Jon's comments

Jon's comments from the Constant Reader group.

Note: Jon is no longer a member of this group.

The Name of the Wind
Mistborn: The Final Empire
Tigana: 10th Anniversary Edition
Lifeblood
The Legend of the Firefish

As I mentioned in a different book club here at GoodReads, I've been reading about a book a day since Friday the 19th. I'm on vacation and my goal was to get through as many of my to-read stacked books as I could before returning to work on January 5th.

Normally, with work and real life, I can read perhaps one or two books a week.

I prefer peace and quiet, so if I'm home alone, the TV is off. I don't even listen to music while reading. I made that mistake when I was a teenager. I had an eight track of Beethoven's 5th and I listened to it exclusively while reading the entire first Thomas Covenant series by Stephen R Donaldson. Now, even decades later, whenever I hear any portion of that symphony, I'm transported back to the Land.

I've been all over - in the past, the future, the other side of the world, a different planet, even a different galaxy and sometimes a completely imaginery place. Here's a recap of 2008:

- twice visited Recluce in February
- took a vacation to Xanth that month as well
- very strange adventure in Shanara with Terry Brook's latest "High Druid" series in March
- discovered a hidden treasure at my library by Michael Stackpole in April
- was disappointed by McKiernan's latest Faerie tale
- finished the High Druid series back to back in April and May
- continued following the wonderings of a cartomancer in May and June
- took a quick trip to the Norman Conquest on Memorial Day weekend
- struggled with Linden Avery while she searched for her lost adopted son in June
- learned that Brandon Sanderson was writing the final Wheel of Time series book so decided to read his published works starting with Elantris in June.
- watched and read the Andromeda Strain
- found out why the Gods hate Kansas
- decided I couldn't stomach the Game of Thrones
- stretched myself to vintage science fiction over the Summer with "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?"
- visited Recluce again in July
- read the first Mistborn book, one of only three 5-star ratings I gave to a book I read this year
- discovered DiscWorld and sapient pearwood in August
- fell in love with Tigana (another 5-star novel) also in August
- went hunting Firefish on the high seas with pirates in September
- followed the early life and education of Kvothe and wished for more
- devoured the pulp fiction of Robert E. Howard in heroic tales and epic poetry in October and November
- was swept away across the galacy by the master of the space opera in November
- helped Brother Cadfael solve a mystery in Wales
- wept at the plight of gifted children and the human race when survival hangs in the balance in Ender's Game
- also read a few classics from the 19th century

I've been experimenting with reading ebooks on my BlackBerry - mostly public domain classics. The process works well; I can live with it.

My concerning with ebooks is library access. While i purchase a few books, I heavily use my public library (and many other libraries through interlibrary loans).

And what about first editions? author signings? book tours? I can't treasure a signed first edition ebook, can I?

Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

The bird is now just a carcass and I've still got at least one load of dishes to run through the dishwasher.

I'm taking a break and reading a book. Everyone else is either napping or has left to attend yet another feast with friends.

I had a similar dilemma late last week. An interlibrary loan came in that I had forgotten I had requested months ago. Since I can't renew that loan, I had to drop everything to read it. It's about 500 pages and I'm just about half way there.

You're welcome to friend me. Here's the link to my profile/bio and inventory:

http://www.bookmooch.com/m/inventory/jon...

http://www.bookmooch.com/m/bio/jonmoss

I sometimes acquire books that I place on reserve just for my friends (especially if I know what my friends like or are looking for).

Happy Mooching!

My favorite Michael Crichton books are The Andromeda Strain, Timeline and Jurassic Park. I have Prey sitting on my to-read shelf at home and may pick it up to read in memorial to him.

So, when are we reading each of these? Will an event be created in this group that I can RSVP so I don't forget?

Looking forward to reading all of these!

Thanks for the hard work of getting the votes and tabulating them.

Happy Friday everyone,

Jon

So, is there any way to see the results stats? Like how many votes were cast and for which selections?

This why I prefer the polls feature hear on GoodReads. I'm not interested in who voted for what, just in the numbers.

Thanks, Sherry, for the hard work on getting the selections nominated and voted upon. Looking forward to reading a few of these selections.

Jon

Membership is at 999 right now so only one to go!

:)

I also use and love BookMooch. My profile here on GoodReads includes a link to my inventory.

I originally just wanted to clear space on my book shelves, but I've really enjoyed giving away books and receiving them.

I've never tried paperbackswap.com so can't speak to that system. I've had an overwhelmingly positive experience with bookmooch.com.

Only five (5) more to go until one thousand.

:)

Where is the Classics nomination list?

I noticed when I signed up for FictionWise that they offer an e-library if you join their book buying discount club. I haven't done that yet.

I also remember seeing something recently from a public library that involved loaning ebooks.

Since public libraries have moved into the Internet age (finally) and I have access to my account at any time from nearly anywhere, I've never had trouble renewing the due dates on my books. If I have to return one early because of another hold on it, it's no sweat for me as I'll pick it up again later.

I plan to read War & Peace via my Curve and Mobipocket. If nothing else, my arm will hurt a lot less! :)

I solved my shelfspace issue by giving away over a hundred books the last few weeks via www.bookmooch.com. I've also acquired a few great books from there and another new bookcase. But all in all I've cleared a few shelves for more books.

For years I've kept my book habit under control by working in the same building as the public library. But that only gets you so far. :)

Rather than a Kindle, which I think is outrageously priced, I've opted to install MobiPocket on my BlackBerry curve. I now read all the classic fiction that I would have checked out from the library via that device.

Oh, well. Kind of a shame you're not taking advantage of the polls feature here at GoodReads.

Thanks for letting me know how it works for Classics Corner.

Jon

Will you be using the polls feature here at GoodReads in this group?