Booking Through Thursday!

Since my dog is turning 10 today … what animal-related books have you read? Which do you love? Do you have a favorite literary dog? (Snoopy, anyone?)

My Current Favorite Animal Related Book is The Art of Racing in the Rain by Garth Stein.  It was just a touching story and I really enjoyed and have been recommending it to everyone. I guess I really should post a review for it.  

What about you?  Any favorites?

Booking Through Thursday!

What’s the largest your personal library has ever been? What’s the greatest number of books you’ve ever owned at one time? (Estimates are fine.)

Is your collection NOW the biggest it’s ever been? Or have you down-sized?

What’s the fewest number of books you’ve ever owned (not counting your pre-reading years)?

Well, I am sure that our library is the biggest it has ever been now.  My husband and I quit counting at 1,000 books and there were many many more to be counted.  We have always joked that the biggest investment we have is in books.  My husband rereads a lot so we have multiple copies of a lot of his books.  We have not downsized though I do share more than before and hope they get returned.

I am sure the smallest number we have ever had was when we first got married.  Both of us brought books from before but I would wager we probably had about 100.

What about you? 

Booking Through Thursday

What, if any, kind of music do you listen to when you’re reading? (Given a choice, of course!)

Given the choice none at all.  I am much too focused on what I am reading to even hear what is going on in the background.

What about you?

Booking Through Thursday

With the advent (and growing popularity) of eBooks, I’m seeing more and more articles about how much “better” they can be, because they have the option to be interactive … videos, music, glossaries … all sorts of little extra goodies to help “enhance” your reading experience, rather like listening to the Director’s commentary on a DVD of your favorite movie.

How do you feel about that possibility? Does it excite you in a cutting-edge kind of way? Or does it chill you to the bone because that’s not what reading is ABOUT?

Great question! I think that it is probably a good thing that I have a deadline this morning and need to head to work or I might have a very very long answer for this one.  First let me say that I do enjoy ebooks for the convenience of being able to carry one “book sized” object and not a bunch of books around.  Excellent for vacation and for lunch break at work.  People used to laugh at me because no matter where I was I could pull a book out of my purse.  That being said, I still prefer a really book over an ebook something about the interaction I have with it and such.  I love the feel of a real book.  

Now that I got that out of my system, the answer to the question is I hate the idea of all of the cutting edge stuff.  This is not what reading is about for me.  For me it is about using my own imagination to make the story work.  When I read, it is very much like a movie playing in my head.  It makes me work and keep my brain active.  If I wanted the movie and music and stuff, I would watch a movie.  Or television.  Too much other stuff takes away from the authors intent in writing.

The one feature that I do love about my nook is that it has a dictionary.  I am a context reader so I can figure out pretty much what a word means but I like the ability to look one up if I really need to know exactly what it mean.  So much easier that pulling my dictionary out. 

So long and short of e-books for me is I like the convenience but don’t need the bell and whistles.

Now please share your thoughts!!

Booking Through Thursday

All things being equal (money, space, etc), would you rather own copies of the books you read? Or borrow them?

Lisa’s Answer

This is no thinking about this one for me.  I would rather own copies for a few different reasons.  One I am pretty tough on my books.  When I borrow books, it stresses me out because I have to be so careful with them.  I am a spine breaker and dog earer.  It is just who I am.  I love seeing them on my shelves and really want covers in a series to match.  

David’s Answer

I would want to own them so that I can go back and reread the books.  

What about you guys?  Leave us a link or a comment. 

Booking Through Thursday

Do you read book reviews? Whose do you trust? Do they affect your reading habits? Your buying habits?

Great Question!  I do read book reviews.  Not all of them but there are some that just catch my attention.  I know some blogger and that their likes and dislikes are similar to my own and those are the ones that I trust.  When I first started, I read almost everyone’s reviews trying to find a style I might like or what would work for me.  I ended up with a combination of some things I saw and my own style.  I do enjoy reading Fade Into Fantasy, Reading Angel, Parajunkee’s View, My Shelf Confessions and quite a few more!  Sometimes they affect my reading habits.  I have read some review and known that I have the book in my TBR pile and will pull it to the top so because it sounds so good.  Or I have been known to go out and purchase a book based on a review from a blogger that I really trust.  

What about you?   

>Booking Through Thursday!

>

Do you ever feel like you’re in a reading rut? That you don’t read enough variety? That you need to branch out, spread your literary wings and explore other genres, flavors, styles?

No I really never feel this way but as you can see if you take a look at my reviews I already read a ton of different genres.  My TBR shelf is full of books from different genres so when I am worn out or in a rut so to speak I just head to the shelf and pick up something that is totally different.  You will also notice that I almost always have two books going and they are almost always two different genres for two different reasons – one so I don’t confuse them and two to shake things up!

I am looking forward to your answer so please leave me a link or your answer!  Have a great Thursday! 

Booking Through Thursday!

Do you ever feel like you’re in a reading rut? That you don’t read enough variety? That you need to branch out, spread your literary wings and explore other genres, flavors, styles?

No I really never feel this way but as you can see if you take a look at my reviews I already read a ton of different genres.  My TBR shelf is full of books from different genres so when I am worn out or in a rut so to speak I just head to the shelf and pick up something that is totally different.  You will also notice that I almost always have two books going and they are almost always two different genres for two different reasons – one so I don’t confuse them and two to shake things up!

I am looking forward to your answer so please leave me a link or your answer!  Have a great Thursday! 

>Booking Through Thursday

>

In contrast to last week’s question–What do you think of censoring books BECAUSE of their intended age? Say, books too “old” for your kids to read?

This question is much tougher than last week.  I think that this depends a lot of the “child” themselves.  I think that there are kids out there that can handle any level of book because of their maturity level and there are others that can’t.  This is also the reason why I think that that it is very important the parents play an active role in what books their kids are reading and that if there are difficult topics that the child knows they are welcome to ask questions and discuss the topics.  I do not believe in overall censoring rather specific to the child.

What about you?

Booking Through Thursday

In contrast to last week’s question–What do you think of censoring books BECAUSE of their intended age? Say, books too “old” for your kids to read?

This question is much tougher than last week.  I think that this depends a lot of the “child” themselves.  I think that there are kids out there that can handle any level of book because of their maturity level and there are others that can’t.  This is also the reason why I think that that it is very important the parents play an active role in what books their kids are reading and that if there are difficult topics that the child knows they are welcome to ask questions and discuss the topics.  I do not believe in overall censoring rather specific to the child.

What about you?