Tag, I'm it!

I was tagged for this meme by Jasmine from A Room With Books.  I thought it was cute, and that the questions would help readers to get to know me a bit better, so I’m going to play!  I’m not going to tag anyone else, however, but you’re welcome to play if you want.

1) What do you like to do besides read/blog?

My other big hobby is knitting, but I enjoy crafting in general.  Today I’m attempting sewing a Rockstar jacket for my niece to wear to the concert of her favorite band--The Fresh Beats Band (she’s 2).  I also like to bake, my most recent adventure was Maggie Stiefvater’s November Cakes, which were amazing.  Other than that, I hang out with my boyfriend, friends, watch t.v., movies, and sports (mostly football and baseball).  Sometimes I get to actually go to shows, such as last weekend when I saw Madama Butterfly at The Met, or several weeks ago when I attended the taping of Chris Hardwick’s stand-up special for Comedy Central.

2) Print or e-book?  Any particular reason?
I actually rotate back and forth between these pretty frequently, but the majority of the books I read are in a digital format.  I love my Kindle for its portability.  Why fill half a suitcase with books when I can slip my Kindle in my purse and have tons of reading options?  Also, my library uses Overdrive, meaning I can check out library books for my Kindle whenever I want.  They have a great selection, and I will choose this option over dragging my butt to the library 100% of the time.  However, there’s still reasons to pick up physical books.  I love the smell, and I like seeing page numbers.  If a library book is only available in physical form, I’ll go that route.  The only time I purchase is if I can’t utilize the library, or if I’m so pumped up I can’t wait (alas, I don’t have the funds to purchase often these days).

3) Paperback or hardcover?
Honestly?  I don’t care.  I’m probably the only bibliophile I know who could care less about the physical existence of books.  I’ll go with whatever format’s available.  I like hardcover because I can lay them flat in my lap or on a table, but I like paperback because I can hold them in one hand.  In the end, if I had to purchase a physical book (the last one I bought was Long Dark Tea Time of the Soul 4 years ago), I’d go paperback because they’re cheaper, more portable, and I don’t feel put out when I ruin them or loan them and never get them back.

4) Do you have a favorite bookstore?  If so, can we see a pic?

Powell’s!  It’s so overwhelming, I love it.  I suppose I’m a horrid person for having lived in NY for 3 years and not yet having visited The Strand.  Like I said, I don’t buy many physical books anymore, so I guess my real favorite bookstore is Amazon.

5) Why did you decide to start your blog?
I just really got back into reading this past year, and book blogs were a big part of that.  I started reading and following quite a few book blogs, but I felt like I was always on the periphery.  I could comment on reviews, but I never really had the chance to put my thoughts out there.  That was why I decided to start my own blog, to take part in a collaborative community that discusses the books I read.

6) How long does it take you to finish a book on average?
On average, it takes me 2-3 days to finish a book (I read quite slowly), depending on how much else I have going on in real life.  Right now, I have a lot of free time, I expect my pace to slow as that time diminishes.

7) Look at your bookshelf (not GoodReads, but your physical bookshelf) and quickly pick your top five.

This is hard for me because when I moved to NY, I didn’t bring my books with me.  Our bookshelves contain only my boyfriend’s graphic novels.  I’d look at my Kindle, but since I got a new Kindle at Christmas, it only has books on it that I’ve read this year.  Since I’ve been blogging about most of those, I guess I’ll go with the former and just say my favorite is The Sandman series by Niel Gaiman, which is more than 5, but I’m not going to write them out so count it.

8) Favorite places on the internet?
Listing only non book places: I heart Nerdist (hosts my favorite podcast), Ravelry (for knitting), The Hermitage (my favorite artist's blog), and The Tobolowsky Files (my other favorite podcast).  I don’t let myself get into things like Tumblr, Pinterest, or Reddit even though I sometimes look and they are awesome because I don’t need the time sink.

9) Coffee, tea, juice, or soda?
I like all of these things.  I’ve pretty much quit drinking coffee because of stomach problems, so I’m largely a tea girl now.  I love cranberry juice, but only buy in when it’s on sale (which is rare because I’m a snob and only buy Ocean Spray).  I call it pop instead of soda cause I’m from Wyoming, I prefer Pepsi to Coke because I come from a town where we bottle Pepsi and nobody drinks Coke, and my favorite is Dr. Pepper.

10) What’s your favorite thing about blogging?
The community!  There are so many lovely book bloggers out there.  I love seeing what other people think about the same books I read, and also being introduced to books I would otherwise overlook.  I also like having a platform for my thoughts, because even if they’re not always deep, it makes me digest materials I consume more thoroughly.

11) Favorite of your past 5 books read, plus the next 5 you plan to read.

The last 5 books I read were Winter’s Passage, The Girls of No Return, The Iron King, Kill Shakespeare, and Me and Earl and the Dying Girl.  My favorite of these?  The Iron King by Julie Kagawa.  The next 5 books I plan to read (always subject to change) are Fracture, Midnight in Austenland, Magic Burns, Grave Mercy, and A Conspiracy of Kings.