Musing Mondays: Book Stores

Here is the Musing Monday prompt from the Just One More Page blog:

Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about book stores…

How do you choose what do buy from your local bookstore? Do you have a list, or just browse? What is the selection in your book store like? Do you find what you're looking for? Do you feel pressured to buy the kind of books the store makes prominent? (question courtesy of MizB)

Since I don't drive, I don't go browse at the local bookstores often. The closest shop to me is part of a chain -- Books-A-Million. I only make there about three times a year, and that is usually to buy coffee and a specialty magazine like Vogue Knitting. Since that is all I ever go to the shop for, I guess I always find what I'm looking for!

If you have read any of my three blogs, you know that I have trouble parting with money. I'm not necessarily cheap, but I'm always worried that I will make the wrong decision when spending money. In the case of books, there is also the notion that I will be wasting money because I generally read books only once. Because of all this, I am not tempted by the books that have the big displays at the front of the shop. The books that I usually feel the need to own are manuals that I can use again like cookbooks or knitting books, and that is only after I've checked them out from the library.

Musing Mondays: Reading while sick

This week's prompt, from Just One More Page:

How does your being sick (or injured) affect your reading? Do you read more? Less? Do you pick out a different book than you had already planned? Do you have a "comfort book" that makes you feel better?

I don't tend to read while I'm sick. My illnesses usually involve weakness or dizziness, so focusing my eyes well enough to read is difficult. When I am sick, TV is my friend.

I do have one story about reading while on bed rest, however. When I was pregnant with my first child, I read The Feast of All Saints by Anne Rice. It is one of her few books that isn't about vampires. It was what book bloggers call a chunkster, but since I was on bed rest I had nothing but time. It wasn't a very good book, but I pushed myself to finish it. I have yet to attempt another Anne Rice book because her name will forever be associated with nausea, cramping, and unsatisfactory endings. I'm not sure that I want to taint another author by reading her books while I'm sick!

Musing Mondays: Library books

This week's Musing Mondays prompt, from Just One More Page:

Do you have a system for borrowing out books from the library? Do you know what you're going to borrow before you get there? How often do you borrow out books?

It is rare that I have time to browse the library stacks and pick books at random. ABM used to drop me off once a month for an hour and I would find as many books as I could. With work and kids and such, I don't have the chance to do that any more.

My library's online reserve system, which has only been in place for a little over a year, has been instrumental in bringing more books into my house. I go online and reserve books and ABM picks them up. He likes this because he doesn't have to find time in his schedule to take me to the library; he can just pick them up on the way home. I like it because I no longer feel rushed when picking out books.

Since we have several readers in the house, ABM goes to the library every week. My kids read pretty quickly, so I like to have a fresh supply of books on hand for them. Also, half the books I reserve are rejected as soon as I see them. When I went to the library personally, I could flip through a book and know right away if it was for me. Now I pick books based on a brief description or a friend's recommendation.

The way I reserve books has changed since I started Goodreads. Previously, I would check the library's site for a book as soon as I heard about it and reserve it if they had it. I did this so I wouldn 't forget about the book. Since October, I've been adding books to my Goodreads TBR shelf instead of requesting them right away. Now that I have over 100 titles on the list, my plan for 2009 is to reserve books from the top of the list while adding new books I've heard of to the bottom of the list. I haven't decided yet if I will delete books from the list that aren't available at my library. Maybe I will make a new list for them so I can check the library again later.

Musing Mondays: Recommending books

This week's Musing Monday prompt, from Just One More Page:

How often do you recommend books to others, and who do you recommend them to? Do you only recommend books to your “reading friends” or to anyone you think might find the book interesting? What does it take for a book to make it to your ‘recommendation’ list?

I often read books that I think would be perfect for one of my friends, but I rarely recommend them. Most of my friends say that they are too busy to read. If I suggest a book, my friends smile and say they will give it a try to be polite. Then I am disappointed when they don't really read it.

It makes me a little sad that I don't have anyone to discuss books and TV shows with in my real life. In the past I have watched TV shows I'm not really interested in, like American Idol, just to have something to discuss with my coworkers. Part of the fun of consuming media is being able to share it with others. So those of you who have reading buddies or belong to book clubs, just remember how lucky you are.

Musing Mondays: Reading on the Go

This week's Musing Monday prompt, from Just One More Page:

I always like to have a book with me at all times – call it a nerdy grown-up security blanket – and rarely do I leave the house without slipping one into my bag (even if I KNOW I’m not going to have a chance to read it). Do you take a book with you? Do you take whatever book you’re currently reading, or do you have a special on-the-go book? And do you have a preference for a these types of book (paperback, hardback; short stories; poetry etc)?


Like our Musing Monday hostess, I always tuck something in my bag even if I doubt that I will need it. Since I don't drive and my husband always makes unscheduled stops, I never know when I will end up waiting in the car while he runs into the bank or something. I tend to read one book at a time so I usually take whatever I'm currently reading. The main exceptions are if I am reading a heavy book that will weigh down my purse. Then I will either start a different book for the road or take something different like my knitting or a magazine.

