|
|
 Do you ever find that, while or after reading particular books, that the author’s prose starts to change your own thoughts?
This is happening to me right now with The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach. I’m not sure if the way that Harbach writes just fits too perfectly into my subconscious, or whether the existential nature of the characters’ thoughts simply suits what has been happening in my mind at the moment, but this isn’t the first time that it’s happened. In fact, I often find my writing starts to echo others’ as well, depending on how drawn I am to the book. For me, this only happens with thoughtful, musing, almost quiet authors – a style that I think suits my own, when I actually manage to write fiction. But I’m never quite sure if this only affects me, or whether it’s a wide-ranging phenomenon.
At the same time, maybe it’s because I’m reading so much. December was a relatively quiet month for my reading; I spent two full weeks immersed in video games instead. I became temporarily obsessed with Mass Effect, and then its sequel, Mass Effect 2, on the Xbox 360, and as a result read barely a word over the whole period because the games sucked up my free time. (Seriously, if you want a ridiculously epic science fiction RPG, look no further than those two). I feel as though that break was exceptionally good for my reading, though, as I’ve finished nearly five books this year so far, and it’s only been a week – and two of them have been serious, thoughtful chunksters.
All this goes to say, really, is that sometimes a break, even from a lifelong hobby, is necessary. I’m sure it helps that all five have been my own books, not inspired by any mind but my own. At some point this year, I’ll have to get back on the review book wagon and go through a few that are released in the next few weeks, but not yet. For now, I am going to enjoy the renewal of my reading mojo while it lasts.
How has the first week of 2012 been for you, reading-wise?
Who doesn’t love bookish statistics?
I’ve been cataloguing my library over on LibraryThing since 2006, well before I started blogging. I have a lifetime membership there and that $25 is among the best I’ve ever spent. Not only does it help me keep track of books across two continents, it also helps me keep track of what I’ve read and tells me all sorts of fascinating statistics about my own reading.
My preferred view uses my tags and my dates read and acquired to help me sort my unread piles and my “read in whatever year” database. Since we’re almost at the close of 2011, I was poking around to see what my general trends look like, and I hit on a startling realisation; more than 4/5 of the books I read this year were also acquired by me this year. Since only 80 or so books acquired in 2011 are left in the “unread” tag, that means that I have over 400 books which I basically haven’t touched this year at all.
Am I alone in this? Do books lose their charm that quickly after I buy them? It seems that if I don’t read them in the few months after their acquisition, I simply never read them at all. Time just slips by – and that book which was so fascinating in July 2008 seems to hold little appeal in December 2011. In fact, it seems none of the books I bought in 2009 hold any appeal as I haven’t read even one this year!
For me, I think this is partly because of the lure of the new book, the more exciting, shinier one that has just arrived on the shelf. It’s also partly because I get, still, quite a few books for review, and they tend to supercede books that are sitting on the shelves. I do have a couple of excuses, though; for one thing, many of my oldest TBRs still live in my parents’ house in New Jersey, so I can’t get to them very often, and for another, I have one TBR bookcase and the older ones just naturally fall behind the newer ones.
This discovery has me wondering what sort of goal I should set for myself in order to turn the trend around. How can I start to read more books that I’ve had for years? There is the theory of the book buying ban, of course, but I don’t really want to inflict that on myself. Seeing the unread numbers go down is always nice, but I like buying books and I’m going to enjoy doing so while I can. I think, instead, I should make an effort to prioritise.
So, for every month next year, before I buy a new book, I need to read two books that I bought in the same month in a previous year. In January, that means I’ll need to read two I bought in January 2011, 2010, 2009, or earlier. Only then will I be allowed to acquire more. That’s only 24 older ones over the course of the year, but perhaps discovering older gems will remind me to continue reading more, and lessen my constant need to buy new.
Do you find that the newer books get read before the older ones in your house, too?
Towards the end of last year, I shared with you a number of books that I was excited about, but somehow just didn’t manage to read. Unfortunately, there are two books on that list that I *still* haven’t made time for (Generation A andThe Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay), but I also have a crop of 2011 books which were exciting to receive, but which I’ve simply not read for whatever reason. Am I going to read them in the next 3 weeks? Probably not – but it would be nice to squeeze in at least one of them before we ring in the New Year.
