Category Archives: reading

September 19, 2013   Jessica   Jessica, reading, timing  
2

Reading Fast and Slow

I am a person sensitive to time pressures. At the time of this writing, it is nearly 11 pm, my blog post is late, and I have two manuscripts to read this evening.  When I am feeling especially harried–flooring it en route to pick up my sons, scrolling through my inbox, willing the train to move more quickly–I try and remind myself (deep inhale) that time is a construct, and therefore I ought not  fret about something that is essentially made-up (slow exhale).  This rationalization is not particularly effective, because it leads to a mind-bogglingly long chain of other important things that are also constructs (money, manners, the idea that television is now “really good”) and I find I have fallen into a deconstructionist wormhole from which I must emerge post-haste if I want to get anything done.  Still, much as  I acknowledge the universality of busyness and the supremacy of schedules , I think the idea of posting reading times on books, as discussed here in this piece from Publishing Perspectives http://publishingperspectives.com/2013/09/should-books-tell-you-how-long-it-will-take-to-read-them  is ludicrous. Maybe even flat-out wrong.

Perhaps reading speed is less variable than I believe, though I know that how quickly I read has everything to do what I’m reading, but even if most people read at more or less the same pace so that these estimates are accurate,  a time stamp seems awfully reductive.  It undermines what is one of the principle joys of a good book—that while immersed in one, we lose all sense of time.  So sure, a  book might take six hours to finish, and maybe someone will next figure out the actual per person cost of those book reading hours so we can figure out how to schedule our lives most efficiently, but I think it is impossible to quantify the experience of reading.

What do you think? Does knowing the reading time of an article affects your willingness to read it? What about a book?

September 06, 2013   Lauren   book club, fun, Lauren, reading  
4

I didn’t finish it.

As the world’s most instinctively contrary human being (so contrary that upon writing that I thought “Well, surely not the world’s most…”), I’m not really the best at Obligation Reading.  But apparently I’m also a masochist, because in addition to actively pursuing a job where I read for a living, thus extending 18 years of school required reading right on through to retirement, I also started a book club amongst my friends specifically to force myself to read things I might not otherwise choose.  Well, that and to exploit my friends for market research.  95% of the time, on seeing the selection, my brain says, “But I don’t wanna!”  Even with books that are actually on my very long to read list.  I have to actively remind myself that I do wanna.  I mean, I might even have already bought it.

Such is the conundrum I’ve faced with the selection for this weekend’s book club meeting: Kate Atkinson’s Life After Life.  I was already curious about it when my friend Nell picked it.  I hadn’t bought it yet, but I’d added it to a To Buy list I keep on my phone (for emergencies).  And not only that, it’s published by Reagan Arthur, who has excellent taste, so that’s an obvious point in its favor.  And yet…I haven’t even peeked at the cover page.  I bought it and immediately lent it out to my friend Rachael to buy myself some time.  I’ve read a million manuscripts and five published books since purchasing it a little more than a month ago.  I’ve carried it to and from City Island in the Bronx, Red Bull Arena in New Jersey, and a wedding weekend in Washington, DC, without so much as a glance at the cover copy.  Even though I want to read it and hear it’s great and am sure I’ll enjoy it and a group of people I convened for the sole purpose of reading books and discussing them together will be meeting up on Sunday with this in hand, I just…haven’t.  My random and arbitrary stubborn streak has kept me away.

So I did the right thing and bowed out of book club for this round.  No sooner had I done so then my friend and fellow book club participant Andrea posted this video on Facebook, so it’s probably for the best I didn’t try to fake it:

 

(In case you’re wondering, I’m the one who aggressively makes people write their questions down.  Which is annoying, but hey, I still have never shot anyone, right?)

 

P.S.  RIP Summer Fridays.  We hardly knew ye.

