A Progressive on the Prairie

Do you keep all the books you ever buy? Just the ones you love? Just collectibles? What do you do with the ones you don’t want to keep?

I wish.

For a long time, I did keep virtually every book I bought unless it was one I really disliked. For a long period of time, the [...]

Do you keep reference books on your shelves at home? What’s your first port of call when you need information – the internet or a book?

I have a ton of reference works on my shelves that I dip into with varying frequency. Two, however, aren’t with the rest. There’s a well worn paperback [...]

For the regular library patrons among us: do you have your own idea of what constitutes proper library etiquette? Is there anything you always try to do? Anything you hate when others do?

Because I use the reserve list a lot, one of my minor irritations is those who keep books others are waiting for past [...]

How does your reading (or your blogging) fare in the holiday months? Do you read more or less? Do you have to actively make time to read?

I generally get quite a bit of reading done over the holidays. During the Thanksgiving break, I finished a book I started earlier in the week, read three [...]

Does your house have a communal bookshelf? If not, is your bookshelf centrally located so everyone has access to it?

Our house is a divided country when it comes to bookshelves. Actually, it’s more akin to bordering states than a civil war but we aren’t into communal shelving.

I have bookshelves in my office. Virtually [...]

Do you listen to music while reading? Does this change if you’re reading in or out of your house? Do you have a preference of music for such occasions?

I occasionally do but probably less than 25 percent of the time. Whether I do so out of the house depends on the setting. [...]

Now that we’ve come to the middle of the year, what do you think of your 2009 reading so far? Read anything interesting that you’d like to share? Any outstanding favourites?

My reading so far this year indicates my translated literature fixation continues. Not surprisingly, then, it accounts for one of my favorites this year [...]