On Reading

Over on Goodreads they have a reading challenge that starts at the first of the year. Last year my goal was 35 books, I read 52, a book a week, not too shabby. Although I did talk to someone the other day that scoffed at the number before she knew I was proud of it. To call her an avid reader is like saying cats like to sleep.

I'm on track with my reading goal so far. I hit the mid point just as the year hit the mid point. I've been behind a couple of times but have ramped right back up. I'm pretty happy about it.

I've told you before I read the same way I knit. I currently have four books going, one audio, one kindle, and two paper. I have found that the media helps keep stories separate. My two paper books were ill timed since they are the same author just different series. I could have used media to keep them separate.

I really like reading romances on my kindle so I don't have to hide the cover of the book. I never like people knowing I was reading about heaving bosoms. Even when I was not reading about bosoms, it is assumed romance novels are just trashy. Personally I like my books to have a plot, even if it includes a lot of swooning. I just started Desperate Duchesses by Eloisa James. I had started the third book in the series before I realized it was a series.

So tell me if I am the only one, when I find a series of books, I usually do some research and start from the beginning. This can be problematic especially with a long series since hopefully authors hone their skill as they write. The books should steady improve. But how many and how bad to they have to be to stop you from going on with a series? Recently if I had only listened to the first book in a series (Hamish MacBeth by M.C. Beaton) I never would have continued. Since it was a package deal and I was running low on audio books I listened to the slightly better second book. I am still rather torn if I will continue.

What is the harm of starting with the best book first? Well there is really no harm just a big part of me that likes to read them as the author wrote them. By doing this how many good books have I talked myself out of reading? Surely the best book of a series is rarely the first or second book. Why should I struggle through the bad when I could just skip it? Get to the part of the story that I am drawn to, not the endless introductions.

Yeah I have not found the answer to that one yet. I did try skipping ahead in a series to a title I've always been drawn to, I did not like it. (Sticks & Scones by Diane Mott Davidson) Sometimes the author may improve but I still don't want to spend time with the characters they've created.

And the whole never ending love/like triangle? Joanne Fluke, I'm looking at you. Don't even get me started! Pick a dude damn it. Which one will it be? Will she won't she? I certainly know who won't...me.

And speaking of things that annoy me...cliffhangers. (OK this one is directed at a TV show.) A very big part of me views this as a lazy storyteller. If you can not write an ending, I certainly am not going to supply one. I know I am probably in the minority on that issue.

Sometimes I like to read about things that I would never ever do, climbing Mt. Everest (Into Thin Air), hiking the Pacific Coast Trail (Wild), biking cross country (I forget the title). For the most part I enjoyed these books because they were the type of adventure I enjoy...arm chair.

You can lose yourself in a place that you would not normally be. Plus you get to meet people that you would never want to actually spend time with.

Oddly enough books are one of the ways that my sister and I connect even though we have wildly different tastes. I can thank her for getting me into mysteries and detectives again.

Anyways that is what I've been thinking about and reading recently.

Reading sickness?

My reading is off kilter. I can not seem to enjoy and really get into a book right now. I'm still reading them but it is feeling like a slog fest. You know when you're sick and nothing tastes right or even good? I think I may have reading sickness.

It may be due to saturation. I found a couple of series that I jumped into, the problem is they are all similar; strong female character, solving a problem, usually set after one of the World Wars. They're good books don't get me wrong but I think I should take a genre break. 

Then I moved on to a different kind of story, Orphan Train by Christina Baker Kline. I enjoyed it for a bit then I made the mistake of reading a few reviews. I should never ever read reviews while I am reading the book. People are pointing out, the overabundance of bad foster moms in this story. Other than the two main characters all the women I've met are really pathetic people. I am hoping I can power through this element but whew, I am finding it hard to continue. 

I'm starting a new book on my Kindle too so maybe that will help my reading sickness. A little fresh food for thought. 

I did happen to come across a discussion online about audiobooks being considered reading or not. I guess you could argue that it is not technically reading since you're not converting words on a page into thoughts and understanding. But I can tell you I'm counting my audiobooks as books read during my 2014 reading challenge on Goodreads. Especially since six of the eight have been audio. I'd be in a bit of a conundrum if I threw out all the audiobooks. I was surprised to find I read 34 books last year. I am having fun tracking my book consumption. What can I say I've always been a book consumer. Now I just have so many more ways of taking them in. 

Books are good even when you're not "in love" with them.

Good reading

While camping I rediscovered my first love, you know before I became a knitter and got all yarn obsessed? Reading, I have always been a reader. You could usually find me outside with a book when we lived on the farm.

Sorta looked like this.

I may not have knit much while camping but I got through a book and a half. I found the realization that I read like I knit humorous. I have a few books in progress scattered around the house. I'm usually reading 4-6 books at any given time, some more actively than others. Some have been kicked under the couch and forgotten. Similar to my next to knit list, I have a stack of books in my mental next to read pile, my ever changing next to read pile.

