Sean
asked
Jo Walton:
How do you keep track of the books you want to read (beyond Goodreads)? Do you prefer physical or e- copies? Do you stock up on potential reads, put them in any order, wait to buy till you're ready to start them? Put them back on the shelf if you can't get into them or abandon them after one try? If you've already written about any this before, I'd love to know, please.
Jo Walton
Just Goodreads actually. Well, and I have a list on Amazon of things I want to buy when I've either got fewer unread books, or the price comes down or I have more money. I try to keep my unread books on the Kindle below 160. I'd like to get it below 140, but that's probably not going to happen. I also have a very small pile of physical unread books. But I pretty much only read ebooks now because a) it's so great for travel and b) my hands are so much better for typing if I read on the Kindle and don't strain my wrists with the weight of physical books. I still love them and sometimes buy them in addition, but ebooks are better for my life.
I don't put unread books in any order, I just have them on the Kindle in the order I bought them in. I try not to buy books I can't get into, using the read inside feature to make sure I can. But sometimes... sometimes I just can't anyway, at which point I usually do abandon them with the thought that maybe I will try again when I might be old enough. I've had this belief for a long time, and it sometimes works with a book I can't get into. But if I've read 30% of the book and don't like it, then I mostly won't try again, especially if I've given up because it's too depressing.
So the other thing is, that if you look at my Goodreads you can see that I am always reading a bunch of things. In my normal reading I cycle through those. Sometimes something will be so great I just read all of it, but my normal pattern is to read a chapter of each thing, in order. Of my list, one will be a physical book I'm reading in the bath in the morning, the rest are ebooks. And I'm always reading some poetry, some letters, something translated from Latin or Greek, something translated from a language that isn't Latin or Greek, some short stories, a relevant non-fiction, an irrelevant non-fiction -- and the rest can be anything. But insofar as I do plan my reading, I make sure I always have things in those categories to follow the ones I'm reading now. So if I'm getting near the end of a book of poetry, I'll check that I have more and if not buy more, and so on, and if I am going away I'll check that I have at least a couple of things in those categories in case I finish something when I don't have convenient wifi.
Also, if I discover a new author, or if a bunch of titles from a favourite author come back into print, I'll often buy them all and then read one every month until they're done.
You probably already know I do a post on Tor.com every month of what I read the month before, but if not, you'd enjoy it.
I don't put unread books in any order, I just have them on the Kindle in the order I bought them in. I try not to buy books I can't get into, using the read inside feature to make sure I can. But sometimes... sometimes I just can't anyway, at which point I usually do abandon them with the thought that maybe I will try again when I might be old enough. I've had this belief for a long time, and it sometimes works with a book I can't get into. But if I've read 30% of the book and don't like it, then I mostly won't try again, especially if I've given up because it's too depressing.
So the other thing is, that if you look at my Goodreads you can see that I am always reading a bunch of things. In my normal reading I cycle through those. Sometimes something will be so great I just read all of it, but my normal pattern is to read a chapter of each thing, in order. Of my list, one will be a physical book I'm reading in the bath in the morning, the rest are ebooks. And I'm always reading some poetry, some letters, something translated from Latin or Greek, something translated from a language that isn't Latin or Greek, some short stories, a relevant non-fiction, an irrelevant non-fiction -- and the rest can be anything. But insofar as I do plan my reading, I make sure I always have things in those categories to follow the ones I'm reading now. So if I'm getting near the end of a book of poetry, I'll check that I have more and if not buy more, and so on, and if I am going away I'll check that I have at least a couple of things in those categories in case I finish something when I don't have convenient wifi.
Also, if I discover a new author, or if a bunch of titles from a favourite author come back into print, I'll often buy them all and then read one every month until they're done.
You probably already know I do a post on Tor.com every month of what I read the month before, but if not, you'd enjoy it.
More Answered Questions
Kelly Dombroski
asked
Jo Walton:
This question contains spoilers…
(view spoiler)[
Hi Jo,
I really loved A Just City, and my 10 year old daughter actually picked it up for me at the library because she loves Percy Jackson and Greek stuff. I just know she will love it, but as a mother I feel unsure about her reading it especially with the rape scenes and I guess the teen sex scenes too. What age would you suggest as a good age to read this book? Would you class it as youth?
(hide spoiler)]
I really loved A Just City, and my 10 year old daughter actually picked it up for me at the library because she loves Percy Jackson and Greek stuff. I just know she will love it, but as a mother I feel unsure about her reading it especially with the rape scenes and I guess the teen sex scenes too. What age would you suggest as a good age to read this book? Would you class it as youth? (hide spoiler)]
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