Today I’m stealing another meme from Lynn (who blogs at Little Lion Lynnet’s).  Previously it was the 7 Deadly Sins (of Reading), and today it’s some questions about reading habits…

(1) Do you have a certain place for reading at home?

I’m such a creature of habit–so yes!  Always curled up on the same spot on the couch.  It has the best light, which is good most of the time, except in summer when my western-facing window makes the room very warm.  So sometimes I’ll read on my bed instead.  And I read in bed at night, and before I properly get up in the morning.

(2) Do you use a bookmark or a random piece of paper?

I have a homemade collection of bookmarks, each featuring a favorite character.  I swap them in and out, and when I’m in the mood, I try to pick the character who would best fit the book I’m reading.  When I’m not paying attention to that, I’ll just keep transferring the same one along as I move from one book to the next.

(3) Can you just stop reading or does it need to be at the end of a chapter or a certain number of pages?

If I see I’m close to a chapter end or section break, I’ll read to there, but otherwise I’m fine with stopping mid-scene (barring a page-turner, which is a different matter).  I have a pretty good instinct when I pick a book up again for turning my gaze immediately towards whatever line I stopped on–unless I think about it, and then it doesn’t work!

(4) Do you eat or drink while reading?

Absolutely.  I read over breakfast every morning, and often with snacks.  I’ve developed a bad habit about watching TV with other meals, but sometimes I read instead.  And if I’m ever in a restaurant alone, I always have a book.  I have one very expensive book I’ve forbidden myself to read while eating, but otherwise I don’t worry about it–and I’ve never gotten a serious stain on a book anyway!

(5) Do you read one book at a time or several at once?

Sort of one.  I have an audiobook in the car, a book to read a chapter from right before I go to bed, and one book I’m properly reading.  So really that’s three, but there’s only one I’m properly reading.  Sometimes if I’m reading something nonfiction, a chapter at a time, the number will go up to two properly and four total, but that’s not very common.

(6) Do you read out loud or silently in your head?

Silently.

(7) Do you ever read ahead or skip pages?

I’m pretty compulsive about not reading ahead–it’s like cheating somehow!  And I rarely skip pages, unless the book is clearly on a non-plot-related tangent (I’m looking at you, Victor Hugo!)

(8) Breaking the spine or keeping it new?

I never deliberately break a spine…but some of my cheaper paperbacks do have lines on the spine.  And it amuses me that the spine of my copy of Maskerade broke on my favorite page (!!!!!)

(9) Do you write in your books?

Never!  There are a very few nonfiction books that have so many wonderful quotes I end up highlighting or underlining, but otherwise, no writing.  If I just want to note one or two quotes, I cut a triangle off a sticky note to put in the top corner–sort of the inverse of dog-earing the page.  Maskerade, for instance, has several of those…which may account for the spine break!

(10) What are you currently reading?

At the moment of writing, A Hat Full of Sky by Terry Pratchett on audio, The Little Minister by J. M. Barrie before bed, and The Wishing Thread by Lisa van Allen properly…though I’m sure all of those will have changed by the time this is posted.

Your turn!  Answer any of the questions you like…or let me know if you decide to put this on your blog too!