August 30, 2013   Rachel   Rachel S., reading, word count  
1

Books, always being tricky

It’s common fact that we all judge books by their covers, but I know that I at least also make some pretty unfounded assumptions about a potential literary purchase based on its size. While I might be excited to dive into a lengthy tome if the subject interests me, it’s never one that I’ll expect to be “fun.” Small font, tissue-thin paper and a high page count might be impressive and I’ll probably feel a bit braggy for reading it in public, but the long, important looking books that end up being pulpy or zany or funny or really anything other than literary intellectual heavyweights are always a surprise.

I’ve talked before about being deceived by Donna Tartt’s The Secret History and I still think it’s the perfect example of a dull, yet intelligent looking book that turned out to be a completely engrossing, witty, darkly comic book about some crazy college kids that still reigns as one of my favorites today.

Publishers Weekly approached the topic with their announcement of the publication of A to ‘Zibaldone’, a collection of thoughts, musings and extrapolations from the notebooks of Gicomo Leopardi, who died way back in 1837. This tome weighs in at a whopping 2,500 pages and given the one line description, it’s definitely not something I would consider for completely pleasurable reading. However, the book is apparently incredibly engaging! PW calls is a “nightstand book rather than a doorstopper” and even recommends it as a possible beach read…providing you have the upper arm strength and bag room to lug it around.

The assumption of course goes the other way, too, as there are plenty of tiny books I’ve picked up on a whim only to find them impossible to get into or sometimes even understand.

How about you? Are you intimidated by a high page count? What books have surprised you by completely betraying the prejudice of their length?

August 27, 2013   sharon   book club, fun, reading, Sharon  
0

I Love My Book Club

My book club just had its first birthday! We’ve read some really fantastic stuff this year – new releases and backlist – and even attended a few author events. And we’ve mostly agreed about the books we’ve read. We all loved one book, thought another was overhyped, were confused by one and inspired by the next.

But our last meeting, well, this time it wasn’t quite what I was expecting. Some of us loved the book selection, and some of us hated it. As we talked it over, we all agreed that it wasn’t a very good book – it suffered from a lot of trouble with the plotting, and rather lazy character development. But because of our different backgrounds, our own separate childhood memories and adult experiences, we all had very unique reactions to the elements of the story. One of us grew up in a small town similar to the book’s setting. Another pointed out an interpretation of the ending based on her volunteer experience as a domestic violence counselor. And I found the book a great disappointment because I loved the author’s previous novel. Luckily we’re all genteel, sophisticated ladies, so our conversation didn’t come to blows or tears!

Reading is so very personal, even when you’re reading “socially,” like in a book club or a blog read-a-long. That’s what makes it so much fun to talk about the books we read! So I recommend you find a book club to join, or start one. And don’t forget the most important part of any club – the snacks!

August 23, 2013   Lauren   fun, Lauren, reading, vacation  
0

Summer reading

Thanks again to everyone who made recommendations here and on Twitter for my vacation reading.  While in Greece, I ended up devouring the phenomenal Where’d You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple; enjoying the impressive and delightful History of Love by Nicole Krauss; dipping in and out of Joan Didion’s The White Album, which I’d somehow never read, but mostly really liked; and immersing myself in Jorge Luis Borges’s A Personal Anthology.  Plus I got through a healthy chunk of Tao Lin’s very engaging Taipei, which I hope to finish reading this weekend.

These might be somewhat atypical vacation reads.  Mostly I want something that will keep me from watching bad movies on the plane (though I did watch one of those anyway, plus another that was a likably ambitious failure) and entice me away from a mid-afternoon nap.  Something that will hold my attention so well that I’m grateful for an extra hour spent on the runway or an unexpected delay.  I usually try to pack away some things that I’ve been meaning to get to for a while but keep letting slip by me.  If I can trim down those teetering piles that look guiltily at me from all around my apartment and office, I get to experience the illusion of progress while simultaneously enjoying myself. Since I like to compete with myself, I like ‘em short and digestible enough that I can read a whole bunch of books instead of just one or two.  I also tend to steer clear of things that are very much like what I read for work, so there’s not as much commercial fiction or YA as I’d normally read throughout the year.  And I always try to get in at least one book that publishing is buzzing about, so I’ll have something current to chat knowledgably about at lunches and parties.

