From my friends list

Hardback or paperback?
Hardback for the sensual pleasure of sitting in the comfy chair under the reading light with music and a cup of tea. Softcovers for portability, waiting rooms, standing in line.

Highlight or underline?
Notetaking. Do Not Deface The Book!

Lewis or Tolkien?
Tolkien, please. Can't really stand Lewis.

E.B. White or A.A. Milne?
White. Milne is too precious.

T.S. Eliot or e.e. cummings?
Yes, please.

Stephen King or Dean Koontz?
I love King's short stories, and a lot of his earlier books. Never read Koontz.

Barnes & Noble or Borders?
Locally, the B&N is dark wood and dark green, English library feel, with deep, cushy chairs. The Borders is light woods and bright lights, orange plastic chairs, like an elementary school cafeteria. Both have decent inventory, helpful staff, acceptable coffee.

Waldenbooks or B. Dalton?
Dalton's and Scribners is owned by Borders, I think. I worked at Walden's, briefly. Don't actually care for either.

Fantasy or science fiction?
Fantasy, usually. But some SF is good every now and then.

Horror or suspense?
Suspense. Don't really like horror.

Bookmark or dogear?
Do Not Deface The Book! I make bookmarks, find bookmarks, collect bookstore bookmarks.

Hemingway or Faulkner?
Neither, thanks.

Fitzgerald or Steinbeck?
Nope. Thanks.

Homer or Plato?
Homer.

Geoffrey Chaucer or Edmund Spenser?
Both, please.

Pen or pencil?
a)Editing my own stuff, medium-point click ballpoint, blue ink
b)Workshopping others' work, mechanical pencil
c)Notetaking, Dr. Grip medium-point rollerball, black gel ink
d)Filling out checks, check register (yes, I'm a walking anachronism), fine-point black ink, slim marbled click ballpoint that matches my checkbook cover.
e)Writing, fountain pen, brown bottled ink.

Looseleaf or notepad?
a)Legal pad, letter size, stiff back, wide-ruled, 20 lb. or heavier paper, pastels are nice.
b)Quad-ruled or wide-ruled spiral notebook, 20 lb. or heavier paper.

Alphabetize?
You must be joking. Space is always at a premium, so I sort by size, and try and keep subjects together as much as possible. Alphabetize! Huh.

Dustjacket: on or off?
On. It's part of my OCD completist thing. I will spend half a day hunting down the cap to a pen, or the dustjacket of a book, or the jewel case for a CD (and I hatehatehate out-of-jewel case CD storage. I want to be able to check the track and find and re-read the liner notes, dammit!), out of all bonds of reason. I've been known to destroy two or three rooms hunting for a missing component of something, and have it nag at me so I'm unable to let it go till I find it. I also repair and clean mistreated dustjackets, and page-ends...

Novella or epic?
I love novellas, because there's a real possibility I'll get through them before I lose track. I love epics, but I never have the chunks of time to get enough material read at a time to progress. On vacation? Epics all the way.

John Grisham or Scott Turow?
Ew.

J.K. Rowling or Lemony Snicket?
Both, please.

John Irving or John Updike?
Not enough time to read people I don't really enjoy.

Fiction or non-fiction?
Both. I used to inhale fiction, lately there's been a lot of nonfiction, poetry, essays.

Historical biography or historical romance?
Depends on the writer and the subject.

A few pages per sitting or finish at least a chapter?
As much as I can get through at a time.

Short story or creative non-fiction essay?
Both. The short forms are wonderful, when they're well done.

"It was a dark and stormy night" or "Once upon a time"?
Both, please.

Buy or borrow?
Of course I prefer to own something I really love. But I'll try to borrow it from a friend to read it before I decide to buy. I'm really trying to restrict indiscriminate book buying. And I don't play well with libraries. I check books out, I don't have time to read them before they have to go back. I read a book, I fall in love, I don't want to give it back. I read half a book and stall on it for a year, or more, go back to it later. Used bookstores are my friend.

Book reviews or word of mouth?
Both, although I give more weight to the opinions of people whose taste I know.