At Home, Bill Bryson – I never fail to enjoy a Bill Bryson book, though some more than others, and I have no idea why this one has been sitting on the shelf since I got it for my birthday last January. It has all the little details that I love about the history of the home, but somehow that hasn’t persuaded me to actually dig in.
Full Dark, No Stars, Stephen King – Another birthday gift from 2011. The fact that I haven’t read this nor Under the Dome despite the fact that I actively love Stephen King’s books means that I haven’t picked up 11/22/63 yet either. I’m a bit disappointed in myself here, this isn’t even a chunkster and should actually be a fairly speedy read once I open it up.
Leviathan Wakes, James S. A. Corey – I bought this one this summer, and while only 6 months ago, I’ve been looking forward to it an incredible amount, so I’m not really sure why it has remained over there on the shelf. I can always use a good space opera, so I’m sure this will get read once I feel I can spare it time (it’s a chunkster).
Wedlock, Wendy Moore – I simply can’t believe I’ve owned this book for a year and a half without reading it. Non-fiction about a Georgian couple, this book immediately captured my interest from the shelf in the store but has unfortunately sat patiently on my shelf ever since.
Naamah’s Curse and Naamah’s Blessing, Jacqueline Carey – I adored Carey’s Kushiel series and went through a phase where I read everything she wrote, no matter how chunky. Now, although I’ve read the first book in this particular trilogy, I haven’t managed to finish it up with these two. I think it’s chunkster syndrome, but since I haven’t read these, I’m not allowing myself to get her newest book yet, either.
These are only a few of many that stare accusingly at me from my “unread” bookshelves. What books have you struggled to find time for this year?
I believe this has been the quietest blogging month I’ve ever had. For about half the month, I was neck deep in NaNoWriMo, but when I finally gave up, I had two of the following busiest weeks all year long, as I have probably mentioned in previous Salons. As a result – not only have I not been writing, I haven’t been reading much either, although, on the gaming front, I did manage to finish Assassin’s Creed Brotherhood.The truth is that I miss reading quite a bit, even with the 12 books I read this month, and blogging even more, so I hope that I’ll get more finished in December!
Here’s what I read this month, with links to reviews where I’ve managed to write them:
- Storm Front, Jim Butcher
- The Buddha in the Attic, Julie Otsuka
- Rome, Robert Hughes
- Flawless, Carrie Lofty
- The Night Circus, Erin Morgenstern
- Trouble at the Wedding, Laura Lee Guhrke
- Praetorian, Simon Scarrow
- A Moveable Feast, Ernest Hemingway
- The Shakespeare Thefts, Eric Rasmussen
- The Name of the Star, Maureen Johnson
- The Bungalow, Sarah Jio
- Tam Lin, Pamela Dean
Top of the Month
An easy choice this month!
What’s Ahead
I don’t want to make any promises with my free time being what it is these days, and with Christmas coming up. But I have a lot of reviews for amazing books already scheduled for the end of the month, and I have a few exciting books to review for you in the next couple of weeks. Planned reviews include:
- The Plantagenets, Derek Wilson
- The Age of Chivalry, Hywel Williams
- Matilda, Tracy Borman
- The Peach Keeper, Sarah Addison Allen
Finally, I’m guest posting a few places in the near future – Jodie and I are reading The Broken Kingdoms jointly for Lady Business, I’ll be on Truth, Beauty, Freedom, and Books this week, and I’ve written a gaming review for Mana Pool. This week, I’m also excited to say I will be finally publishing my history and historical fiction gift guides, so look out for those!
Wishing you all wonderful reading months! How was November?
Hello everyone! I’m still hanging around, determinedly not writing blog posts it seems, and occupying myself with other pursuits. I’ve been reading very little after an incredibly busy week, culminating in one very late night, my trip to London, and another very late night on the way home. The presentation went well, for anyone who was wondering. I had plenty of delightful company, especially on the trip for our conference, as I get along with a few people from my workplace very well, so I didn’t read a single word over the space of two days. I know. How often does that happen?
This meant that I completely missed Thanksgiving, but I hope all of you who are in the US had an amazing time with family and friends. I did get to wish a Happy Thanksgiving to a number of other Americans at the conference, which I think gave us all a nice feeling of patriotism even in the middle of London.
This weekend, we’ve had houseguests, so while I’ve read a little, I’ve also failed at getting myself behind the computer working on writing (until now, of course). What I’ve read has been exceptional though; I finished up The Bungalow by Sarah Jio and Tam Lin by Pamela Dean. Both very different books, but recommendable in their own ways.