But judging by the airport bookstores, these aren’t exactly the average person’s criteria.  And understandably so.  So what have you tackled this summer, and how did you pick?

BTW, have you been to Greece?  If not, I highly recommend it.  It’s exactly what you think it will be, in the best possible way.  If you go, be sure to make it to the Temple of Poseidon in Cape Sounion, where you can see Lord Byron’s graffiti carved into a column!  Such a delinquent.  Check out his handiwork:

In the close-up, look for “Byron” just below the center of the photo.  It’s in the part that’s lighter than the rest.  I’m guessing that back when you used to be able to walk right up to it, people took rubbings of the impression or something.  If I had a time machine, I’d go back to the time before we preserved art and history quite so carefully and do a world tour of all those things that are behind barriers and glass now.  I wanna stand in the middle of Stonehenge, dammit.

August 16, 2013   Rachel   fun, Rachel S., reading  
2

Cats! Books! Friday!

I’m often made fun of for not being very good at the internet. By that I don’t mean being incapable of Googling or not knowing how to properly use email, but that I often pick out what I think are hilarious and timely gifs or videos only to be told, mockingly, that these things are in fact ancient. I endure this steadily from family and friends, figuring it’s better to be good at tangible, real life things anyway.

That being said, did you guys know that cats are pretty much the internet’s favorite things? And since books are our favorite things, I figured if we combine the two, then I’ll have rocketed this blog up into cool things on the internet.

Cats and books aren’t a new phenomenon, really. Pets in general have often played a central role in literature, and are commonly even the complete focal point of some of the most popular or tear-jerking literature out there. We had a reading teacher in sixth grade who cried reading aloud every time we got to the point where one of the dogs died in Where the Red Fern Grows, no matter she’d been teaching the book for over a decade.

Characters like the Chesire Cat have grown into common vernacular references, his grin in particular used to symbolize untrustworthy folk. Those Harry Potter fans among us (and get out if you’re not) will know that Hermione’s Crookshanks played a vital role in the series—and was probably forced to spend a whole lot of time around massive stacks of books as well, considering his owner’s penchant for research.

I’m pretty sure cats themselves can’t actually read, but here are a few who would rather spend some time with a book instead of being featured in one.

There’s this cat who will soon take over the world:

 

This guy, who is probably more pretentious than I could ever hope to be:

 

This one who would really prefer you leave him alone while he’s reading:

 

He clearly forgot that it’s almost impossible to read in the sunlight without blinding yourself if you aren’t wearing sunglasses:

 

This kitty looks scandalized, and I’d like to know why:

 

 

Happy Friday everyone, get some reading in, pet a cat (or actually, don’t. I don’t really like cats), and pretty much, just enjoy your weekend!

August 13, 2013   sharon   fun, optimism, reading, Sharon  
0

Read-A-Thon

The other weekend I participated in a Read-a-thon. Organized by some book bloggers that I follow, the Read-a-thon goal was a relatively unambitious 24-in-48. That is, read for 24 hours out of a 48-hour weekend. And yes, I said unambitious – there are Read-a-thons out there that are 24-in-24!

It’s been a hectic summer, so I liked the idea of a quiet weekend with nothing to do but read. Can’t do laundry, won’t go grocery shopping, so much for vacuuming the apartment – I’m busy with a Read-a-thon, thank you. (It’s like a marathon, but less chafing.)

Though once I started reading on the clock, I was infinitely distracted. Keeping track of my time spent reading paradoxically made it really difficult to spend time reading. Better make a snack. Oops, forgot to update my Goodreads lists. Time for more coffee. Maybe I should check out the blogs of the other Read-a-thonners. I was hyperconscious of the Read-a-thon’s 48 hours ticking by, and couldn’t quite lose myself in any of the excellent books I had piled up.

In the end, it was still a lovely weekend of reading, though my hours logged won’t win me any medals.

