A quiz for book lovers | What are your reading habits?

I found this fantastic Q&A over at The Fictionista and just had to take part as I am a total bookworm. I would love to read others' answers as well!

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Do you snack while you read? If so, favourite reading snack.

I don't usually eat at all while I'm reading. Most of my concentration will be devoted to the book and, as a consequence, most of my food may end up on the book as well. This is only acceptable with cook books.

What is your favourite drink while reading?

Tea. Always. Or champagne, if I'm reading Phryne Fisher.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?

I don't like to mark or write in books, unless they're a birthday gift etc, but I have placed little sticky tab things in a very badly written and edited Marilyn Monroe coffee table book. It was completely disrespectful to the subject and my blood boiled.

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog ears? Laying the book flat open?

Book purists will scold me... dog ears. I lose bookmarks too easily to bother acquiring them, let along using them. Sometimes I even leave a book lying open, face up, with something resting on the pages (like my phone) to keep my place. Scold away.

Fiction, non-fiction, or both?

Both, of course! Murder mysteries, vampire series and anything set in Victorian London are my favourite types of fiction... although there are about 50 other genres which all follow very closely behind. Looking at my bookshelves now, I seem to favour biographies or English history when it comes to non-fiction. I'm getting interested in mythology lately as well.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere?

I try to stop at the end of a chapter, otherwise I can never remember which paragraph I stopped at and have to go back a page (even with the dog ears).

Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you?

On the floor, yes. Across the room, no. 

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?

No. Stopping in the middle of a sentence would be very distracting. I usually stare at a word trying to figure it out and then promise myself I'll look it up later, which I never do. My vocabulary should really be more impressive than it actually is.

What are you currently reading?

Georgette Heyer biography, by Jennifer Kloester, Death of a Gentle Lady, by M. C. Beaton, and Vanity Fair magazine (yes, it counts).

What is the last book you bought?

A few Hamish McBeth mysteries by M. C. Beaton, The Prose Edda, by Snorri Sturluson and A Handbook of Norse Mythology by Karl Mortensen.

Are you the type of person that reads one book at a time, or can you read more than one?

I usually like to have two or three on the go. One for reading on the train to and from work, one for some serious chill out time at home on weekends, and one for light relief or when I'm trying to go to sleep. 

Do you have a favourite time/place to read?

Reading in bed or in the bath are the best places. I do tend to drop books in the bath all the time... so there are a lot of crinkly pages on my bookshelves. I think books look nice when they are well-loved! 

Do you prefer series books or stand-alone?

Stand-alone books are great but I do love series. I love getting to know characters and making up my own stories for them in my head (whilst always inserting myself as the heroine of course). Living in a land of make-believe is totally acceptable.

Is there a specific book or author you find yourself recommending over and over?

It really depends who I am talking to. My tastes will not always be the same as someone else's and if the conversation turns to books I could easily forget how to shut up. I try not to try to jam five books down someone's throat (or into their eyeballs?) just because I loved reading them. 

How do you organise your books? (genre, title, author's last name etc)

I don't. But I try to keep the series together, sort of.