Curling up with cup of tea

So I went in to work today.

And then I came straight home.

Turns out I'm not totally better yet. I thought I was but clearly I was mistaken.

I think the trouble is that the furthest I've walked in 5 days is from the sofa to the kitchen and to go from that to a 20 minute walk in to work (in the rain) was apparently pushing it.

I sat at my desk and once I stopped feeling faint and like I was going to throw up I packed up my stuff and headed back home.

I'm honestly not trying to be a martyr or anything like that. I'm the biggest wuss going. I just really did think that I was better and more than that I really am starting to get bored. I figured that if I was bored then it was time to go to back.

Instead. I am being bored at home. With tea and cross stitch. And a bit of reading. And a bit of trawling around on the internet for things to do. And I thought I would do this from this little lady's blog...

Do you snack while you read? If so, favourite reading snack?
I don’t really to be honest, it’s one of the few times I resist the temptation to shovel something in to my mouth. There’s nothing better than curling up with a lovely big cup of tea though.

Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
No I couldn’t hurt the little darlings!! I don’t even like creasing the spine so the idea of writing in them makes me feel a little ill. I used to hate doing it when I was doing my English Lit A-level because I had to make loads of notes and I would apologise to the book every time I set about it with my pen!

How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book flat open?
YOU MUST NEVER TURN OVER THE CORNER OF THE PAGE. Naughty. I don’t like laying the book open either because that can lead to the dreaded spine crease. It’s always a bookmark although it’s not normally a pretty bookmark, it’ll be a piece of paper or a post-it note or whatever happens to be handy.

Fiction, Non-fiction, or both?
Both really. If I’m honest I’m more likely to pick up fiction, I see reading more as an escape so favour a bit of make-believe but I’m a sucker for autobiographies, probably because I’m far too nosy for my own good. I loved it when there was that brief period in time when economics became cool (I’m an economics geek) and there was a rash of books released, Freakanomics, The Undercover Economist etc - loved all of those.

Hard copy or audiobooks?
Definitely hard copy. I have tried audiobooks in the past but I can’t keep concentrating on them, my mind starts to wander and when I tune back in I have no idea what’s going on!

Are you a person who tends to read to the end of chapters, or are you able to put a book down at any point?
I love this question! Because it means that I’m not the only person that hates finishing reading randomly in the middle of a page! I will try my hardest to get to the end of the chapter, even if that means having to go back and re-read the last few pages the next day because I’ve been reading them in sleep haze and can’t remember what happened!

If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop to look it up right away?
I don’t really. You can usually figure out what something means by looking at the context. Then I try and note it and remember to bring it out on glittering social occasions and stun people with my command of the English language. No. That never happens.

What are you currently reading?
Pride and Prejudice and Zombies – Jane Austen & Seth Grahame-Smith

What is the last book you bought?
Rief Larsen – Selected Works of TS Spivet

Are you the type of person that only reads one book at a time or can you read more than one at a time?
When I was younger I would have several on the go at once but now I like to devote my time and attention to one book at the time. I find that if I’m reading two at a time, there’ll be one that I like more and I’ll just end up reading that one, and then I feel sorry for the rejected one. I will however have to switch to 2 books soon because I have loads of hardbacks or big bulky books at home waiting to be read that are far too big to carry about in my handbag (I will absolutely not leave the house without a book, no matter where I’m going and yes I do mean every time I leave the house, even to go to the supermarket. You never know when you’re going to have time to read!) so I will probably have an at home book and a handbag book on the go.

Do you have a favourite time of day and/or place to read?
I will read at any time and any place. I will read on the street waiting to meet someone. I will read on the bus or in the car. I will read at work. I will read in bed. I will read while watching the TV. The thing that really bugs me is that I can’t read and cross stitch at the same time....ooh maybe it’s time to give the audiotapes a go again!

Do you prefer series books or stand alone books?
I really don’t mind. I have a few series that I’ve picked up and loved so bought the next ones but there are obviously plenty of stand alone ones. I just go in to a bookshop and see what takes my fancy.

Is there a specific book or author that you find yourself recommending over and over?
Not particularly highbrow and I know people are very snobby about these things but I love my Stephen King. He’s far too often overlooked and dismissed as a horror writer but I really believe that he has written a book which will appeal to everyone. And another recommendation which is equally lightweight is Alexander McCall-Smith. I just love the way he writes, it’s so comforting. I tend to recommend individual books rather than authors though.

How do you organize your books? (By genre, title, author’s last name, etc.?)
Ooooh lovely! My favourite question. I’m all about the organisation. I haven’t found my ideal organisation yet in the flat, there are improvements that could be made. But at the moment we have a Classics section within which they are organised alphabetically by the author’s last name.

Then there’s a shelf that has the boyfriend’s books on it – lots of Bernard Cornwell and Terry Pratchett, not sure how he’s organised those, I left that up to him. Then there’s the Stephen King shelf, they’re organised chronologically in order of publication. Then the autobiographies are together in alphabetical order (by subject, not author), then there’s my geeky economics books and the boyfriend’s geeky military history books.

THEN. There’s smaller bookshelf which is just full of random books that I’ve read and liked. I’m quite hardcore, I don’t often keep books, I know that realistically I won’t read them again so I set them free in to the world. THEN there’s a bookcase in our bedroom which has on it all the books that are still waiting to be read and THEN there’s a bookcase in the spare bedroom which has all the boyfriend’s Warhammer books on it. I hate that bookcase.

And we’re going to need more space soon....

I’m a geek.

ANYWAY.That’s it finished! Please feel free to take this and re-post on your blog, I’d love to know if anyone is similarly geeky to me. No? Ah well....ok.