Anyone else done a Read-a-thon? Any tips for reading against the clock?

August 06, 2013   mhoogland   advice, audio, fun, guilty pleasures, Mike H, opinion, reading, recommendations, suggestions, timing  
3

Look ma’, no hands!

Lately, I’ve been reading with no hands. Well technically I’ve been listening with no hands, but that’s a far less impressive feat. Essentially, I’ve become an audiobook junkie.

Many of my colleagues have asked for recommendations about what to read on vacation. Suggestions range, but notice the common element here? Vacation. There’s a reason people read a lot on vacations. It’s relaxing, it’s enjoyable, and I can’t stress this enough: people have the time.

But what about if you just can’t find the time to pick up a book during the work week? What if you’re like me and you wake at 5:00 am, go to the gym, head off to work, head home, eat dinner, and then go to bed?

I’ve found that audiobooks are actually very enjoyable to listen to, and they’ve quenched my thirst to read quite nicely. Don’t get me wrong, it’s not the same, but my morning workouts, commute, and dinner are now all enjoyed while “reading.” Suddenly, I have all the time in the world to enjoy a good book. Granted, some genres are generally easier to listen to than others, but that’s a topic for another post.

How about you guys? Ever listen to an audiobook? I’m currently looking for my next good listen. Suggestions?

July 30, 2013   sharon   hand-selling, reading, recommendations, Sharon, suggestions  
2

Who do you call? (Not Ghostbusters)

When you’re looking for a new book to read, who do you listen to? The broad selection of books can be overwhelming – walk into a bookstore and you’re confronted by table after table, shelf after shelf, of unopened books with the fresh smell of ink luring you towards them. Or turn on your e-reader and scroll through the e-bookstore, cover after exciting cover designed especially to catch your eye and pull your thumb to the “Buy” button.

So how do you choose? Do you ask friends and coworkers what they’ve loved? If so, maybe you have certain friends that you can count on to recommend a read that’s just up your alley…and certain others whom you have learned the hard way never to ask for a suggestions. What if your brother only reads really gritty war novels, but you’re looking for something cheery for the beach. Or the woman next door churns through self-improvement titles when you really want the next meaty political memoir. After all, one reader’s trash is another reader’s literary treasure.

Maybe you play it safe by checking reviews online, or asking a bookseller. Most booksellers are in it for the love of it – nothing makes their eyes light up like being asked what they’ve read recently. Same goes for reviewers, whether it’s the venerable New York Times Book Review, The Millions webmag, or a YA reader active on Goodreads. Lauren recently asked all of you blog readers for suggestions, while I myself rely on an even mix of what’s buzzy on Twitter, what’s new at the library, what my friends in publishing are excited about, and whatever catches my eye during my weekend used bookstore prowls.

Where did you hear about the last book you read?

July 26, 2013   Lauren   advice, Lauren, reading, vacation  
14

Help wanted

It’s that time of year again.  As I’m now just a week away from my vacation, I’m starting to worry about the most important detail: what to read.  Packing can be done on Thursday night, travel guides can be read on the plane, but sensible book planning takes time and care.

Except my brain is fried, and I need your help, please.  I just can’t decide which books to bring.  Here are my requirements:

  • Available in paperback, acquirable in NYC online or otherwise within a week. (I know, I know, vacations are what e-books are made for! But I’m a trade paperback girl at heart, and reading e-books feels like work because that’s how I read manuscripts.)
  • Engaging, compelling, engrossing—fiction or nonfiction, any category, light and hilarious or dark and serious, as long as my mind doesn’t wander from the page.
  • Not a massive doorstop, since I’d like to fit a few books and not have to check bags. (A girl can dream.)
  • Bonus points for a book that takes place in Greece, my destination, that I can start on the plane to psych myself up for the trip!

So while I’m daydreaming about white-washed houses, blue-domed churches, and Byron-graffitied temples, won’t you please offer up some great reads for me to enjoy?

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