SciFi and Fantasy Book Club discussion
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Your reading rules
1. Has been very difficult lately with all the deals on Kindle books. I bought 198 and read 202 this year, but i had a backlog of at least 300, so I'm still falling behind.2 Yes, unless the book is for a challenge like Thus Spoke Zarathustra which i struggled through. Did I mention I'm stubborn sometimes...?
3a. Still working on this (see #2)
3b. Never have
4a. Works for me
4b. Still dithering on Marion Zimmer Bradly
5. I do this quite often
6. I tend more to apologize for my reading progress.
Adding:
1. Don't feel guilty about your reading progress. It's OK if you're a fast reader and it's OK if you're a slow reader. It's just good that you're reading
2. Do reread - it's a joy to reread an old friend. I'm looking forward to rereading the Game of Thrones and Kingkiller Chronicles books whenever the next one in each series comes out.
3. Do read books outside your favorite genres. You might find author authors you like
@Beth: Your 3b is priceless! How often did that happen to you?Mine are few - and in part 'idiotic'
1. No DNF on books from the group shelf, though skimming is an option (yeah, I know ..., but my life, my rule ;) )
2. Only one book per 'category' at a time (print, ebook, audio, read-aloud) - does not apply to short story collections --- does not always work
3. Only stopping at chapter's ends (this rule gets on the nerves of my partner when I read in the bed at night … ^^')
4. If the ebook is over € 8.00, go for the audible … if it's not available on audible I'm f***ed
1. Be mindful about scheduling your buddy reads. (still working on that!) 2. Don't hesitate to DNF. (easy)
3. Try to read three books before you buy or get a freebie. (also work in progress, currently failing)
4. A freebie (ARCs included) is still something in your TBR.
5. Try to write reviews even they are short.
6. Taste/speed/reading time differs.
7. Try to finish one series before starting another. (not as hard as I thought)
8. Don't hesitate to stop reading a series if the enjoyment is gone, even only one book left. (idem)
9. Authors are people too.
10. Join challenges that are manageable.
Might have others but those are what I could think of right now.
Mod
1. Don't buy a physical copy of something unless you've read it, loved it, find it beautiful, want to re-read it and share it with others.
2. Don't buy a sale unless the library doesn't have it, it's something you really want to read, or an artist you want to support.
3. Always review, always make sure it's obvious it's my opinion, never attack anyone.
4. 1 audiobook and 1 physical book at a time (lolololol)
5. Remember reading is fun.
6. Download too many books every time you travel (this one I add because I do it consistently, so now it looks like I'm really excelling here)
7. Don't apologize for having preferences, but try to be aware and consume a healthy diet of ideas.
Gabi wrote: "@Beth: Your 3b is priceless! How often did that happen to you?"Only a couple times that I can specifically remember. :D Nowadays it's more "there's a reason this thing you can only vaguely remember reading isn't on your bookshelf at home. so just don't."
Silvana wrote: "4. A freebie (ARCs included) is still something in your TBR. [...]
7. Try to finish one series before starting another. (not as hard as I thought)"
These are both great. I'm torn about those charity bundles. Sure, they add like 12-15 books to the TBR, but charity! 7 isn't entirely something I can do because I very easily get tired of one author's style if I read too much all in a row, but surely I can do better than being in the middle of 40 series.
Allison wrote: "LOL! I like how many of our rules seem to be fights we keep having with ourselves"
(pauses briefly to stop wrestling with her own conscience. hey, me, hair pulling and biting is out of bounds!) I have no idea what you're talking about.
This is a fun thread! At first I didn’t really think I had any reading rules, but Silvana’s post (#’s 4, 5 and 7 in particular) helped jog my thoughts a bit. Once I got started, I kept thinking of more. Here’s my attempt at a list. Some of these are things I think of more as “buying rules” than “reading rules” so I split it into two lists. Most of these are things I do because I want to, not because I’ve made myself rules I feel like I have to follow, but I think that’s just semantics.
Reading Rules
* Read one fiction book at a time. (Doesn’t count audiobooks, although I rarely listen to them.)
* Wait until a series is complete (or apparently complete) before starting it.
* After starting a series, read it from beginning to end if I’m enjoying it enough to do so. If it’s a very long series, I may take brief breaks every 3-4 books to read unrelated standalones for a change of pace.
* If I’m not enjoying a series enough to read it from beginning to end, abandon it. (My individual book abandonment skills are non-existent, but I have no problems abandoning a series.)
* Read what I want, when I want. This means I don’t do challenges, and I only participate in group/buddy reads if they happen to land at a convenient time, and usually only if they’re standalones so I don’t have to fit an entire series into my schedule as per my series “rules” above.
* Review every book I read, and do so as soon after I finish reading it as possible, before I start my next book, so my thoughts are fresh in my mind. This serves as a kind of enforced period to reflect on what I’ve just read instead of immediately putting it out of my mind and moving on to the next thing.
