Book Memory meme. How long can I go without cheating?

I realize my blog has been a bit survey/meme happy this month. There's a reason for that: I am lazy. Wait, no, I'm always lazy. This month is different because work has been intense throughout October. Quarter closes are always more hectic than usual, and the fall is always when things start to pick up after the relatively-slower summer and October is when both of these come together in a hurricane. My mantra for most of this month has been "Just get to the 31st. Get there. Once we get past that, it's clear skies." I was going to try to write another review but instead Sarah (who has been my survey/meme source this month and THANK YOU for that) graciously posted this meme so I'm gonna do that instead.

The rules to this thing are answer the questions in the image below without searching your books/the internet for answers. Also something about tagging 5 people to do this but I'm going to skip that part cos REBEL. But you should probably do it too, so we can all see how terrible our memories are. I'm sure Google has ruined mine.

1. Name a book written by an author called Michael: OH MAN, look at me being able to answer the first one. The Poet written by Michael Connelly, which I read for a college class AND he came into the class to talk so I also got my book signed. So there you go. One question DOWN

2. Name a book with a dragon on the cover: That Ergon one? It looks like "dragon" but with vowels at the beginning. Some copies of The Hobbit probably have a dragon on the cover.

3. Name a book about a character called George: Curious George the monkey. That's a George character. Now, let's see. I'm supposed to name the book so...Curious George Goes To The Zoo? I have no idea if that's actually a book but it sounds like it could be, right?

Name a book written by an author with the surname Smith: Zadie Smith? Is that her name? If so White Teeth? Am I right?

5. Name a book set in Australia: In A Sunburned Country by Bill Bryson. Oh, I'm sorry, did you want something other than a memoir/travel type deal? Then The Rosie Project DOUBLE ANSWERED.

6. Name a book with the name of a month in the title: Uh oh. I think I'm in trouble now. OK I've tried to come up with something for a solid 5 minutes and I'm getting nothing. But I double answered 5 so yeah, I'm still good.

7. Name a book with a knife on the cover: Kitchen Confidential by Antony Bourdain? I actually think it might be a sword, but he probably USED it like a knife.

8. Name a book with the word "one" in the title: Um. Crap. I'm blanking. Does Mindy Kaling's Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? count? There's a one shoved in there. Cos otherwise the only thing my brain is giving me is "This one time, at band camp" and unless that's a memoir from Allison something (I remember her first name cos it's mine. Her last name isn't mine and thus I forget it. Hannigan? Something like that?) I got nothing else.

9. Name a book with an eponymous title: So, since I'm not supposed to internet things, I suppose this means I can't double check what eponymous means. Does it mean the title is a name? Like Hamlet?

10. Name a book turned into a movie: Thank you for the easy one cos I was struggling with the last few. The Shining by Stephen King because Halloween time.

PHEW OK, now that I've gone through and answered I NEED to check if I'm right on some of these.

2. Dragon book? Got them both right! WIN!

3. Did George go to the zoo? I found one book Curious George Visits the Zoo and thought I was screwed, but apparently the bugger has made several trips and another book is called Curious George Goes to the Zoo. Win again!

4. Is it Zadie Smith? It is! And she did write White Teeth!

6. Month book: I asked Tom if he had any ideas and he sounded really confident for like 1/2 a second before going "Oh wait. Ummm" and finally giving up. I Googled it and found a list of books I've never heard of plus The Hunt for Red October by...some guy. I literally looked that up 10 seconds ago and already forgot. Good job, me.

7. Is that a knife or sword? I'm looking at the cover I have and I'm honestly still not sure. BUT I found a different cover of Kitchen Confidential that most definitely features knives. So. I still win.

8. Does "everyone" really count? Yes, it does. Dammit. But in case it doesn't (in this quiz no one is scoring) I looked through my shelves till I found Me Talk Pretty One Day by David Sedaris.

9. Have I forgotten all my vocab lessons? Possibly. I looked up eponymous and I think I got it right.

Alright, now to go actually read Sarah's post, since I couldn't do that BEFORE answering, lest I influence my own responses.

A meme instead of reviewing

I feel like I have a lot of "I'm writing this instead of writing an actual review" posts recently. I still like writing reviews. I'm also very lazy, and those take more effort than my rambly posts. I also don't think I've been sleeping well. I say "I don't think" because I'm not waking up in the middle of the night. I'm just super tired during the day, which has been moving into over-tired-to-the-point-of-deliriousness. Though I think I amused the Whole Foods worker yesterday when I made race car noises with my car while picking up groceries.

So anyway, I saw this meme on Sarah's of Sarah Says Read blog who got it from Jillian at A Room of One's Own and on and on until you can't figure out where these things actually start but that's not the point. The point is, here's an excuse to talk (more) about myself and I'm taking it.

Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack: I don't usually. Because I'll get distracted by the food and pay more attention to that then the book. 

What is your favorite drink while reading? Yeah, I also don't normally drink either. I'm either reading on the train and it's probably best if I don't add a beverage to that equation, unless I really want to spill on myself and probably some innocent commuter. And then when I'm at home the table is slightly too far away so I have to actually lean forward if I want to put the drink down or pick it up. And that's way too much work.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you? The horror! The horror! I sorta wish I did write in books but then I know if I did and I looked back at the comments later I'd think "Oh naive you. You had no idea what you were saying"

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open? Bookmark. Or just remember where I was. That's my "I don't have a bookmark but I don't want to dog-ear the page" method. Why yes, I did end up re-reading a lot of the same stuff over again cos I couldn't quite remember where I'd left off. How'd you guess?

Fiction, non-fiction, or both? Both, but mostly fiction.

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere? Wherever. I usually stop based on if the train is currently at my station. If I'm not commuting I try to go to the end of a chapter but if I find myself drifting I just stop wherever I am.

Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you? I haven't yet. I don't want to mess up the book. Or with my luck I'd damage the TV or something.

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away? Pretty much never. And it's only "pretty much" instead of "absolutely never" because I sometimes will look up the word with my Kindle. But actually going to a computer and looking up a word? No, that's not going to happen. It should. I know I should probably look those things up but, again, lazy.

What are you currently reading? Kindred by Octavia Butler and holy crap, is it good and difficult. I also started Slaughterhouse-Five but got distracted/realized I'd be reading ANOTHER white guy and decided I needed to do something about that.

What is the last book you bought? Kindred. It has been crazy hard to find. And by that I mean the 3 times I remembered I wanted to read it while at a bookstore it wasn't there. And it just recently became available on Kindle.

Do you have a favorite time/place to read? My commute because I don't have to do anything else. Nothing else that needs done and little to distract me. Well, less than normal when there's the computer and TV and people and food to distract me.

Do you prefer series books or stand alones? Stand alone. I like some series (Thursday Next, I heart your face) but for the most part I don't end up reading the rest of a series.

Is there a specific book or author you find yourself recommending over and over? Well Christopher Moore. I seem to tell EVERYONE to read him. But you guys aren't listening, so I need to keep repeating myself. Also you guys should read Jasper Fforde because he writes Thursday Next stuff and other series that are amazing. And yes, I know I just said I prefer stand alone books and this guy writes series but did you miss the face-hearting?

How do you organize your books? (by genre, title, author’s last name, etc.) They are currently organized by "these books were all in a box together so they're on this shelf together". Because this recent move took forever and I just put stuff on the shelves with the thought that I'd organize it eventually. And it will happen. Eventually. There's some order, leftover from the last time I organized them that transitioned to our current place based on how I boxed up books. So the Shakespeare is together. The books that are in my room (Moore, Fforde, other fav books) are still together. But that's about it.

Four Things

I already posted a word cloud today so I may as well keep with the light fare I'm throwing out there rather than anything actually book related. So here's a meme I saw on Literary Musings's blog and hosted by Books and Chocolate. I also just realized Shakespeare's birthday falls on a Saturday and I already had a post written up for it (supernerd) but didn't consult a calendar and had I, I would have posted it today. Whoops. Whatever, this is better for a Friday anyway.

Four jobs I've had in my life
1. Babysitter
2. Fragrance Compounder
3. Office Assistant
4. PR Database Support Consultant

Four books I would read over and over again
1. Lamb by Christopher Moore
2. No Reservations by Anthony Bourdain
3. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde
4. Neither Here Nor There by Bill Bryson

Four places I have lived
1. Randolph, New Jersey
2. Boston, Massachusetts
3. Perugia, Italy
4. Long Island, New York

Four books I would recommend
1. A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore
2. Neither Here Nor There by Bill Bryson
3. Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead by Tom Stoppard
4. The Eyre Affair by Jasper Fforde

Four places I have been
1. Galway, Ireland
2. San Juan, Puerto Rico
3. Toronto, Canada
4. Tenerife, Canary Islands

Four of my favorite foods
1. Cheeseburger
2. Sushi
3. Peanut Butter
4. Rice

Four places I would rather be right now
1. Seattle, Washington
2. NYC
3. Perugia, Italy
4. Brookline, Massachussetts

Four of my favorite drinks
1. Jack & Coke
2. cafe macchiato
3. red wine
4. this St. Germaine martini my friend used to make, but sadly I don't live near his bar anymore

Four things people that are very special in my life
1. Boyfriend
2. My Mom & Dad
3. My little way-smarter-than-me-in-a-science-sort-of-way Brother
4. My globe-trekking friend Michelle (she should be somewhere around Rwanda now)

