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Thursday, February 19, 2009

Question: Do you read books?

Obviously you read; you're here.  Or maybe you're just looking at the pictures.  Do you still read paper things with pages?  What are you reading?  Spend money on books?  I need to know.

31 comments:

Patches said...

I'm kind of a book nut. I looooove reading. I read the Twilight Saga, which was fabulous, but I think you've already read that. The Host, also by Stephenie Meyer was really good too. Dan Brown's books are pretty good: Angels and Demons, DaVinci Code, etc. PS I Love You was sappy but good. If you want some good vampire action and smut then JR Ward's books are good (Amers blogged about them), I'm currently plowing thru that series. The Memory Makers Daughter was a little slow, but good. Don't remember the author. Laura Crum's Gail McCarthy series is alright, just because it's based in the horsey world. They are decent mystery novels. That's all I can think of right now.

I think I spend way too much money on books, but I'd rather read then watch tv any day!

Tammy Vasa said...

Unless I'm in a plane, I hardly ever read a book anymore. I've gone electronic. I can read someone's blog or a short story on line -- just don't have time for long books anymore....

Marni said...

Got three going right now...

Catcher in the Rye
The Watchmen
Chronicles of Vladmir Tod: Ninth Grade... (I can't remember!)

The last is a young adult... the first of the series was Eigth Grade Bites... he's a vampire. FUN!!!

Kerri said...

I've spent gobs of $$$ on books lately. Just finished Looking for Alaska, The Underneath, Lottery, A Certain Slant of Light, The Minister's Daughter, Marlowe's Doctor Faustus (okay, that's a play in a university english course anthology). Now I'm working on the The Last Witchfinder. Written totally different from anything I've read.

Heidi the Hick said...

Interesting...

Patches- Yes, I read the whole Twilight story. I couldn't put it down - really sucked me in, pardon the pun! Of course I have all kinds of issues and mixed feelings about the love story and how controlling he is, but Stephenie Meyer sure knows how to write a page turner. Same with Da Vinci Code; although I thought the characters were kinda boring, the crazy treasure hunt aspect was fun! Angels and Demons is on my To Be REad shelf.

I've only heard of Laura Crum's series through the blog network, and I need to check it out.

I don't watch much TV anymore. It's either internet or reading.

Tammy, I think that's something a lot of people are facing; time is so short that to sit down and get into a book is difficult. My husband only reads what he can get on his iPhone...

Marni- three books at once! Just one more reason why I think you're so cool! I just read Catcher in the Rye. I thought the voice was perfect. Like, hardly anything happens in that book but I had to know what that kid was thinking about. I've heard Vladimir Tod is really funny, so it'll probably end up in our house at some point.

Kerri- do you keep track of what you've read? I write them down when Im done and have for three years. It's been interesting. How long do you usually spend reading each book?

Heidi the Hick said...

A short sample of books on my To Be Read Shelf:

THE KEY TO ATEN and RETURN TO ATEN by Lynn Sinclair

M IS FOR MAGIC Neil Gaiman

BE COOL Elmore Leonard

NO COUNTRY FOR OLD MEN Cormac McCarthy

THE WHITE BONE Barbara Gowdy

RAINCLOUD Richard S Todd

ANGELS AND DEMONS Dan Brown

KING LEARY Paul Quarrington

GODS BEHAVING BADLY Marie Phillips

GOD OF ANIMALS Aryn Kyle

SPECIAL TOPICS IN CALAMITY PHYSICS Marisha Pessl

and that is just about half of the books on that groaning overloaded shelf...

Astaryth said...

Books are one of my guilty pleasures. I probably spend more on books a year than I do clothing... In fact, I'm sure I do. LOL! Just started the first Twilight book yesterday. Just finished the first Sookie Stockhouse book. Since both of these are part of series, I know what I'll be picking up at the bookstore for at least the next couple of months. ;p I often feel guilty, but I could have worse addictions!

mugwump said...

