'll skim the flist to see if you had a chance to do this one yourself. M.

[write_out]

I love these sort of memes, so much fun to read! If I remember correctly, you posted a pic of some of your shelves once and I wanted to crawl through my computer and steal them away, they were just that amazing. The closest IKEA to me is two states away. Bah! I've had to settle for cheap Target cases.

Anyway, I love reading your answers. I too always have more than one book going. :)

[magnetic_pole]

Yes--you've got such a great memory! Those Billies have moved three times with us and they're still holding up. Honestly the only thing better would be built in shelves, now that we might be here for a while. They've been really reliable. But I do understand your IKEA problem. We had the same problem when we were living in the Boston area and the closest store was in New Haven. So frustrating!

I think I saw you did this one yourself? I'll be back tomorrow to reply to that. It's fun to hear what folks have to say. Sorry it's taken me so long to reply here--we've had some (very lovely!) house guests encroaching on my alone/computer time. M.

[jentlespirit]

12 Billies, WOW!!!

49. You’ve actually felt your heart rate go up while reading an incredible book.
Yeeeeeees!

[magnetic_pole]

Well, I left my parents house (or, as my partner says, ran away) with a single tote bag and two books at 22, and now I'm 44, so I've had half my life to collect! And I always tell myself they're necessary for work, so that soothes my conscience. :)

What was your incredible, heart-rate-raising book? M.