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Somewhat Rhetorical Question of the Week
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Yvonne
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May 30, 2017 05:30AM
I stopped reading Stephen King, because I don't care for the excessive swearing in some of his books, although I'll probably pick up another one of his books eventually.
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I've only read three of King's books, and liked two (and those weren't the most typical of his novels). But I have liked a few of his short stories that I've run across in various anthologies. He may be more gifted in the short format than at long fiction --or perhaps he's just better taken in small doses. :-).
In my case, the King books I read were Firestarter (SF), recommended by co-workers at a public library where I was working at the time; The Eyes of the Dragon (fantasy), which Barb and I read together and both liked, and Joyland (supernatural fiction --I prefer that term rather than "horror"), the one I didn't particularly like, which was a common read last year in one of my groups. Personally, I like all of the speculative genres as such, if they're handled well; but I find the quality of King's handling and vision uneven at best.
I sort of liked Hemingway when I was in school, but I have no desire to read anything else by him. Too minimalist-macho for my current taste.I've never read more than a few pages of Stephen King, but I have a few of his books--non-"horror"--on my to-read list.
Reading one book by George Eliot cured me of ever wanting to read anything else by her.
Nicole wrote: "Reading one book by George Eliot cured me of ever wanting to read anything else by her."That illustrates the great variety of individual reading tastes we have on Goodreads, and even in this group, since she's one of my favorite authors, and has been since I was introduced to her work as a grade school kid (though I discovered her outside of school). I was a weird kid who liked 19th-century classics --nobody had ever told me I wasn't supposed to. :-)
Werner wrote: "Nicole wrote: "Reading one book by George Eliot cured me of ever wanting to read anything else by her."That illustrates the great variety of individual reading tastes we have on Goodreads, and ev..."
Well, obviously, lots of people enjoy her work. I'm probably in the minority.
Nicole wrote: "Well, obviously, lots of people enjoy her work. I'm probably in the minority."You might be, but you definitely aren't alone. I recall that my high school American Literature teacher was quite contemptuous of Silas Marner. Fortunately, it's British literature, so he didn't have to teach it. :-)
Ivanka Trump, Philippa Gregory are two that come to mind quickly. I think that 11/22/63 might change your mind Charly. No horror and very well done in my opinion.
the eyes of the Dragon was my first king book. My mom knew I wanted to read something of his and choose the one she thought was the most youth friendly. I think I was 14. other then that my favorite book by him is Doctor Sleep. (I think that's the name. it is the sequel to the shining which I never read, which is also consequently why I say I'll pick up another book of his one-day.) I've never cared for any of his short stories, strangely enough.
Yvonne wrote: "the eyes of the Dragon was my first king book. My mom knew I wanted to read something of his and choose the one she thought was the most youth friendly."From what I've read somewhere, he originally wrote that one for his own kids. That probably accounts for why it's fairly youth-friendly. :-)
Charly wrote: "Michelle 11/22/63 is a book I will probably not read although my wife has told me I would probably like it. It is an historical topic which is very difficult for me. I was 15 at the time and I gues..." ahhh understood.
Charly wrote: "New question. When someone does a little kindness for you like holding a door open or such, do you take the time to say "Thank you"?"Yes, I always try to make it a practice to thank the person.
Yes, I'm always thankful and want others to know it. :-)But what is up when one realizes they've bumped into another or gotten in their way, and so you put forth an "Excuse me," and they say the same back to you?
Definitely. I really believe in karma and feel that what you put out in the universe comes back to you ~ whether that is positive or negative energy.
I always say thank you when someone holds the door or does some other kind thing.
Yes, I always take the moment to send a polite thank you their way.
Charly wrote: "Re: 428. A double excuse me seems like the opportunity to venture a second comment, perhaps with a humorous twist."Good idea! I've done this a few times, saying something like, "Sorry, I always seem to be in the way."
However, the person repeating the "excuse me" back often sounds annoyed. :-/ If I'm quick-minded enough next time, then I will speak as Nicole suggests. :-)
Charly wrote: "If the excuse mes are good natured I sometimes will use "we've got to stop meeting like this" if the situation works."Cute!
Late spring through mid-autumn (flowers don't start dying here until November), I putter in my flower garden.
Gardening definitely. I do more biking in the spring and summer, but I will go for a ride whenever it is a nice year-round.
canoeing on mild ponds - I paddle and my husband fishes. Love it. reading in a shaded area - then sometimes fall asleep which is fine, too.
Charly wrote: "Linda, I didn't include napping as that is a year-round hobby for me,"ha ha!!
walking during the nice months. dancing in the rain.
I have re-read a few books I had to read for school. There are some others on the still-to-be-read list. My understanding/appreciation for several of those I've re-read is much improved with age.I honestly don't know what's best for contemporary students to read. Exposure to greater diversity is probably a good thing, and there are some "classics" that I did not enjoy and wouldn't make anyone read now. However, in some cases, abridged classics are a good idea to give students a taste of certain stories without perhaps making them feel overwhelmed.