I read and I read and I read. I have books stacked by my bed, on the floor, on the kitchen table. We have full to overflowing bookcases in every room.
My daughter moved her dresser to the spare room to have more space in her bedroom, but left her floor to ceiling book case. She has stacks of books on her floor.
I have my own "earned the right to be hardcover" bookcase filled with my treasures. Books I read over and over. My husband has one too.
When I get home tonight I'll lookaround and give you a list....

Michael Colvin said...

We have three bookcases in various parts of the house. They are all crammed full and we have a policy that NO MORE BOOKS are to be allowed in the house until a major book cull is done each year. In reality they seem to sneak into corners and create little piles - neither of us admit to buying them tho.

I am currently reading Stephen King's Duma Key. I've not read horror in a long while and it is a bloody good read. My current all time fave is The Time Travellers Wife.

restoration42 said...

Hello, I'm Cherie and I'm a bookaholic. I've actually been enjoying a recent run of binging on detective novels. I read professional literature, tons of equine related and hoof trimming related stuff, hmmmm, and occasional poetry.

restoration42 said...

Oh, and inbetween all of the above, I read a range of authors . . . a recent favorite "And She Was" by Cindy Dyson. What happens when you mix a woman discovering she can exist without a man, tending bar in a far, far north Alaska town, women surviving, injustices of colonization, and Aleut history. Oh, and with a quirky mystery running throughout.

Heidi Willis said...

Oh! I read Angels and Demons just last week!! It's just as engaging and fast moving as DaVinci Code, with probably less anti-church theology. I really liked it. I have one more of his - Deception Point I think - that I'll get to very soon.

I've been reading fun stuff lately - Crichton, Grisham, Brown. I've got an Elizabeth Berg book going now and Vinegar Hill, which is probably a lot of literary all at once. I thought of your writing while reading Vinegar Hill. Her writing is really beautiful and stark, but I think yours is probably even better.

I read my kids' books too. Ian is reading Dave Barry's Science Fair, which is hilarious, but I have to sneak it out of his backpack at night and get it back by morning, so it's going slowly! :)

I do read a lot of Internet, though, and Entertainment Weekly is small chunks. I like it all!

dilling said...

http://www.flipkart.com/white-tiger-aravind-adiga/8172237456-yv23ftp8lb
and
http://www.flipkart.com/white-tiger-aravind-adiga/8172237456-yv23ftp8lb
currently....i have a drawer full wating after that...

Heidi the Hick said...

Astaryth, yeah I think I spend more on books than clothes too. It's either that or horse stuff, but I don't smoke, so I think my addictions are healthy!

Mugwump, this all sounds familiar. Both of my kids have bookshelves in their rooms, plus the huge bookcase in the living room which is full, one in our bedroom, one in his office one in the corner of the den... and I have "special" spots for my favourite hardcovers. It's borderline crazy!

Michael- the major book cull! Oh it's painful but must be done! Actually I just sneak a few out with every thrift store donation... you know, because so many sneak in mysteriously...

I haven't read Duma Key. Let me know how you like it. I go hot and cold with him. The Time Traveler's Wife is brilliant. Just stunning. I'm still scratching my head trying to figure out how she kept track of it as she was writing it!

Welcome Cherie, I'm a bookaholic too. Let's tell each other that there is no shame in it! I haven't gotten into detective novels but there are often some good non-fiction horse books on my list.

Heidi, I read kid books all the time! Out of the last 15 books 7 were YA or MG. It's usually so much more imaginative and funny. Gotta have that sometimes.

But hey, Stark and Beautiful? I'm all for that! Even if you're makin' me blush! ( I need the compliments today so thank you!)

Biddie said...

I have a pile of books just waiting for me.
I just CAN'T read right now.
Still, they are there waiting for me :)

Heidi the Hick said...

Dilling, where do you find this stuff? It seems like you're always way ahead and know about really cool things before I've even heard of it!

Heidi the Hick said...

Bid, that's the nice thing about books. They don't actually grow legs and walk away!

dilling said...

wait, that's the same book twice!!! this is the other i am reading....
http://www.amazon.com/tag/charles%20schultz/
DANG!!!!!!!!!!!!