When I do have a chance to write, I’m working hard on a 2011 historical gift guide; I want to share with you my favorite history and historical fiction of the year so far in time for you to buy. Look for that to be published this week, probably towards the end, or early next week.
Also, who can believe it’s almost December? My work Christmas party is this Friday, which seems impossible, but it is indeed time to get out the Christmas music and decorate the tree. I’m not huge on the holiday season – you won’t catch me reading Christmas books or anything – but I am enjoying this year more than last, and I’m looking forward to celebrating my third Christmas with my husband.
Wishing you all a fantastic week! I hope you’re reading something exceptional.
I’ve decided to quit NaNoWriMo this year. I could probably persevere and hit the required word count; I got up to the halfway mark earlier this week. But I’ll be perfectly honest; I’m not enjoying it. I went out on a limb and started writing a fantasy without planning too much, because I’ve always been a seat-of-the-pants writer. As it turns out, not so much these days. I’m not having fun, and I could probably use my time more wisely than sitting here writing a story I’m no longer invested in. I’m finding it more stressful than anything else, and I don’t need voluntary stress.
So, I’ve changed my plans, and I’m going to try using the rest of the time I would have spent writing this month on planning a new novel. I need to figure out what’s going to happen to these people, or at least a little bit more about who they are, and mostly how they’re going to end up. And I just can’t write that many words a day. I give A LOT of credit to those who can – but it’s just not in me this time. So, here’s hoping for next year, and for a new project.
In reading news, as you can imagine, there hasn’t been very much going on. This week I managed to finish Praetorian by Simon Scarrow, and I’ll be posting a review for that tomorrow. I also just read A Moveable Feast this weekend; I’ve been meaning to read Hemingway’s own account of his early life in Paris ever since I finished The Paris Wife, and it promised to be as rewarding as I thought it might. I’ll be trying to review that one, too. And in future news, I squeezed in Trouble at the Wedding by Laura Lee Guhrke for some relaxation – it was just the thing I needed this week, so if you’ve been thinking about pre-ordering, I suggest you do so.
And that’s all the news from me this Sunday evening. This week, I’ll be heading to London for work, and I’m hoping to get some more reading done on the train there and back. This also means I won’t be celebrating American Thanksgiving on Thursday, but I wish a wonderful holiday with family and friends to all who are.
How are you all doing this second to last week in November?
A fish shop mosaic from Ancient Rome, in Ostia Antica.
More Wordless Wednesdays
Good morning Saloners! As I expected, my week hasn’t actually involved as much reading as normal, because I’ve been busy writing. As of yesterday, I had 8,606 words, which is just slightly above where Nano writers should be right now. I’m hoping to get a little further ahead today; that’s because it’s much, much harder to devote time to writing during the week than it is on the weekend. In fact, I didn’t write anything on Friday, so I need to prepare a bit better for that going forward. I have no idea where the story is going, so I’m really glad this is my practice!
 I did spend some time reading, though, I finished Rome by Robert Hughes and managed to read the very short but excellent The Buddha in the Attic by Julie Otsuka. I’m hoping to also actually write some posts today so the blog doesn’t remain silent for an entire week, but it depends on how all of my writing progresses really.
It’s probably good right now that I have an outlet anyway as real life is a tad stressful at the moment. I’m applying for my next UK visa next weekend, but by post this time, so there will be several anxious weeks during which I cannot leave the country, and of course I’m worried about the outcome despite the fact that I really shouldn’t be as hubby and I satisfy every requirement.
I’m also presenting at my company’s International Search Summit in London in less than three weeks’ time, which will be the biggest audience I’ve ever presented to. That carries its own small anxieties, though they’re nowhere near as large as the visa application.
I’ve also been investing a little bit more time into cooking; we signed up for an organic vegetable box scheme a couple of weeks ago and learning how to cook various different vegetables has been a surprisingly educational and tasty experience. Among things I didn’t realize I liked are zucchini (courgettes) and beets. Overall, the outcome has been so far exactly what I’d hoped for; we’re eating way more vegetables and experimenting with cooking. I’m hoping to eventually get organized enough to post some recipes to Weekend Cooking, maybe starting next Saturday.
Have a fantastic Sunday!
