A book tag

Hardback or trade paperback or mass-market paperback? Depends on the book. Some books I like (A Series of Unfortunate Events) come in hardback, so that's how I buy them. Mostly, I prefer trade paper, but if the book is free...

Amazon or brick and mortar? Brick and mortar! My preference is Powell's, where I have spent oodles of hours - and a few bucks - over the past 30 years (yegods). But I'm happy to shark around just about any bookstore, especially second-hand and college shops.

Barnes & Noble or Borders? Well, ya makes do with whats ya got, and we got neither here. I used to like wandering around the B&N in Newington, N.H., but now that Powell's is only 250 miles away, why bother with the chains?

Bookmark or dog-ear? Bookmark! My books have all sorts of unusual bookmarks, including handmade paper ones manufactured by the butterfly lady, 3-D postcards of Jesus Christ, assorted New Yorker cartoons and other oddball slips.

Alphabetize by author or alphabetize by title or random? Alphabetized by city of publication; within each city organized by telephone number of p.r. representative, lowest initial digit first. OK, really by category. All my cookbooks are in the kitchen...

Keep, throw away, or sell? Throw away? What? I prefer to give away or sell books (at Powell's, so I can buy more right away!).

Keep dustjacket or toss it? I'm not sure who these two are directed at; I can't think of any reason to throw away parts of books, never mind the whole thing. That's weird.

Read with dustjacket or remove it? I own so few books with dust jackets this is almost irrelevant, but I read them with the jacket on.

Short story or novel? I'd rather read a novel any day. Short stories just don't do much for me (though there are notable exceptions).

Collection (short stories by same author) or anthology (short stories by different authors)? Would you prefer anchovies or oysters on your chocolate ice cream?

Harry Potter or Lemony Snicket? Well, I enjoy both series, but I think I like Lemony Snicket's better. It took a few books for the characters to develop, but by the end, I was pretty fond of them. Maybe I'm just a sucker for clever writing.

Stop reading when tired or at chapter breaks? I stop reading when I wake up and realize I've read the same paragraph four or five times and don't have a clue what it said. I guess that's when I reach "tired."

"It was a dark and stormy night" or "Once upon a time"? Well. I dunno. If Lulu hadn't tipped, I wouldn't have been able to identify the former as the start of a mystery. I'd rather read a story that started "There was nothing else going on at the luncheon." I think I'm going to have to write that one myself, though.

Buy or Borrow? I like to buy, but borrowing is more fun. (I like lending, too!)

New or used? Used, almost certainly. Some books just aren't available new, and if there's a choice, I'd have to say that the cost usually sways me to the older book. I like to buy field guides new, but that's not always possible. Besides, used books are usually sold in places that are more fun to wander around than new books (Powell's has the combination figured out, of course, but lots of places do not).

Buying choice: book reviews, recommendation or browse? I'll take any idea I can get. I really like to browse - I could spend hours in bookstores without really noticing the passage of time.

Tidy ending or cliffhanger? I'll take any ending that isn't a cop-out or a bullshit wrapup concocted to hide the fact that the writer really didn't have an ending. "And they all died" is just as dumb as "And they all lived happily ever after." What rubbish.

Morning reading, afternoon reading or nighttime reading? Sounds good, especially if someone could swing by with snacks and coffee/soda/bourbon (depending on the hour).

Standalone or series? Doesn't make me no nevermind. I love books. If they're good, that's what counts. If they're good and there's more of them, super! But some series are only good for the first couple of books...

Favorite book of which nobody else has heard? The Road to Oxiana by Robert Byron. Maybe that's too mainstream. The Forgotten Kingdom, by Peter Goullart.

Favorite book(s) read last year: Night Flight, which I've read before, takes the cake. I reread a lot of books last year...

Favorite books of all time? Hmm. Wind, Sand and Stars, The English Patient, the three I just mentioned... I like plays a lot, too, so if they count, Romeo and Juliet.

Tag? Someone who likes books!