So now I've joined Goodreads.com. I am Yarnkettle there also, if you want to look me up. Initially I joined to see how other people reviewed books. It had quite a few user reviews and they do not really follow any certain format. I don't think I have the site figured out or that I am using it to its fullest potential. I tend to flounder around on social sites. The social element leaves me mystified. I am hoping to find some people who share my taste in books, so that I may mine them for book recommendations.

Recommendations because I am always looking for new books that I will enjoy. I can tell what is popular on Amazon, but it does not mean I will enjoy reading it. I am not a fan of many popular books or authors. I'll give you my most recent example, 50 Shades of Grey. The three books in this series have held the top spots for weeks now. People who I've never heard talking about books are reading them and talking about them. Does that mean I am going to? Nope. I have a low tolerance for tortured souls in books, especially if it meets my definition of an abusive relationship. Also if I wanted to read erotica I would read erotica, not a thinly veiled version of it. A lady I know described it as a great trashy romance. But the thing is, as D said, "You like romance not trashy romance." This does not mean that you can not read the books and enjoy them. Just don't ask me to wax poetic with you about them. Life is too short to read something you don't enjoy.

I also wondered over to one of my favorite places (my library) and picked up a couple of copies of the magazine Bookmarks. Who knew a magazine listing and reviewing book after book could be so interesting. They give a nice basic evaluation of several books in all different genres. No pretension or high handed judgement here, just talk by people who love books for other people who love books. Plus it keeps reminding me of books that I've been meaning to read, how cool is that?

I'm still listening to The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society and am so excited to talk about it. On one hand I want to be done so that I know how it all turns out but on the other it will feel like I am losing a group of friends. Great books alway do that to me. Guess that is why I read so many series, I get to stay with the characters longer.

What am I reading?

No, it is not a judgement question just thought you might like to know which books are strewn across the house/my life.

In the car I am listening to 1st to die by James Patterson. It is going OK. This is the first mystery I've read by him. I am a bit creeped out by the thought of a serial killer of newly wed couples. It is a bit different to know who the killer is from the beginning. I am  a "try to figure it out" person so I'm feeling a tad adrift without something to figure out. So I'll let you know how I liked it.

D's influence book: Hands of my Father: A Hearing Boy, His Deaf Parents, and the Language of Love by Myron Uhlberg. It is a memoir, set in the 30's and 40's so far. The son acts as their interpreter from a very young age. He talks of how difficult it is to be treated as an adult one moment then be a kid again the next. I think confusing would be an understatement. I have a tough time with memoirs. I am always afraid that something really bad is going to happen. I don't know why I make the association, maybe because it is not just a book?

In the special reading room aka the toilet. What I read in the bathroom, I like to use my time efficiently, Agatha Christie's After the Funeral. Now this one is a whodunit. No, I don't know who it is yet and I am more than halfway. Yes, I am a little disappointed in myself. Heaven forbid I loose my special talent. How would I be able to annoy D, if I could not call the ending?

By the bed: Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows by JK Rowling. We were discussing this series the other night and I remember the ending but not that much else. I think I wanted to know how it would all play out so bad that I was supersonic speed reading. So far it is putting me to sleep after a couple of pages. Which is what I want sort of. At this rate it will take me quite a while to reread it. Ah there are worse things in life, like way too expensive yarn that you want.

There is also a romance novel by the bed but I must be really tired lately, because that did not grab my attention either. I put it down to read Harry Potter.

Has anyone read Anne of Green Gables? I ran across the PBS airing of the mini series and fell in love. Now I want to read the books. It reminded me of the Little House on the Prairie series by Laura Ingalls Wilder. I loved those books so much.

I don't even have any books at work for lunch time reading. I guess I am too busy knitting instead?

One up, one down

I forgot to tell you the meds are working for Gus. No barfs and we have his appetite and personality back. I can not tell you how happy that makes me. I do think it makes him happier. After one bad day he has been taking his pills like a champ. He does not like them but he takes them. I knew chances were good that he would forgive me for being "the evil pill chucker" when he brought me his favorite rat.

I would be the down one. We helped clean up the grounds at church on Saturday and boy am I feeling it. I think my right hamstring is 2 inches shorter. My walk looks a bit like Frankenstein's, minus the arms and the ughhhhs.

I must be feeling pained because I decided today that I would read Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy this summer. Of course I promptly went to the library on my way home and picked up a bunch of books that were not that one. Denial is not just a river in Egypt!

I have discovered my library has books on blogging, so I checked out half them. Sometimes it is like I think the knowledge will seep into me if I bring them home with me. I forget to actually sit down and read them. I'm hoping to pick up some tips and suggestions that will help me here. Maybe I will even learn how to use HTML. Boy do I sound ambitious.

We were at the bookstore this weekend and I still have a gift card from my birthday burning a hole in my purse. Who knew free money is even hard for me to spend. I find things that I like but then think I should check at the library to see if they have it first. Why spend money on something I can get for free.