A Meme Where I Talk About Myself

Kerry over at Entomology of a Bookworm tagged in a game of, well...tag.  (It's my way with words that keeps you coming back, isn't it?) I've been trying to avoid these type of memes recently but, what can I say, I like talking about myself.  It's the one topic I can discuss with full confidence.  But because I'm sure many of you don't actually care, I figured I'd post this over the weekend when most people aren't checking blogs.  Especially Halloween weekend.  Anyway, onto tag

So the rules say I need to link to the blogger who tagged me (done!), answer the questions honestly (we'll see. I won't outright lie anyway) and tag 4 other bloggers.  OK so this last step I won't do because what if there is someone that doesn't want to play but I tag them and then they feel like they have to or I'll stop following them (I know my approval rules most people's decisions)?  So instead I'll say, if you feel like it congrats! You've been tagged.  If you don't want to, that's cool too.  You're a less vain person than me.

Four Things in My Handbag

1. iPod Touch and iPod Shuffle.  Why both? Cos clipping the little shuffle to my clothes is far easier on my commute than making sure my Touch doesn't fall to the bottom of my bag and rip my headphones out.
2. Wallet, since my purse is essentially a vessel for holding this thing.  It's huge and heavy but pretty so I keep using it. 
3. Keys. I'm always paranoid I'll forget these and get locked out so I have them on a huge lanyard from college that gets tangled in all the other things in my bag, but makes it really easy to find them.  It also has a New Jersey bottle opener on it so win.
4. Book. Currently it's Roald Dahl's Book of Ghost Stories.  The fact that I keep a book in my bag at (almost) all times is the reason I avoid hardbacks.  So if Fforde and Bryson would like to hurry up and push their latest pieces to paperback, I would be most appreciative.

 Four Favorite Things in My Bedroom

1. Bed. As it stands my bedroom is very small so the bed takes up about 85% of it.  It's not that I think this bed is the best ever but I do love sleep.
2. TV/DVD/VCR I like to fall asleep to something but I don't have cable hooked up in my room, so I've been watching DVDs.  I recently finished re-watching the entire Critic series and 1 disc from the Simpsons season 8 with my favorite episode "You Only Move Twice".  I'm now onto watching the Planet Earth series.
3. Window AC. I don't know why it's been hot and humid in Boston recently, but my window AC at least makes sleeping possible.  I'm pretty sure that's how an army of mosquitoes has been getting in, but seeing as I have no where to store the AC if it's not in the window, it'll stay there and I'll just keep blasting the window with bug spray.
4. My dresser I had some trouble coming up with the last item and this is essentially the only other thing in the room.  But I do appreciate that it holds some of my clothes. The rest are down the hall in a closet/room off the living room.  (By the way, there is a good chance this closet is larger than my room, but I don't want to depress myself by actually measuring and finding out that is true.) And keeps my TV at eye level.

 Four Things on My Desk

1. My Computer The only desk I have is at work so I'm just naming stuff on there and surprise! It has a computer
2. Drawings, doodles, cutouts. It looks like kindergarten art class projects have vomited all over my desk. When Co-Worker was here we would make drawings for one another so in between post-its with important phone numbers I have a drawing of a duck eating Sun Chips and a giraffe flying a WWII plane.
3. Cheap Decorative fan I won it at this amazing place called Good Time Emporium that has since shut down to make way for an Ikea.  Now I love Ikea but I also love a place where I can play skee ball, laser tag, pool and drink all in one super sketchy location.
4. Drink containers I currently have 1 reusable water bottle, one bottle of sparkling flavored water, 2 foam cups from Dunkin, 1 plastic cup from Dunkin (I need to throw out), an empty water bottle (also needs thrown out) and an over sized coffee mug that needs washed.  I am not a particularly neat person apparently.

Four Things I've Always Wanted to Do (but Haven't Yet)

1. Move to Seattle This is actually a relatively new thing, but ever since I've visited I want to live there.  At least for a few years.
2. Visit Australia/New Zealand   It looks so beautiful out there that I will get over the 25hour flight just to visit.  You know, and find the necessary funds to make the trip happen.
3. Learn a foreign language fluently I took French for roughly 10,000 years from middle school through college but I still suck at it.  I'm far better at Italian but even that is barely passable now.  
4. Figure out a long term career I change my mind a lot but maybe at some point I'll think of something I want to do for the long haul.  Owning a bookstore would be nice.