From my friends list

Hardback or paperback?
Hardback for the sensual pleasure of sitting in the comfy chair under the reading light with music and a cup of tea. Softcovers for portability, waiting rooms, standing in line.

Highlight or underline?
Notetaking. Do Not Deface The Book!

Lewis or Tolkien?
Tolkien, please. Can't really stand Lewis.

E.B. White or A.A. Milne?
White. Milne is too precious.

T.S. Eliot or e.e. cummings?
Yes, please.

Stephen King or Dean Koontz?
I love King's short stories, and a lot of his earlier books. Never read Koontz.

Barnes & Noble or Borders?
Locally, the B&N is dark wood and dark green, English library feel, with deep, cushy chairs. The Borders is light woods and bright lights, orange plastic chairs, like an elementary school cafeteria. Both have decent inventory, helpful staff, acceptable coffee.

Waldenbooks or B. Dalton?
Dalton's and Scribners is owned by Borders, I think. I worked at Walden's, briefly. Don't actually care for either.

Fantasy or science fiction?
Fantasy, usually. But some SF is good every now and then.

Horror or suspense?
Suspense. Don't really like horror.

Bookmark or dogear?
Do Not Deface The Book! I make bookmarks, find bookmarks, collect bookstore bookmarks.

Hemingway or Faulkner?
Neither, thanks.

Fitzgerald or Steinbeck?
Nope. Thanks.

Homer or Plato?
Homer.

Geoffrey Chaucer or Edmund Spenser?
Both, please.

Pen or pencil?
a)Editing my own stuff, medium-point click ballpoint, blue ink
b)Workshopping others' work, mechanical pencil
c)Notetaking, Dr. Grip medium-point rollerball, black gel ink
d)Filling out checks, check register (yes, I'm a walking anachronism), fine-point black ink, slim marbled click ballpoint that matches my checkbook cover.
e)Writing, fountain pen, brown bottled ink.

Looseleaf or notepad?
a)Legal pad, letter size, stiff back, wide-ruled, 20 lb. or heavier paper, pastels are nice.
b)Quad-ruled or wide-ruled spiral notebook, 20 lb. or heavier paper.

Alphabetize?
You must be joking. Space is always at a premium, so I sort by size, and try and keep subjects together as much as possible. Alphabetize! Huh.

Dustjacket: on or off?
On. It's part of my OCD completist thing. I will spend half a day hunting down the cap to a pen, or the dustjacket of a book, or the jewel case for a CD (and I hatehatehate out-of-jewel case CD storage. I want to be able to check the track and find and re-read the liner notes, dammit!), out of all bonds of reason. I've been known to destroy two or three rooms hunting for a missing component of something, and have it nag at me so I'm unable to let it go till I find it. I also repair and clean mistreated dustjackets, and page-ends...

Novella or epic?
I love novellas, because there's a real possibility I'll get through them before I lose track. I love epics, but I never have the chunks of time to get enough material read at a time to progress. On vacation? Epics all the way.

John Grisham or Scott Turow?
Ew.

J.K. Rowling or Lemony Snicket?
Both, please.

John Irving or John Updike?
Not enough time to read people I don't really enjoy.

Fiction or non-fiction?
Both. I used to inhale fiction, lately there's been a lot of nonfiction, poetry, essays.

Historical biography or historical romance?
Depends on the writer and the subject.

A few pages per sitting or finish at least a chapter?
As much as I can get through at a time.

Short story or creative non-fiction essay?
Both. The short forms are wonderful, when they're well done.

"It was a dark and stormy night" or "Once upon a time"?
Both, please.

Buy or borrow?
Of course I prefer to own something I really love. But I'll try to borrow it from a friend to read it before I decide to buy. I'm really trying to restrict indiscriminate book buying. And I don't play well with libraries. I check books out, I don't have time to read them before they have to go back. I read a book, I fall in love, I don't want to give it back. I read half a book and stall on it for a year, or more, go back to it later. Used bookstores are my friend.

Book reviews or word of mouth?
Both, although I give more weight to the opinions of people whose taste I know.