One other criteria for an on-the-go book is that it won't embarrass me. I know it sounds shallow, but I like to take a book with a cover that looks good and has an intriguing title. The how-to books on improving my sex life stay at home :-). A book that makes me look quirky and intelligent is perfect. For instance, out of my current library stack, I would probably take Blue Like Jazz or Julie and Julia and leave the cookbooks and romances at home.

Musing Mondays: Chain Reader?

Here is this week's Musing Monday prompt from Just One More Page:

How long do you wait after finishing a book before you pick/start another one? How many books do you have planned ahead or do you pick up random books from your tbr pile (if you have one)? Do you review right away or keep reading and come back to it later?

1. The amount of time I wait between books mostly depends on how many books I have available. I get all of my reading material from the library, so there is sometimes a gap of a few days if I finish all my books before the Monday library pick-up.

My mood is a factor, as well. I read a book recently that was good but it had unsavory characters that I wanted to get out of my head so I started another book as soon as I could. If I'm reading a series, I want to read one book right after another. Sometimes I find characters that I like so much I want to stick with them, like when I finish off a series or can't get the next book in the series. In that case, I put off reading another book.

2. There isn't much planning that goes into what I read next. I have a TBR list on Goodreads, but I am at the mercy of the library as to what is available. Beyond that, I tend to let my whims carry me. That's probably why I'm not doing so well with my first reading challenge. Even though I picked the books on my list, I'd rather read something else.

3. I try to write my reviews right after reading the book. If I wait even a couple days, the specifics fade from my mind and all I can remember is if I liked it or not.

Musing Monday: Christmas Reading

Today's Musing Monday prompt, found over at Just One More Page:

With the holiday season now upon us, how does it affect your reading? Do you have more, or less, time to read at Christmas? Do you read Christmas themed/related books?

Although I am a Christian, I am also a bit of a curmudgeon. I don't like TV Christmas specials or going to visit relatives and I'm too old to get toys for Christmas. This means I end up bored at the holidays. I'll only be off work for a couple days, but the kids get a two-week break. No pushing the kids to do their homework or pick out clothes means my evenings will be more relaxed. So I make sure to have plenty of reading material available.

What do I read at the holidays? For the past few years, it has been catalogs or magazines. Since I've been getting back into novels this year, I'll probably stock up on some chick lit or Christian romances. I've been working my way through Lori Wick's western romances, so a few more of those will be on the list. I don't read Christmas-related books, though. I don't mind a little mush or melodrama, but the cloying sweetness associated with Christmas is too much for me.

More thoughts on reading crazes

I've been reading the responses on different blogs to this week's Musing Monday prompt, and it made me think of a couple other things.

--Very little of the peer pressure I feel to read a popular book comes from my real-life friends. Even the ones who do read a fair bit don't recommend books to me and they don't seem to keep up with the latest reading fads. I usually feel compelled to jump onto a reading bandwagon by listening to my online friends or coverage in the media. If I hear a book mentioned on more than one talk show, it makes me wonder what I'm missing.

--It occurred to me that one reason people tend to jump on the new hotness in the reading world is to have a talking point with friends. Nowadays, I don't think that people have as many common experiences as they once did when they were clustered in small towns. I admit that there is something fun about reading a book that I know all my friends have read. That's why I keep trying to talk some of my real-life friends into reading novels that I've enjoyed, even ones that aren't the latest craze. I want to hear if certain scenes made them laugh or cry. I want that shared experience.

Musing Monday: Reading Craze

Here is today's Musing Monday prompt from Just One More Page:

How do you feel about wide-spread reading phenomenons - Harry Potter, for instance, or the more current Twilight Saga? Are these books so widely read for a reason, or merely fads or crazes? Do you feel compelled to read - or NOT to read - these books because everyone else is?

I think that there is a reason that books like this are widely read. They may not be great literature, but they must have intriguing plots if so many people are reading them. I recently left a comment to this effect on another blog. People who read these books are often called sheep because they are following the masses in making their reading choices. I have been guilty of saying that myself. When I really think about it, though, no one is going to slog through the seven thick books of the Harry Potter series blindly. Kids and adults who normally get the majority of their entertainment from TV and movies were picking up these books. People who aren't bibliophiles would not have made it through a long book series like that if the plot wasn't sufficient to pull them along.

Whether I feel compelled to read the latest hot book depends on my mood. Some books get so much press that I reject them because they have been overexposed. Other times I succumb to peer pressure and read something because my coworkers have all read it and I want to have something to talk about with them. However, I will not read past the first book of a series if I don't like the writing or the subject, no matter how popular it is. Reading the first book is the act of someone who wants to keep up with current trends; reading all the books is something a fan would do.