Do you ever see people in bookstores buying big stacks of books? That would never be me. I love books but I know my tastes are way too eclectic. It is a case of my eyes being bigger than my attention span. I always feel bad when I spend money on a book that I don't like. Seems like such a waste to me. Add to that I am not what I would call an intellectual and we have a case of book buyer's remorse.

Have you ever read a page of a novel several times trying to figure out what they are talking about, when all they are doing is going to the store? Seriously a whole page telling me that, in words that I assume even you had to look up in the dictionary and thesaurus? I get it you're smarter than me can you just tell the story? I've learned to read book reviews and synopsis the way I read wine bottles. The word tannin on a bottle of wine will get my attention, if it is not preceded by the words soft or well rounded, that bottle is back on the shelf. The words satire and literary do the same for me with books.

What can I say I am a simple girl. One that has read Crime and Punishment and The Count of Monte Cristo but simple non the less.

Biking

So it was a lovely day here so I decided the bike and I should make the first trip of the season to the library. Hubby had a friend over to work on his bike so I had the pedals changed out on mine. A friend is loaning me his old cage type pedals. We swapped them out and I loaded up and was off.

I quickly realized that I had not used the special "biking" area of my bum for the winter. My body was quick to point out we had not done this in quite a while. It certainly makes you aware of areas the you do not want to be aware of. I don't think I chose the right shoes either. My feet were yelling at me half way there. Something about new pedals and not feeling the same. Oh I pulled of a halfer run too. I could not get the left pedal to flip over so I could slide my foot in so I decided to ride that way. I figured it was safer that way while I'm learning the new pedals. Easier to just step down with one foot rather than having to figure out how to kick out of the cage while riding. One skill at a time.

I think I went at a good clip for the first ride of the season. 10-14 miles per hour was good enough to get me to the library before it closed. I do really love the feeling of biking. Such freedom, at least I feel free when I'm not surrounded by traffic.

The funny thing is that I have a beautiful blue bike but all my accessories (helmut and road ID band) are red. Does that mean my next bike will be red or am I just tragically unhip? I am planning to knit long cycling socks in blue but now I think I may have to make them red to match the rest of my gear. But you know how difficult it is to match shaded of red.

I have learned that it is very important what books you choose when you ride there rather than drive there. Your books go on your back in the first scenario, and in the back seat in the second scenario. Weight and bulk become my deciding factor. No War and Peace for me this visit. Well actually no Russian literature at all this visit, they seem to write a lot when telling a story.

Also I don't pick up any "just for the fun of it" books, as I never really get around to reading these books while they are in my house. You know library books that talk about subjects that you're mildly interested in, but not enough to really go out and buy the book, Poker, gardening, various cookbooks. Hubby just gives me a look when I pick up books like that. "Really honey you want to learn about fly fishing? Are you really going to read that?" Usually I do not, the book just has a nice vacation in my house for a month with no one bothering it. I think I am trying to make up for lost time when I did not have access to a good library. At least now I'm not paying late fees anymore, so it really does not cost us anything, other than taxes but we were paying those anyways.

Oh I forgot to tell you my current book on CD in the car is The Masque of the Black Tulip by Lauren Willig. I am enjoying it more than I thought I would, which is quite a bit. It is the second in a series but I have not read the first one. The story is moving along at a good clip so that makes me happy.

Happy reading and biking all!

A general update of me

I learned a new heel for my socks. This is a short row heel. I'm still not sure if I like it but I must do at least one more, for the other sock of course.

Youtube is an amazing thing. I kept reading the directions for this heel and could not understand it. I watch a couple of videos on youtube and I am off and running. To bad I was off and running in the wrong direction. I did not get very far before I realized there was a mistake and worked back to me starting point. I watched the video again and was off yet again this time in the right direction.

So one new thing learned this summer. Now I can mark that off my never ending ways to improve myself list. Sometimes I improve myself in small ways sometimes in big ways, sometimes I just think I improve myself, ha.

Oh I finished reading "The Princess Bride" today also. The movie was fairly true to the book. Mostly it was shortening the story for time in the movie. I don't think I like the author commenting on everything. Maybe because he seemed rather snarky to me.

I was suffering from a migraine this week so Crime and Punishment was turned off in the car the past couple of days, so no progress in that area.

I have always been a person that can read multiple books at the same time. Well not at the same time exactly, but I usually have one story going at home, one story at work for lunchtime and recently one audio one going in the car as I travel. My sister thought it was weird as we were growing up but I think she does the same thing now that she waits for my nephew at soccer games. My poor sister had to share a room with me while we were growing up. We are very unlike each other especially during that time. Now my nephew has a lot of my personality traits. I do believe that is ironic. She waited so long to be able to move away from her annoying little sister only to have a kid very reminiscent. And that is why I know God has a wicked sense of humor.

Happy day before the fourth of July everybody!