I've only used cliff notes on two books. the scarlet letter in high school, which I could not get through no matter how hard I tried. the other book was a book for college woman's lit class and I forget the name. I only used notes for the last fifty or so pages because I only had fifteen minutes until class. I went back and finished the book that night officially.
Back in my childhood and youth, I read a fair number of classics, but they mostly weren't assigned readings for school. We had to do book reports, of course, but we usually were allowed to pick the books we read. Besides Shakespeare's Julius Caesar and Macbeth, the only full-length classics I can recall actually reading as part of the curriculum were Great Expectations and Silas Marner. (And those actually were probably somewhat abridged, though I didn't know that at the time.) Personally, I greatly enjoyed both of those, though I know that some of my classmates didn't.My personal feeling is that elementary and secondary school kids shouldn't be assigned to read entire books they don't select themselves, especially those with unfamiliar and difficult diction and vocabulary. I think they should be taught good linguistic skills, and exposed to the writing of a variety of classical authors as part of the study of literature in general and of national literatures in particular, but in shorter formats that can serve as a sampler. (As for actual abridgements and excerpts, I'm not big on them; I believe if a work is worth reading, it's worth reading as a whole, the way the author intended it to be read.) When we were home schooling our girls, that's the approach that I followed. (I did sometimes assign them to watch quality movie adaptations of important novels, as a way of exposing them to the plots and characters.) The most important goal of instruction at these levels (and even the college level) should be inculcating a lifelong love for reading, and that's not served by force-feeding a diet of books that the individual student isn't capable of appreciating at all at this time.
Although I don't usually reread books as an adult (as a kid, I did that a lot oftener), in the last couple of decades I have reread a handful of books (mostly older classics) that I read in childhood or youth, including Great Expectations. Mostly, these rereads were prompted by my recognizing that my memory of important details was faulty enough that I could no longer do an adequate job of teaching about them or reviewing them on Goodreads, or by wanting to see if there were particular aspects of meaning that escaped me when I read them at a much younger age.
Charly, I use my Goodreads to-read shelf; I didn't until perhaps a year or more after joining Goodreads, but once I started it I found it a useful tool. Currently, it has 386 books on it (earlier this year, there were over 400 at one point), with 113 more on "maybe to read." Periodically, I prune both shelves.I don't really have a system as such for deciding what to read next; it generally depends on circumstances. Review copies or other gift books from author friends, and books won in Goodreads giveaways, get pushed to the top as much as possible, as do books that are common reads in groups I help moderate. Also, I've set a goal of trying to read a nonfiction book every year, as well as trying to read at least two books by author friends every year. This year, I've been trying to prioritize a few books that I really want to read, but not with too much success so far. The two years before that, I was trying to work on some of my many "dangling" series that I've started and left unfinished.
I have an astonishing 1353 books on my to read shelf. That's too many to keep track of, so I have sub categories to keep them more organised. Many of my books are freebies or discounted ebooks that my husband has found. I try read across my different categories, but most of the time I just end up listening to an audiobook instead.
I pretty much use my goodreads shelf as well as my physical shelf. goodreads used to be just for books I didn't own and my actual shelves for those I did. recently I've started combining the two to make things a little more systematic.I watched a YouTuber who decided to go through and get rid of any books she hasn't read in a two year period. She decides if she wants to read any of the books that she bought in that month two years ago and any she can't finish in 30 days she has to get rid of. She gets one save.
I now have shelves for my monthly book hauls to keep track of when I bought a book, just for this purpose. won't have to worry about these books catching up to me for at least a year and a half.
I use my Goodreads "to read" shelf as a notebook of sorts. If I see something here or in a book review or magazine ad that interests me or hear about something from a friend, I save it to my list for later. I've also listed books I actually own but haven't gotten to yet. Every so often, I go through and take off the things I've decided not to pursue. There was a point when I decided my "to read" list needed to be below a certain number, but lately I haven't worried about that.
But what I end up reading tends to be a matter of whim. I pick what appeals to my mood. Sometimes I get obsessed with an author or series and pursue it to the neglect of all the other things I have on hand.
I use my to-read shelf for my next read, although I do sometimes end up reading books that my groups or friends are interested in that aren't on that shelf. I really love that aspect of Goodreads, I feel like I am always in a book club that is open 24-hours a day. Sharing what I like or don't like about a particular book is the best part of this site for me.My to-read shelf also helps me keep track of the books I buy since I try to scan them in when I bring them home. Mostly I try to pick books that fit into challenges or series, like Charly IF I don't get sidetracked. Every now and again I will look at some of my to-read books and see if I am still interested in reading them and toss them if I think it is unlikely that I will ever read them.
Once I'm fairly certain the book isn't for me I generally abandon it. There's too many books waiting to be read to persist with something I don't like.
