1. The book I’m currently reading:

Michael Robotham‘s latest, The Wreckage. Love the pace, the familiar characters, and Robotham’s way with words. It’s intelligent crime/suspense. I’m reading this on my iPhone using the Kindle app.

2. The last book I finished:

Caleb’s Crossing by Gerladine Brooks. I have to confess, though I’m a big Brooks fan, this isn’t going to make my list of top reads for 2011. I enjoyed it, but I had to labour a little to get through it. Read on my iPhone using the Kindle app.

3. The next book I want to read:

The next book on my ‘to-read’ list is the young adult novel (YA) When you reach me by Rebecca Stead. I bought this recently in EPUB format (to read on my Sony Reader) on the recommendation of author Lili Wilkinson, who happened to tweet about the book while at a literary event.

4. The last book I bought:

I just preordered the YA novel Passion, the latest in the Torment series by Lauren Kate, in Kindle format. Pretty average writing in the previous two books, but the story is somehow still compelling. I’ll read this on my iPhone.

5. The last book I was given:

A colleague gave me Zombie felties: How to raise 16 gruesome felt creatures from the undead for Christmas. I’m yet to make any of them, but did help a friend’s daughter make one at a crafternoon. This is a print book.

Do you snack while reading? Actually, it’s more that I tend to read while eating. Now that I work at home a lot, I tend to use the time when I stop to grab lunch or an afternoon snack or dinner for a quick dip into whatever it is I have on the go.

What is your favourite drink while reading? Depends on the time of day, but usually coffee, though I do most of my reading in bed before I go to sleep, post teeth brushing.

Do you tend to mark your books while you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you? I majored in literary studies in my undergrad, and it made me a book marker, though these days when I’m reading fiction, I read more holistically – with a focus on the big picture, rather than the detail. That means I mark books a lot less than I used to. One of my friends is a book marker, and I love reading her books because I love seeing where she’s added little asterisks against sentences she likes.

How do you keep your place? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book open flat? Mostly dog-ears. Bookmarks tend to slide out in my backpack, although I quite like to use flight boarding passes – there are many scattered in the books on my shelves. They tend to hold better – maybe because they’re wider? They’re also a thin cardboard, so you can push them hard up against the spine. Lately I haven’t been flying as much as I used to, so I’m much more about the dog-ear, though if I have to stop mid page, then I’ll scrounge for a scrap of paper to mark my exact place.

Fiction, non-fiction or both? In book form, fiction. I read a lot of short non fiction (blogs, news, articles) online. I’m not a good non fiction reader, and I struggle to read a non fiction book from cover to cover.

Do you tend to read to the end of a chapter or can you stop anywhere? I’m slightly compulsive about reading to the end of a chapter, or some other logical break (like the end of a section). Even if I’m falling asleep, I’ll push myself to get to the end of a chapter before stopping. And on the train, if I come to the end of a chapter, I flip ahead to see if I can make it to the end of the next chapter before starting it. If not, I’ll listen to music instead.

Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you? Ah, no.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away? If my laptop is on and nearby, I’ll look it up. Otherwise I’ll just work with the context.

What are you currently reading? I just (as in five minutes ago) finished the latest Sookie Stackhouse, Dead in the family, and I haven’t got anything else in reserve. Perhaps a trip to the Borders eBook store tomorrow? (Probably to get the latest Melina Marchetta.)

What is the last book you bought? The aforementioned Sookie. Oh wait, no, it was Each peach pear plum in board book, along with another picture book (the name of which escapes me), bought for a one year old’s birthday.

Do you have a favourite time/place to read? In bed, every night. On the train on my way too and from the office. At one of my favourite coffee shops. Standing in queues; while I’m cooking toast; basically, whenever and wherever I can.

Do you prefer series books or stand-alones? I’m not phased, but I do get rather attached to characters, so I love a good series.

Is there a specific book or author you find yourself recommending over and over? Several authors: Salley Vickers (especially Mr Golightly’s holiday and The other side of you); Michael Robotham (smart psycho-thriller); Jasper Fforde (literary sci-fi); Janette Turner Hospital; Audrey Niffenegger… where should I stop?

How do you organize your books (by genre, title, author’s last name, etc.)? I group authors together, kind of by genre. For example, one section of my bookshelf is dedicated to chick lit (but I put Margaret Atwood in there next to Marian Keyes cause I thought it was kinda ironic). Another section is dedicated to children’s and young adults’ authors, another to books I’ve borrowed from people, another to books I haven’t read yet (though nothing in that section is calling me, at the moment), another to fiction about art history (art history was my other undergrad major, and I have a thesis in me somewhere about art historical fiction), another to art/literary theory. Then I’ve got a classics section, a crime/thriller/trash section, a contemporary fiction section… Having said all of this, I am just about to get rid of pretty much all my books. I’ve decided to keep in print only my very favourite titles (I’m thinking I might keep 20 or so fiction titles of the few hundred I have). The rest I’m going to get rid of. At some stage, when I’ve had time to pull out my favourites, I’ll be inviting friends over to take whatever they like. I had hoped by now that I’d only be buying eBooks. That’s just not possible, so I’ll continue to buy print where e isn’t available, but from now on, once I’ve read them, if my purchases don’t get elevated to favourite status, I’ll be passing them on.

Barbara’s additional question: background noise or silence? Not silence, but quiet.

1. I have a secret (or not so secret, if you’ve been in my car) penchant for what I like to call nst nst music: big, bassy, electronic tunes of the slightly poppy variety. And I like to play it really, really loud. It’s my rev up tool and I have a concert in the car every morning on the way to work.
2. I have been known to go away to a conference with more pairs of shoes than days away (like five pairs for three days, because it is of course imperative that you change shoes before dinner). (See 7)
3. Sleep is a very high priority for me, and it is not uncommon for me to pull a twelve hour sleep on a weekend. On school nights, I MUST have eight hours or I am totally non-functional at work the next day.
4. I think reality tv is the bomb. So you think you can dance, Big Brother, Idol, America’s next top model, Biggest loser… I love them all. I have been known to go to several Big Brother evictions a season, and I was devastated when they cancelled it. I pretend I like this stuff because I’m all intellectual and I like to see the playing out of social roles and issues etc on screen in an artificial environment, but really, I just find it endlessly entertaining.
5. Still on reality tv: Antiques roadshow. Need I say more? Yes, maybe I should: sometimes (not always, I’m not that strange) I tape Antiques roadshow to watch later, because it’s not on at a time friendly to people who work.
6. I am, in general, a shopper, and if I had an addiction (besides my Coca Cola addiction, which I seem to have pretty much broken, and my tv addiction, which I think is totally legitimate), it would be shopping. My particular poisons? Shoes, perfume, books, shoes and oh! Did I mention shoes? Not even sensible shoes. Oh no. I like to buy shoes that will only go with one outfit, because they are bright orange, or yellow, or electric blue. But that’s okay, because I’m always well coordinated (I hope).
7. I like to make my own jewellery. It’s my only ‘hobby’ that doesn’t involve technology. I have so many earrings I could open my own shop. In fact, I once bought so many beads in one spree that the shop assistant offered to label everything with prices to help me when it came time to sell what I made. Ha ha! Silly lady – it’s always all for me!

I’m tagging:

• Andrew
• Peta
• and giving up at two!

The Night Ferry by Michael Robotham.

Rules:

• Get the book nearest to you. Right now.
• Go to page 56.
• Find the 5th sentence.
• Write this sentence – either here or on your blog.
• Copy these instructions as commentary of your sentence.
• Don’t look for your favorite book or your coolest but really the nearest.