Heidi the Hick said...

Oh, I've heard of that one!

I"m relatively cool after all!

restoration42 said...

Now how could I have forgotten the best of the best genre - detective VAMPIRE books. Oh yeah! And none finer than those by Mario Acevedo featuring Felix Gomez who "went to Iraq and came back a vampire."

JKB said...

Obviously, I'm a reader too. I just finished the Hunger Games for the third time (before Kerri wrested it from my clenching hands) and it#s fab.

CindyDianne said...

I just bought and read all four of the Twilight series books in just over a week.

We just bought and are reading Fireproof your life and Fireproof: The Love Dare.

I love spy type fiction in the genre of The Bourne Identity and the like. I read the Bourne series YEARS ago and still wish I could read them more.

I don't read books more than once. Generally.

We are reading the Bible (KB and I) and started in Genesis. I just read Ephesians too.

Kent just read a book called The Shack. He's trying to get me to read it, but I am not so sure.

I am about to have to start reading Planet Law School and various LSAT Prep junk. I have put it off too long...

For a fun, crazy read - The Sweet Potatoes Queen Book of Love. Hysterical. Crazy. It isn't great literature though.

Oh, I've read the Eragon, Eldest books and there is a new one in hardback that I haven't read. I liked them, though I did find Eragon difficult to get into.

Have you read the Anne Rice books? Love them.

CindyDianne said...

Oh, I read all the Dan Brown books. I loved them and can't really watch the movies because I don't want them ruined.

Unknown said...

No need to spend much money on fiction anyway. A trip to your hometown Thrift Store will always yield a gem. Up next for me is,
Catch 22
The Great Gatsby

Unknown said...

I always have a tower of them on my nightstand. Just finished "Elsewhere" & "Dexter in The Dark", am reading "Uglies" (and now will have to read all of Scott Westerfield's books), and I have "Lottery" and "The Idiot Girl and The Flaming Tantrum of Death" waiting for me. (Waiting in the sense that they're bought and paid for-- I sill have tons and tons on my "to buy" list.)

Unknown said...

PS-- "The White Bone" turned me into an elephant freak for life. Have tissue handy though.

marsh to the fore said...

I wish I could say I read a lot but I don't. I am going to go to a blog I saw recently and make a copy of the books mentioned there and start reading them. I read like a crazy fool when I was a kid but now? Not like I should.

What I mean to say is I don't read "good literature" and I know I should. I love any Agatha Christie, or Sherlock Holmes story but, theoretically, at least, there are better books out there.

I have to remember the books I used to read and how much I loved them. I know I'm missing a lot. Does that help?

Heidi the Hick said...

This is so much fun, comparing our books!

I scrounge them up anywhere I can find them. Thrift stores (although I'm fussy about what condition they're in, if I'm gonna be forking over $2.00!) and I like to lurk at the library discard cart. Ten cents for a book! And I do borrow from the library a lot too.

I love the sale table at the book store.

I do feel kinda guilty for that, because I like the idea of paying full pop for a book, knowing that the author gets paid for all their hard work.

But, it's good to read something and recommend it, no matter where I got the book.

As for great literature...

People, we don't always have to read great literature.

Sometimes it's good to just laugh, take a cheap escape, or learn something.

Just read! It's so awesome!

equestrian_librarian said...

Yes, I read tons of books and am a librarian in the public library system in the U.S. Books and horses are my passions. Books about horses are fantastic too! I do dressage so tend to read a lot of horse training books too. Hearts of Horses by Molly Gloss (fiction) is one of my waiting to be read books. Some Willa Cather titles there too (loved My Antonia).

equestrian_librarian said...

Yes, I read tons of books and am a librarian in the public library system in the U.S. Books and horses are my passions. Books about horses are fantastic too! I do dressage so tend to read a lot of horse training books too.

marsh to the fore said...

Heidi, you are right. Read--it is awesome! But good literature has a lot going for it. It stays with you afterwards. I forgot to mention a book I read recently which I could recommend which was sent to me by a friend. It is awesome: the guernsey literary and potato peel pie society.