Based on the books on your bookshelf, what conclusions would people draw about you?

Well, I'm not in the habit of pretending to be other people... or at least not assuming what their thoughts might... OK, even I couldn't make it through that sentence. I'm very much in the habit of imagining what other people think, it's just a matter of whether or not I care.

In the case of my bookshelves and their contents, it depends on the bookcase. Our downstairs by-the-telly case contains my small non-fiction collection and a smattering of general fiction & mysteries. One book in particular garners a lot of attention, and I will admit that's why I put it there. I haven't read it yet, but considering there are about 100 books on my shelves at any given time which haven't been given even a perusal yet, this means little in the grand scope of my reading habits.
One shelving unit upstairs, which acts as an additional headboard/room divider, contains more non-fiction (most of these related to 'the biz,' writing and how to keep hold of money), all my sheet music and instructional piano materials, a gothic-horror section, an historical fiction section, and my American Lit section... with a topper of myths, fairytales and huge anthologies.
The final bookshelf, my favorite shelf in terms of placement and scope, contains many, many books divided by subject per shelf. Top shelf is theatre, poetry, journals and spill from the shelf below which is... British Literature. Below that, at eye-level-for-my-midget-self, sit every copy of Dracula I own plus research books, related vampire novels, etc. Next is the King family shelf: Uncle Stevie, Tabby, Joe and Owen. Down one more, at rugrat level, are my youth novels (the entire Harry Potter & Lemony Snicket series, plus half a dozen Roald Dahl books and the Inkheart trilogy included). Bottoming out in the best way, the last shelf holds my Tolkien & Jasper Fforde collections, along with gothic mysteries/adventures by Louis Bayard, Matthew Pearl, Ellis Peters and Arturo Perez-Reverte.

I think 'eclectic' and 'voracious' are choice terms for my shelves on first glance. Anyone who pays particular attention will notice a trend towards darker, gothic, macabre fiction (hello Dracula and King family shelves), but not slasher-fic. It's also a collection of books for book lovers with a slant towards historical and fantasy fiction -- but not high-fantasy. There's a lot of epic/series collections included as well.
So what would other people think? Generally?
This bitch has a shit ton of books.

And they'd be right.

Reading/Book Meme

Since sometimes the writer's block keeps your focus on anything except what you should focus on, there will be occasional (hopefully very occasional) memes to give a little insight into my background and mask my blocks and/or current apathy.

1. Do you snack while you read? If so, favorite reading snack?
Depends where I’m reading, and what. However, I have been known to indulge, yes. Sometimes one needs biscuits or salty snacks to go with tea... or chocolate. Dark, dark chocolate.

2. What is your favorite drink while reading?
See above, re: tea.

3. Do you tend to mark your books as you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
I did in college, but it still bothers me some. I prefer to take notes either in a notebook or on my laptop.

4. How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ear? Laying the book flat open?
Yes. Guilty of all. I tend to use random scraps of paper as bookmarks, but in lieu will dog ear or lay open... only with paperbacks though. Hardcovers require some form of non-damaging marker.

5. Fiction, Non-Fiction, or Both?
Fiction. I know I should read more non-fiction, but when I want to read most often it is because I want to escape. It’s difficult to escape in non-fiction.

6. Are you a person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere?
I try to make it to a chapter end, but I’ll stop wherever is necessary.

7. Are you a person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you?
Oh. Hell. Yes. It’s rare I get that worked up. Very rare. But it has been known to happen... (Joseph Andrews, Wuthering Heights, a couple Dracula-related novels, etc.)

8. If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?
Not typically. I usually figure it out from context, but in the rare instance I don’t I may look it up, especially if I’m near Google.

9. What are you currently reading?
Fred Saberhagen’s The Dracula Tape, the Norton Critical Dracula, Leslie Klinger’s annotated Dracula and Syrie James’ Dracula, My Love (is there a theme there?)

10. What is the last book you bought?
Dracula, My Love

11. Are you a person that reads one book at a time, or can you read more than one?
See #9

12. Do you have a favorite time/place to read?
Always? Is always an acceptable answer? I tend to read at night, in bed and recently at work during breaks, outside.

13. Do you prefer series books or stand-alones?
It just depends on the story and characters. Some stories you can tell in one book and I’ll be satisfied. Others by nature require multiple books and I only doubt my liking for them when it takes too long to get the next book in the series (*cough* Jasper Fforde and Kate Cary *cough*).

14. Is there a specific book or author you find yourself recommending over and over?
I always recommend Dracula (surprise!). I tend to ask what someone likes before offering recommendations, but I often recommend various books by Stephen King, Richard Matheson, Jasper Fforde, and my favorite books by women: The Scarlet Pimpernel and The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.

15. How do you organize your books? By genre, title, author's last name, etc?
Genre... then, depending on the genre I go by author or chronology (yes, my 18th-19th century English literature section is organized chronologically).