Good morning Saloners! Today finds me trapped at home due to our car breaking down (again) so I’m hoping to get a lot of those irritating practical tasks at home over with. Namely, lots of cleaning and filing are in my future. These things both need to happen, but I’m particularly annoyed because I’d planned to do lots of cooking this weekend, and I really do feel like cooking for once! I have a pumpkin and I really want to make pumpkin pie – hopefully we’ll be able to get the rest of the ingredients tomorrow after the car’s fixed, but it’s not quite as fun to cook after a long day at work.
On the bright side, because we’ve now gone back to standard GMT, I’ve gained an hour today to get my chores done, and I’m awake at the alarming hour of 7 am on a weekend.
Plus, I bought a couple of books yesterday, and I’m now immersed in the Dresden Files series. I really enjoyed the first book (the books I bought were the next two in the series) but I’m reflecting on the difference in the way books of the same type are treated based on whether the main character is male or female. For example, it seems that the Mercy Thompson, Kate Daniels, or October Daye series that I love so much are purely marketed at women (just looking at reviews reveals the differences. All the top reviewers I can identify on Amazon for these three are women, no male names in sight, while the Dresden book has obvious men and women), and they often get placed under “paranormal romance” even when the books themselves contain no overt romance. They were in the bookstore I was just in yesterday. In fact, I don’t think any of the first books of those series have much romance in them beyond a date. I caught the same whiff of romance in this book, if I’m right anyway, and yet they are firmly fantasy, in a different section, even though all of the books are mainly mysteries set in the modern day world with fantasy. If you like one, you’ll probably like the others. So why don’t men seem to be reading them in large numbers too?
We’ll see as the series goes along, as I’m making a quick judgement here – but to me they should be all in the same urban fantasy genre, whether you consider that a subset of paranormal romance or standard fantasy, not classified differently just because a woman is the main character. Don’t get me wrong – I like paranormal romance – it just seems like, as usual, fantastic books are judged differently because of a difference in main character gender. Plus, it’s just wrong; I’d be disappointed if I bought a book in the romance section only to discover I actually got a mystery with very little romance at all. I can’t imagine someone looking for a romance to be happy with Magic Bites unless they stuck around for a good long while – and I suspect Harry will get himself a romance if I stick with the Dresden Files long enough too.
If other differences pop up, I’m happy to revise my opinion, but just seeing them in separate sections raised my ire yesterday. I think I’ll return to this once I’ve read more of the series.
Wishing you all a fantastic Sunday and a start to November!
Happy Sunday evening, Saloners! I spent half of yesterday and this morning participating in this fall’s Read-a-thon, which I’m happy to say was very much a success for me. I finished 5 full books and a sixth I was already reading, for a total of 1597 pages read in 11 hours and 24 minutes (approximately). I stopped at 11:30 this morning, mainly because I’d finished The Perks of Being a Wallflower and it was good, so I decided I’d best let it settle in my head and go about the ordinary course of my day. I was already pleased that I’d surpassed my goals and I decided that seven outstanding reviews was plenty to weigh me down. It was fun, and while I really participated very little in the blogging side of things – I definitely felt more like reading than doing mini challenges, especially as it seemed a lot of the prizes were US-only – but it worked really well for me anyway.
In other news, I’m doing NaNoWriMo this year for the second time (the first was in 2009 and I did succeed), but since I haven’t written much besides this blog and stuff for work, I thought I’d best get warmed up this week. I also changed my mind and decided to do a “practice” book, saving the good ideas for just afterwards, next month. It’s been too long since I wrote fiction and while I know editing is possible, I think I just want to make sure I’m as in the writing groove as possible before I give it an official, real try.
With this in mind, I discovered a site called 750words.com. Basically, it encourages you to write 750 words every day, as a good starting point for clearing your mind and getting used to writing again. I think it’s a version of morning writing, but it’s private and stores all of your musings on the website. Probably not the place I’ll write my novel, but excellent for a brain-dump before anything else happens. I did my first 750 words today and it was fantastic, so I’ll be continuing with that until Nov 1st and, hopefully, afterwards too.
As a result of all this writing activity, I’m expecting to read a lot less. I stopped accepting review copies temporarily, and I’m going to focus this week on catching up with my reviews and possibly scheduling in some fun posts to fill in the gaps while I’m busy writing – more photos and definitely a trip recap of my latest holiday to Rome.
Are any of you participating in NaNoWriMo? Let me know so I can follow your progress!
|
|
Recent Comments