Seen at Carl's who saw it a Quixotic's and so on and so on. As I love both a good meme and books, this looked to be right up my alley.

Science Fiction, Fantasy or Horror? I love Horror! But...I also love SF/Fantasy, as evidenced by LOTR & the Harry Potter series. Do you consider those SF as well as Fantasy?

Hardback or Trade Paperback or Mass Market Paperback? I prefer Trade Paperbacks for reading...easier to carry around.

Heinlein or Asimov? Heinlein has always been a favorite of mine, since reading Stranger In A Strange Land when I was 14. I don't believe I've read any Asimov yet.

Amazon or brick and mortar? When I want a book...I WANT A BOOK! Brick and mortar for me. The curse of being impatient!

Barnes & Noble or Borders? I prefer Barnes and Noble...Borders doesn't really have that "book store" feel to me, and I'm not sure why

Hitchhiker or Discworld? Um...I've never read either...in fact...I don't even know what Discworld is LOL! I am familiar with Hitchhiker tho :-)

Bookmark or Dogear? I've done both...as well as actually penciling (or penning, if I'm pencil-less at the time) sentences or passages that mean something to me. Sorry, Carl!

Magazine: Asimov's Science Fiction or Fantasy & Science Fiction? Never read either of these.

Alphabetize by author, alphabetize by title or random? Hahahah, um, I'm so random that sometimes I'm surprised to find I have a book. In other words, they are scattered about willynilly!

Keep, Throw Away or Sell? I'd never throw away a book, no matter how much I disliked it. I'd leave it at a hospital or cafe or something...just cause I don't like it doesn't mean NO ONE will! If I love a book, I will keep it forever and ever, amen. I don't think I've ever sold one.

Year's Best Science Fiction series (edited by Gardner Dozois) or Year's Best SF series (edited by David G. Hartwell)? Another one I haven't read (or heard of LOL).

Keep dustjacket or toss it? Who would toss a dustjacket? Obviously from that statement, I am a keeper. Coming back from London in 2003, I was reading the latest Harry Potter that had just been released while I was there. I took off the dustjacket so as not to rip it...and forgot it on the plane! I was and am upset about it!

Read with dustjacket or remove it? See above ;-)

Short story or novel? If I'm into a book, I prefer a novel...cause I don't want it to end!

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket? Oh, hmmm...um...tough question...NOT! Harry Potter! To be fair, I've never read Lemony Snicket. I did pick up one at the bookstore but it just didn't grab me. Loved the movie tho!

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks? As I read alot in bed, generally I read til I'm tired. If I'm out and about...I read til something interrupts me. If someone is asking me to do something, however, I generally ask if I can just read til the end of the chapter.

"It was a dark and stormy night" or "Once upon a time"? It was a dark and stormy night...Snape was in the potions classroom concocting a "special" potion...one that would [fill in the blank]

Buy or Borrow? Either; altho if I love the book, I will go out and purchase it after reading the borrowed book.

Buying choice: Book Reviews, Recommendation or Browse? I love browsing! I also buy from recommendations. Book reviews not so much...altho I love Carl's, and his review of the Thirteen Tale made me want to read it.

Lewis or Tolkien? ha...um...hmm...yeah, it's Tolkien, and you know it! When I was 14 my friend Pat and I hitchhiked to a small (no longer there, sigh) bookstore in a town near mine (my own, my precious) and while browsing, picked up The Hobbit and fell in love with Tolkien (and Bilbo Baggins). Again, tho, I've (gasp) not read Lewis, altho, of course, I know of him.

Hard SF or Space Opera? Huh?

Collection (short stories by the same author) or Anthology (short stories by different authors)? Either/or...I'm not picky.

Hugo or Nebula? Um...no idea what this means.

Golden Age SF or New Wave SF? See above

Tidy ending or Cliffhanger? Tidy endings...really, who doesn't? Altho, if the book is of a series, and I adore it (Harry Potter) and it's not the end book, then I'll deal with the Cliffhanger...sigh...(Trust Snape)...