If I conclude that a book isn't worth finishing, I'll pull the plug on it even if I've already invested significant time in it. Time spent on a book until you conclude it isn't worthwhile isn't really wasted --you've learned something about a particular author or book you'd been interested in, even if it wasn't what you expected to learn. But time you spend on it after you've concluded that really is wasted; and my reading time is too scarce to waste. Recently, I gave up on a 572-page book after reaching p. 501; I was finally turned off enough that I wasn't interested in having to wade through over 70 more pages of it.
I no longer feel the need to finish a book that's really not working for me. I don't always stick to it; but my general approach is to give something 50 pages, and if I'm bored, exasperated or otherwise unhappy with it, I stop reading it and move on to another book.
Reggia wrote: "Werner... kaput at 80% done?"Yes, although that's actually an unusual situation for me; I don't think I've ever read that far into a book before abandoning it. Of course, I'd picked it to take on the plane flights to and from Australia because it's thick, so I wasn't in a position to abandon it on the plane. :-) But for much of its length, I was actually enjoying it. It didn't start to go off the rails and drag in really off-putting elements until quite a way in; and then I was hoping it would get better.
I will finish a book so long as I think I can finish it in less than an hour's time, this is why so many of my one star books are graphic novels, because I can read them quickly even if I don't like them.
I read a lot of graphic novels. other examples of books I will finish regardless of whether or not I'm enjoying them would be novellas or children's books because of their length. if I have less then 80% to go in a average size novel then I'll probably finish it then to.
In my personal experience, they've never needed to make a comeback. Physical paper books are what I read almost entirely, and they've always continued to circulate at the college library where I work.
Charly, I'm glad to know that people around you are carrying actual books! I can't really say I've seen more of that lately around here. It's so weird when I'm in a waiting room, for example, and I'm the only one with an actual book. Even people twenty or more years older than me are sitting there, playing with smartphones instead!
Charly, I had to give that one some thought, too. Since I don't like driving and never did like it (though I have my license), I've never been that much into road trips. Except for our travels in Australia, the only ones I've really taken since my college days --and I took very few before that!-- have been with Barb (and with our girls, when they were still living at home).The first qualification I'd look for is a Y-chromosome; if we have to stay overnight anywhere, going with another guy would allow us to double up in one room and save money. :-) Also, I'd want somebody I can stick with the driving duties (so that rules out any of the characters in pre-modern or historical fiction!) And it would be nice to pick someone intelligent and well-informed enough to make worthwhile conversation. I think my pick would be James Goodman from LeAnn Neal Reilly's The Last Stratiote. He has all of the above qualifications; and, being a gun-packing ICE agent, he should also be capable enough to handle any dangers or emergencies we might encounter.
Krisi Keley's series sleuth Tobias Berger (Mareritt and Vingede), whose cases may involve the paranormal, was another possibility I considered. He's also likeable and probably a good conversationalist; but though he's a detective, he's the cerebral sort who prefers to have his gun locked in the office rather than on his person. So I don't think he'd be as handy in an emergency. :-) (And he smokes, which could be an irritant on a long trip.)
Honestly choosing a single person is hard so instead I chose a group of people. If I were to go on a road trip it would be with the hardy boys brothers, their friend Biff (I think that's his name it's been a long time since I've read their stories) and the respective girlfriend. we'd hop in the car, tents stored away in the back seat, fishing rod handy and some good old picnic lunch type food. Then we would just go off to who knows where and get into who knows what type of dangerous trouble. of course knowing Frank and Joe we would wind up just fine.
I wouldn't necessarily say that there should be a flag next to the title; but I do think it would be important for the book description to clearly indicate that the work is a graphic novel. (Up until now, I'd assumed --if I thought about it at all; I haven't read a graphic novel or comic book since the early 70s-- that "graphic novel" was one of the format options listed on the Goodreads template for creating a book, but I learned a moment ago that it isn't.)
That is a good idea, having something starting its a graphic novel in an appropriate place. for me, someone who reads a lot of them, I don't have a problem identifying what is and isn't a GN without it, but I could see how some people might find it useful.
I think sometimes they like to hang around for a while and check the group out before introducing themselves. I used to always introduce myself, and then I found that I either didn't want to stay in the group or was happy to be a silent member. So now I don't introduce myself as often as I used to.
Different people respond to social media and networks differently, and have different expectations for what they want to experience; and every person is a unique individual, so no generalization will be true for everybody. That said, I'm guessing that some people join groups with the intention of just reading others' posts; they may be shy (I'm actually on the shy, quiet side myself, so I can relate!), or not feel that they personally have much to contribute --though they may be mistaken in that! Others might want to get the feel of the group's climate and dynamics before they post a comment.
I agree Werner. It's hard for me to post at times, even though I have been on GR since 2008. Also some groups feel more "intense" than others. I love this group because it has a nice low-key, accepting vibe.
I love this group for the same reason, Michelle.
I'm not sure but I do sincerely hope all feel welcome to be here... to share their thoughts... to add their input. :-)
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