In lieu of a Top Ten Tuesday, how about some fun book-related questions!

Usually there would be a Top Ten Tuesday here, but the topic this week was too...difficult. The topic was Books You'd Save From Your House In A Natural Disaster. Does anyone remember when Southern California was basically burning to the ground in 2007 in those wildfires? I live in one of those communities that the Witch Creek Fire absolutely ravaged. I am lucky because my house did not burn; but we were evacuated and under threat of it. I went through that disaster where you have to grab what you feel is important and know that you may come back to nothing. And I wasn't even home during the entire ordeal, I was going to school in Orange County at the time and was woken up to a frantic phone call at 7am telling me I had 5 minutes to tell my mom what I needed saved.  Probably the worst phone call I've taken to date.

Books are a lifeline to me, but when it comes down to it, most of them are replaceable. You save the yearbooks and photos and important documents and the only thing I could think of to tell my mom was to save what we call the "Dad Binder," which is a binder we keep all the letters/cards my dad sent to the family when he was away on the ship during his Navy Sea Duty.  When I hung up with my mom, a million other things I wanted saved rushed to my head - but in the end, you can reconcile the loss of a lot of things. They're just things.

So instead, I happened to be going through my Reader and saw these questions posted by Andrea at The Overstuffed Bookcase and thought it would be fun to answer them!

1. Have you always been a huge reader or is it something that happened recently?
Always. My family is really big on reading and I grew up around books and literature. My mom is also a librarian (well...was a librarian, she works in library cataloging for a university now) so I've literally grown up in them. When I was 7, I worked behind the library desk checking out books to people - I even got a volunteer award :)

2. Can you pinpoint one book that solidified your love for reading?
I can't, really. One of my earliest memories is my mom reading Roald Dahl books to my brother and I for bedtime (The Twits are the best!), so those always remain at the forefront of my book love.

3. Do you prefer series or stand alone books?
Truthfully, I prefer stand alone books. I love most of the series I have read, but it's a bit stressful for me. I have issues with waiting for next installments, and somehow reading the last book in a series just kills me so much more than getting to the end of a stand-alone book. I tend not to read series until all of the books have been released.

4. Do you write in your books and/or dog-ear the pages or do you like to keep your books looking brand new?
WOAH. As the daughter of a librarian, the idea of ever writing or dog-earing pages gives me the heebie-jeebies. I use bookmarks and post-its if I ever want to note anything.

5. What fictional world would you love to live in?
While I'm tempted to say any Victorian-era novel (it's my absolute favourite era), I'd have to go with the Recency Period - specifically, the Pride & Prejudice world. What I would give to be at that ball with Darcy and Bingley and all the Bennetts! 

  

6. What book are you most looking forward to reading this year?
Graffiti Moon has seriously been on my Want list FOREVER. I went on a hunt all around San Diego for it on its release date but no stores had it :( I finally had to order it online and am now waiting SO impatiently for its arrival. I'm also seriously looking forward to City of Lost Souls (Book 5 of Mortal Instruments!) and The Diviners by Libba Bray.

7. Do you have to read to the end of a chapter or can you set the book down at any point?
I can set it down at any point. I've never really paid attention to Chapter breaks.

8. Describe what you are using as a bookmark in your current read.
I'm in the middle of a few books right now. Most of the bookmarks I use are the printed Due Date tickets from the library I got them from or the store receipts. Clockwork Prince is the only one that's got a real bookmark, which was mailed to me from the San Diego Zoo haha. I was a member there for a long time, so I still get all the little mail things.

9. What book would you absolutely never want to be made into a movie or TV show?
Oh Heavens. I never really want to see Lola and the Boy Next Door made into a movie. Because it's such a fun little experience reading it, and I think it would get horrifically torn apart being turned into some cheesy Disney movie or tween-flick.

10. Do books easily make you cry or do you hardly ever shed a tear while reading?
I'm a huge crier. I just finished The Fault In Our Stars (review on Friday!) and I was a blubbering mess from, like, page 80 and on.

11. What book have you recommended the most?
Hmm...I've convinced a lot of people to read The Hunger Games (I own 2 copies but haven't seen them in years since I keep lending it out!). I tend to recommend the Percy Jackson series too (actually, all of Rick Riordan's YA/MG novels) because I think they're so much fun and filled with such great adventure - plus, you learn mythology!

Thanks for the fun questions, Andrea!

And if you did do the Top Ten Tuesday, I'd still love to read it (or any other post!)! Leave your link in the comment section and I'll come check it out!