Victorians! discussion
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QQ: Do you have reading rules?
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Contrary to you Deborah I make annotations, marks, notes and references all over my paperback copies of books. Hardcopies are kept in pristine shape.Like you, no dog ears in any books. I really don't offer to lend my books to anyone anymore. I have too many orphans to continue my practice.
Perhaps the most rigid rule I faithfully maintain is my stop rule. If a book does not engage me within an hour's reading I stop reading it. Perhaps sometime in the future, but why waste time when there are other books waiting to be read.
Peter wrote: "Contrary to you Deborah I make annotations, marks, notes and references all over my paperback copies of books. Hardcopies are kept in pristine shape.Like you, no dog ears in any books. I really d..."
Interesting. I typically keep reading, hoping the book gets better. I think your stop rule is much more practical.
No dog ears, no writing, but yes to bending the spine. I mostly buy paperbacks because they look used and, well ... read, after I have read them. I don't want my books to look pretty and unread on a shelf. Once, I lend my copy of Austen's Emma to a friend, and she returned it with a "sorry" and a guilty look on her face. She had carried the book around with her in her handbag, and it was all bent and generally looked like it had had a hard life, and I smiled and said "Thank you!" and it was one of the few times in my life I wasn't being sarcastic.Other than that, books must go alphabetically by author's last name on my shelves, except series where it's naturally book one, then book two in the series etc.
Nina wrote: "No dog ears, no writing, but yes to bending the spine. I mostly buy paperbacks because they look used and, well ... read, after I have read them. I don't want my books to look pretty and unread on ..."I too have my books alphabetized by author, then title. If it's a biography it goes at the end of the writing of that author.
Deborah wrote: "I have a lot of reading rules. No spine bending, writing in the book, or dog ear the pages for me. I'm compulsive about my books which I view as my friends."I view my books more as my extended family of children than as mere friends. But just as I love to interact and converse with my f&b (flesh and blood) children, I interact and converse with my book children. This means lots of marking, marginal notes, summaries or extended notes in end papers, notes of where I agree with or disagree with the author, etc.
For me, a book unmarked is a book unread. By which I don't mean that the pages haven't been turned and passed under the eyes, but that they haven't been read. Reading, to me, implies interaction, reaction, argument, and where is that going to take place if not in the book itself?
But I do have one ironclad rule. I do not lend books outside of my immediate family. Period. Ever. If I think a friend should read a book, I'll buy them a copy so they can mark it up for themselves.
It's not just me. Mortimer Adler (co-founder of the Great Books of the Western World series and the Great Books Foundation, and author of How to Read a Book, still assigned by many college professors) also wrote a wonderful (to me) essay on "How to Mark a Book." A few excerpts (and a link to the whole essay at the end):
"You know you have to read "between the lines" to get the most out of anything. I want to persuade you to do something equally important in the course of your reading. I want to persuade you to write between the lines. Unless you do, you are not likely to do the most efficient kind of reading.
"I contend, quite bluntly, that marking up a book is not an act of mutilation but of love. [But only mark books you own.]...
"There are two ways in which one can own a book. The first is the property right you establish by paying for it, just as you pay for clothes and furniture. But this act of purchase is only the prelude to possession. Full ownership comes only when you have made it a part of yourself, and the best way to make yourself a part of it is by writing in it. An illustration may make the point clear. You buy a beefsteak and transfer it from the butcher's icebox to your own. But you do not own the beefsteak in the most important sense until you consume it and get it into your bloodstream. I am arguing that books, too, must be absorbed in your blood stream to do you any good."
Link to the full essay:
http://www.tnellen.com/cybereng/adler...
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I've got several rules for myself.
1) No broken spines. No writing or highlighting. (Unless it's for work or a class.)
2) I remove dust jackets when I take books out with me, often putting them in gallon-size plastic bags for protection. (Yeah, that's a weird one. OCD in the gene-pool; don't judge.)
3) I don't lend books like I used to, and will buy "lending copies" or gifts if it's something I need to share.
4) My shelving system is by category. Work related/Writing books/children's books/hobby/nonfiction all go into the office/library. Classics/historical fiction/art are shelved in the living room because most of them are hardcover and quite pretty. The Great Books series has its own shelving in the loft because I inherited it/them from my parents. Poetry and a complete set of Dickens with original inked illustrations is there, too. (Such a find!) Mystery/Romance/SciFi/Fantasy/General Fiction have floor to ceiling shelves in the garage, because they're mostly paperback. Etc. (I worked part-time in a bookstore for several years, so there's a lot of books.)
I used to have more time for holding a book in my hand to read it. Now I do much more listening. And read more on my phone because it's always with me. Any time I can get turning pages is premium quality relaxation time. Like a mini-vacation.
Renee wrote: "Actually, I think shelving your related DVDs with their books is brilliant. All cozily together when you want them. I've got several rules for myself.
1) No broken spines. No writing or highligh..."