 Four Things I Enjoy Very Much at the Moment

1. ABP's Pumpkin Soup Now if only the location over here would stop being lazy and start carrying it.  Fall's going to end soon people!
2. Boots I have so many pairs but I still want more.  So pretty
3. The Nightmare Before Christmas and The Rocky Horror Picture Show My two favorite Halloween time movies. I should probably splurge and buy a DVD copy of Nightmare.  The VHS is getting worn down.
4. El Guapo burrito from El Pelon I'm not eating one now but I suddenly got a craving. Might be a quest for the weekend.

Four Songs I Can't Get Out of My Head

1. Electric Avenue by some guy that made an annoying song I read something that referenced this song the other day and now it's stuck in there
2. New York, New York by Sinatra   Must have come on my iPod at some point.  That's the fun thing about listening to music during my commute.  I don't usually pay all that much attention to what's playing but I'll suddenly find myself humming some song.
3. Drunken Lullabies by Flogging Molly Also came on the Shmuffle recently
4. Time Warp from Rocky Horror It's just a jump to the left...

 Four Things You Don't Know About Me

1. I love punk, ska and Broadway musicals My music taste is a bit schizo but it makes me happy.  And the American Idiot Broadway soundtrack is the perfect storm of those things I love. 
2. I keep my nails painted at all times or else I bite them I bite them even when they are painted, but it is more of a deterrent.  And I'm not a big fan of red/pink/french manicure nails.  Recently I've been keeping them green but currently they're black
3. I love Tosh.0  The show just consists of tasteless jokes and gross internet videos and yet I love it.
4. I get Ebert's newsletter emailed to me weekly yet I won't read the review until I've seen the movie.  And then once I have seen the movie, I'll look up reviews elsewhere and won't usually go back through my email to see if the review is there.  It seems pointless yet I like getting them anyway.

 If you've made it down this far, congrats! I probably would have quit.  TL,DNR.  Happy Halloween!

My reading habits meme

I found this meme over at the blog Stuck In A Book and decided to fill it out as well.  They remind me of those emails I used to get when I was in high school where you'd fill in a bunch of trivial details about yourself.  This is the same thing, but about books so even nerdier than the old ones.

What is your favorite drink while reading?
I don't have anything specific I drink while reading.  Maybe coffee or water, but that's usually what I'm drinking anyway.

Do you tend to mark your books while you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
I hate writing in books.  I've done it only in text books and even then rarely.  I keep pieces of torn up Post-Its in the front of whatever book I'm reading so I can mark down pages that interest me.  Of course I have a habit of forgetting what I thought was so interesting on that page.  I should find a new system.

How do you keep your place? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book open flat?

If I have something on me, I'll try to use a bookmark.  It's usually whatever piece of paper I have on me.  Right now I'm using an iTunes card from a Starbucks.  I hate dog-earring a book, though if I get a book that way I don't mind it.  I just don't like ruining a new, unbroken down book.

Fiction, non-fiction or both?

Both.  I find it easier to start non-fiction books.  You don't have to acclimate yourself to a new world to start them.  But my favorite books are fiction

Do you tend to read to the end of a chapter or can you stop anywhere?

I'll stop wherever.  If I can I try to stop at the end of a chapter but I don't worry about it too much.

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

I'll put the book down and then bitch loudly to whoever is unlucky enough to be near me then.  And now I have this blog to bitch to. 

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

Nope.  I try to just use the context to figure out what the word means.  This works the majority of the time.  Or else there are a lot of words I misuse. 

What are you currently reading?

I just finished Everything Bad Is Good For You: How Today's Pop Culture Is Actually Making Us Smarter by Steven Johnson and I'll be starting Coyote Blue by Christopher Moore next. 

What is the last book you bought?

Coyote Blue.  Before that it was a few other Christopher Moore books: Fluke, A Dirty Job and Island of the Sequined Love Nun.  I've been on a Moore kick but should probably mix it up a bit.

Do you have a favourite time/place to read?

Whenever I can I suppose.  I do most of my reading on the subway during my commute, though I can't really say that's my favorite place to be.

Do you prefer series books or stand-alones?

Stand-alones.  I don't generally have the attention span for a long series, although I love Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series and Nursery Crime series

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

I recommend Bill Bryson to everyone.  I know plenty of the other books I like aren't for everyone, but I can't think of anyone who won't like at least one of Bill Bryson's books.

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

At one point I tried to do them in order by author's last name.  Then I moved and put them on the shelves as they came out of boxes.  I try to group ones by the same author so all the Shakespeare is together and I try to put similar genres near each other so Stephen King and other horror books are on the same shelf.  For the most part though it's wherever a book fits.  I'm currently out of space so there are books stacked all over.

Background noise or silence?

I most always have something else going on in the background.  If I'm on the subway, I have my headphones in and if I'm home the TV is usually on.  I have trouble giving my full attention to a TV show so I usually pick up a book or something while the TV is on.  If I need to finish a book I might turn off everything else.