Morning reading, Afternoon reading or Nighttime reading? I'll read whenever I can! Lately, it's been mostly at night, before I fall asleep.

Standalone or Series? Now that's a seriously tough question! If I love a book, obviously I don't want it to end, so a series (which does eventually end) is preferable. However, I HATE waiting for the next book to come out!

Urban fantasy or high fantasy? Oh, jeepers, another "I don't know". Going by Carl's answer, in italics below, it would be high fantasy :-)

I really like both. Urban fantasy, like Neil Gaiman's book Neverwhere, are probably my favorite but only by the slimmest of margins. Of course Lord of the Rings, which would be considered high fantasy, is arguably my favorite fantasy series of all time.

New or used? Either/or. Sometimes it's fun to read a used book and see where someone underlined stuff.

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard? Anything by Richard Brautigan, particularly In Watermelon Sugar. His stuff might not translate well to this PC age; he was popular in the late '60s, early 70s, and might not make sense to those who didn't live thru those times.

Top 5 favorite genre books read last year (in no particular order)?

The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Garlic and Sapphires : The Secret Life of a Critic in Disguise by Ruth Reichl
The Glass Castle by Jeannette Walls
My Life in France by Julia Child
A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore

Top X favorite genre books of all time (in no particular order)?

The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkien
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinlein
The Stand by Stephen King
Watership Down by Richard Adams
Roots by Alex Haley

X favorite genre series (in no particular order)?

LOTR Trilogy by J.R.R. Tolkien
Harry Potter by J.K. Rowling
The Green Mile by Stephen King
Sue Grafton's alphabetical series
Charlaine Harris' Southern Vampire Mysteries

I'm leaving off the last one cause damn, this meme is looooooooong!

I love Watership Down and have been thinking of re-reading it next. Thanks for reminding me, tharn is one of my all-time favorite words.

I don't like Stephen King, but I'm in accord with your other top 4. I don't think that Sue Grafton one has reached here yet. BTW, the Discworld series by Terry Pratchett are fantastic and I LOVE them! They are fantasy with a difference, and very funny, but also written by a Brit so maybe Americans wouldn't appreciate all the subtle humour in them. I have read all of them - about 30, I think!

I loved The Stand!! I know some people don't like his style of writing, but the guy can weave an intricate story. I also loved The Gunslinger books!

I just finished reading Dave Eggers "Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius" and I am fixing to start his "You Will Know My Velocity"...also recently finished..."The Sparrow" and "Children of God" both by Mary Doria Russell.

As for getting rid of books, I am with you. When I moved I knew I had to get lighter in that department, but I ended up getting them to people who could use them...probably about 200 total books.

I'm doing this one! I don't know when - might take a while, but I'm doing it.

So glad you did this one, I enjoyed your answers.

I would consider HP fantasy for sure.

I was excited to discover the other day that they are having a Heinlein Centennial celebration here in KC in July. Even more exciting as my newest favorite author, John Scalzi, will be there as a guest!

I've never thought about it before, but you're right. Barnes and Noble does feel more like a bookstore than Border's. I think it is because the darker wood gives it more of an old fashioned library feel.

Lord help me! I'm going to have to call the Book abuse hotline on you!

Well, since you buttered me up I guess I can forgive you.

Hard SF is the stuff that is much more science oriented and would tend to have alot of technical scientific jargon. Space Opera is your typical adventure set in space. Star Wars is the most popular example of this.

Nicely done!!!

i am not a huge fan of stephen king but i like how epic "the stand" is. and the discworld series is great fun. pratchett plays around with the conventions of high fantasy. his young adult books are great too, since you like harry potter, you might like them as well ("wee free men" and "hat full of sky" are excellent. the discworld series has some vampire characters since you seem to like that kind of thing...but the banshee is my personal favorite.) and if you want a good, dark entry into urban fantasy but you like young adult fiction, try china mieville's "un lun dun" it was just released and i really liked it. (and he's really cute too!)

Gosh, I loved The Stand. I should dig that out of whichever armoire it happens to be shoved in and read it again.