About how many books do you think you have Renee? I bet I could be in the same ballpark. When we moved five years ago, there's of course more now, I had 72 boxes of books. I've never worked in a bookstore, but love hitting the used stores
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Renee wrote: "Lol! There should be a 12-Step program for us! (I actually have a challenge going at my other group that focuses specifically on reading books you already own.... And it's probably the most popular..."I rarely have to buy a book to follow the reading here. I, too, have a complete Dickens, and a complete Collins
Deborah wrote: "I rarely have to buy a book to follow the reading here. I, too, have a complete Dickens, and a complete Collins "I also have most of them, but the ones I don't I just get from Gutenberg, which has almost everything we would consider reading here. But in a way, wouldn't it be good to find more excellent but lesser known works that we haven't already got on our shelves?
Everyman wrote: "Deborah wrote: "I rarely have to buy a book to follow the reading here. I, too, have a complete Dickens, and a complete Collins "I also have most of them, but the ones I don't I just get from Gut..."
Me, I'm not nor will be an erearder. It's just not my thing. I respect anyone who reads -format to be chosen by reader :). Majority reigns here Everyman. Lesser works can always be nominated, but the winner of the poll is the one who wins.
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http://bookriot.com/2013/05/22/what-y...
I also have the two books going at all times rule. Only mine is more "at least two books."
Renee wrote: "I found a cool little article about Reading Rules. http://bookriot.com/2013/05/22/what-y...
I al..."
I read multiples too. Usually three - two for book clubs and one for me
Less rules than idiosyncrasies: 1) No book needs to be finished just because I own it or borrowed it from a library. A book must justify continuing to read it, otherwise I have plenty of other places to spend my time. On the other hand, one with a good reputation should be given a fair chance.
2) A book chosen should be worthy of reading again, even if I never do. Part of the reason my book shelves are so overflowing into plastic tubs, which are a terrible way of organizing or storing books.
3) While I don't highlight or put marginalia in every book, I find a special pleasure in pulling a book from the shelf to find a passage or an idea from a read forty years ago that has been incorporated into my thinking and way of being or that is a surprise to realize I noted in that long ago day and may or may not agree with today.
4) Having long said "seeing clouds alone is one of the great gifts of eyesight which words alone can scarcely capture," in recent years I place a small cloud icon in the margin by their descriptions.
5) Emoticons I find efficient for recording a reaction to a text or passage.
6) I basically don't believe in spoilers, except possibly for mysteries. A book is usually better on a second read anyway, even though I seldom read again.
7) Each book is like a child, to be treated kindly and with compassion, but sometimes firmly, according to the dictates of the situation.
8) Try to figure out the keys to letting go of books, including to whom.
9) Enjoy the benefits of the many forms available, including hardcover, paperback, illustrated, ebook, i-phone, audio.
10) Savor the words and sentences and language (including metaphors, similes, dialogue) as well as the story.
I'm sure there are more if I think about it, but more than enough here. Oh, yes, I'm a great believer in those little 3M colored markers, especially in borrowed books, to go back and retrieve favored passages. A ribbon marker can be a special little luxury, especially a narrow one long enough to mark two locations and not fall out readily, particularly in books of meditation or art.
Still another, at least one a year of the "can't put it down" category is highly desirable. Also, another one that turns out to be worth it for the work required.
This is a wonderful little question. I've been enjoying all the comments. My own rules include:Marks, yes. At one time, I was an underliner and then a highlighter, but now I'm just a checker. Must remember this, check in the margin. There was a time before all of these permutations when I was a copier, filling notebooks. Those times are over...now I make notes on my iPad. More recently I have bought used cheap books just so I could write in them, or more accurately, all over them. But dog ears, never!
My shelved books are a kind of survival of the fittest collection. I have given away so many books- kids, libraries, used book charities-in several moves dedicated to the downsizing of our lives, that only the books I can't part with remain...plus of course the new ones I can't talk myself out of ordering. I group books by category, that is, treasured subjects, authors I have been lost in. I tend to group everything I own by and about an author together, but this comes from that one-time crazy infatuation period. These clusters cannot be tapped for giveaways.
My ideal is to always be reading four books at one time. One on my iPad, one audible, two physical (fiction and nonfiction). This wasn't always the case, obviously. But it's just a new manifestation of the book girl I've been my whole life. I always borrowed the limit at the library growing up. In those heady bookstore days, I did overdo at the cash register. Now I am best of friends with ebooks, something I railed against in the 90s. But my number one rule is, never be far from a book.
Lily wrote: "1) No book needs to be finished just because I own it or borrowed it from a library. A book must justify continuing to read it, otherwise I have plenty of other places to spend my time. ."I agree absolutely. A book just justify its demands on my time.
Everyman wrote: "Lily wrote: "1) No book needs to be finished just because I own it or borrowed it from a library. A book must justify continuing to read it, otherwise I have plenty of other places to spend my time..."And I am certain sometimes I miss a good read with this "rule." But so be it. I feel I'm more likely to do better overall in the long haul.
One thing I didn't mention. I keep a box in my office. If it's a book I've read and won't keep, it goes into the box. Once full it gets shipped media rate to a friend. The friends reads them and then passes them on. Some books are always leaving the collection.
Great question, and very interesting responses!I have far fewer "rules" than I used to although I'm still wary of lending books, and those I've had with me for many years just don't leave the house!
I have a life-long habit, rather than a rule, which began one Christmas many moons ago when I got a little packet of stickers in my stocking - "Ex Libris" book plates, beautifully designed and with a space to write your own name. Once the stickers ran out, I continued to write my name inside books with the date I received or bought them. It's the first thing I do when I get a new book (well, second: first of all I smell them. Really!) and I always use a nice pen ;-) Black ink.
My father-in-law used to do something similar, but would write the date when he'd first completed the book. Now, he was a great lender of books, and asked people to add their names and completion dates to the fly leaf. When (if!) he eventually got them back, it gave him great pleasure to see how many others he'd shared that pleasure with.
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Deborah wrote: "Do you have reading rules? What are they?I have a lot of reading rules. No spine bending, writing in the book, or dog ear the pages for me."
Totally with you on this, although I would accept light markings in pencil for interesting passages. I usually keep a piece of paper inside as an extra book mark to write whatever comes to mind. Lately (New Year resolution was to write a review of each book I read, and not go on devouring the next one until it is done), I've been writing key words for each chapter, and this has helped me get a better view of the text and its structure.
Deborah wrote: "I too have my books alphabetized by author, then title. If it's a biography it goes at the end of the writing of that author.:O) Pfew I'm not the only one!
Well, I have mine by main genres, then by author, then title, although if it is a series, I'll put them in that order instead. Also, I have a database too (Bookpedia), which I've had for years and before Goodreads. Ok I know I sound like a weirdo but I do have over 2,500 books (not counting the ebooks and audiobooks)...
Veronique wrote: "Deborah wrote: "I too have my books alphabetized by author, then title. If it's a biography it goes at the end of the writing of that author.:O) Pfew I'm not the only one!
Well, I have mine by ma..."
You don't sound weird to me. I have over that amount too. Keeping them organized ensures I can find exactly what I'm looking for
I think it is fair to say that my reading rules changed since I signed up for goodreads. Before that, my only rules (all of them transmitted by an older sister) were: Treat books nicely. Do not write in books. Never to read two books at once. Finish every book you start.
All these rules but two I have broken ever since I joined Victorians! I still treat my books with love and care. I still do not like the idea of writing in my books´ pages. But I have definitely dropped the rule of never reading more than one book at a time and I have no regrets!
However, I no longer finish each book I start anymore. This was a very difficult rule for me to break. And it was thanks to some of the comments I read on these discussions that I realized they were right: Life is too short and time too precious as to waste it in reading something you are just not enjoying, while you are dying to read something else you have on your TBR shelf. Maybe someday I would pick up those three books I left unfinished last year, maybe not but it was definitively freeing to stop feeling like I HAD TO get to the end a book when I no longer care about it. So then, thank you guys!
No spine bending, no dog-earing, and no writing within. I only lend my books to people I really trust and whom I see often (which are not many at all), because I have learned that if you don't see them often enough, they "forget" they even have your book and so do not return it.I also have the rule that if I am not engaged by a book within 4-5 chapters, I stop reading and move on to the next book on my TBR pile.
When reading a book, I try to read at LEAST a full chapter a night. Sometimes more, if the book really has me hooked. If I am reading multiple books at once (as I often do), I try to read at least a chapter from each, every night.
When reading classics (my favorite genre), I have to be in total silence. Everything else, I can read anywhere, any time.
Rut wrote: "I think it is fair to say that my reading rules changed since I signed up for goodreads. Before that, my only rules (all of them transmitted by an older sister) were: Treat books nicely. Do not wr..."
I had the same problem as you. I would always try to finish a book and it is only in the last few years (well since I turned 40) that I decided if I really couldn't get into one I would stop. There are just too many books out there waiting for me. Having said this, it doesn't happen often and I do feel guilty....
Veronique wrote: "Having said this, it doesn't happen often and I do feel guilty...."And usefulness of feeling guilty, Veronique? [Smile.] Having spent the money for something not fully utilized? For not finishing what one has started? For walking out on a relationship with an author?
But what about, valuing one's time. Quiet pride in having read long enough and well enough to be able to discern quality. Knowing that one has gotten enough out of what one has already read to be sufficient. Having read enough to be be able to guess where the writer is going and a quick skim, or a review, or reading parts, or simply closing the book is adequate for closure? For having a sense of one's interests or priorities or options at this point in time? Or....
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What I find interesting in these comments is that we heavy-duty book readers are pretty much alike!
I treat my books nicely as well. I do my share of underlining and commenting - always in pencil.
As others have also commented, I will only finish a book if I think it is worth my time.
With kindle books I wish the samples were longer to make a better assessment before purchasing.
Mod
I have a lot of reading rules. No spine bending, writing in the book, or dog ear the pages for me. I'm compulsive about my books which I view as my friends. Once when newly married, my husband put a glass on top of my book (paperback). I looked at him and said I don't see what I think I see, do I? He got the message and has never done it again.