* After I’ve finished a book and posted my own review, read any reviews from my friends. Even if I originally read the reviews when they were first posted, I read them again because they’re always more interesting after I’ve read the book myself.
* After I’ve finished a book and posted my own review, read any group read threads that might exist, even if they’re old. There are usually some interesting thoughts.
* Reading has many benefits, but it’s not the only activity worth doing. Don’t let it take over my life.
Buying Rules
* Don’t buy it, even if it’s a great sale, unless it’s something I already intended to read.
* Don’t download it, even if it’s free, unless I’m sure I’ll read it. I did a lot of this in the early Kindle days and ended up going through a period of reading a lot of mediocre books as a result, because I felt like I should read what I had. I ended up deleting a ton of stuff and setting myself stricter download rules.
* When planning out my reading, prioritize books I already own.
* I only purchase e-books. If I want to read something that isn’t available as an e-book, I try to get it from the library.
A few more (inspired by y'all)* You don't have to review every book. I seldom review, especially since I hated book reports in school, and if I do review a book on amazon.com it's usually to give a heads up about a potential problem with the book
* If you're reading multiple books at the same time, make sure they're in different genres or you'll confuse the plots. and if the book itself is a mix of genres like Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden books are a mix of SF&F and mystery, don't have your other book be either of those genres.
example: The Once and Future King along with The Stone Bull and The Soldier Son Trilogy Bundle are enough different that i don't get them confused.
Allison wrote: "LOL! I like how many of our rules seem to be fights we keep having with ourselves..."Allison, you got it SO right! And your rules match mine exactly. And sadly, I break every one of them all the time. Especially the ones about buying.
I once visited a three story home where the stairs and hallways contained shelves up to the ceiling full of books. I went away starry eyed, telling myself one day I will have that too. Nowadays I have to keep reminding myself that it is not necessary to have an entire library in your home, especially when a real library is only a short drive away. . . .
Ooo, so many rules, but I've never actually spelled them out. Will attempt....1. Check all 6 libraries 1st (3 local libraries, + digital access to 3 other libraries).
2. If buying a book, ebook is preferred. (I love the dictionary & search functions!)
3. If I LOVE a book, then I buy a copy to keep or give. Or multiple copies.
4. There is a color-coded spreadsheet of bookclub dates to keep me on track (both IRL & online bookclubs).
5. I've gotten much better at DNF-ing a book (or series) if it's making me mad, or just not feeling worth my time. There are so many other reading options & I might LOVE the next 1. (I try to make a note of how far I read & why I stopped.)
6. I agree with the reading-different-genres concurrently to keep from getting them mixed up. {Although sometimes 1 runs into surprising similarities in dissimilar books: for example, 2 books I started yesterday (realism & fantasy) feature a protagonist with not-quite-blindness but severe sight challenges (of course with magical elements in the fantasy book).}
7. Last year I started a read-the-world project, so I'm trying to add authors from countries I haven't read before (or at least since I started tracking). (But I also have to like the book, so there've been some DNFs & progress has slowed.)
8. Limit the number of white-man books. I've read SO many in the past, merely because the publishing industry historically leans that way, so now it needs to come HIGHLY recommended, or be for an IRL bookclub, or sound REALLY intriguing. (I'm also trying to reduce my white-women books so I have more time for other voices.)
(Just a shout-out to all of you who do write 'reviews' regularly. Y'all know we're not getting graded on book reports and know the value of comments and reactions, even short ones, to the rest of us. Thank you sincerely for helping me make my choices about what to pick up [and what to put down].)
1. It's OK to dislike books/ authors that *everyone* seems to love.2. It's OK to dnf. No need to feel guilty. (Life's too short.....)
3. For expensive kindle books, check the local library first before going *click*. Unless it's an absolute fav author and you just have to own the book and will probably reread anyway.....
4. For new authors you're a little unsure about, check the local library before going *click*. Even kindle samples don't tell all. (Oh, how many books have I bought after reading the sample, then been disappointed??? Too many, obviously).
5. Rereading is good. It has the double benefit of being pleasurable with old fav books, as well as making you feel virtuous that you're getting value for money for the price you originally paid when you bought the book.
6. It's OK to change your rating of a book after a reread. It's even OK to come back after a time to a book you dnf'ed, and find you liked it after all.
7. Be honest in your reviews. If you didn't like the book, there's no need to be vicious. That doesn't help anybody. But unless you (politely) write what you really thought, it doesn't actually help anybody either.
8. Keep reading other people's reviews (except for the pointlessly mean ones) to find that elusive new-to-you wonderful author.
9. Spread the word about your fav authors with family, friends, and online. Share the love. It makes the world a better place ;)
11. If I can find an author's social media account I will try to let them know I enjoyed their book. Small positive gestures is helpful. Jan wrote: "
6. It's OK to change your rating of a book after a reread. It's even OK to come back after a time to a book you dnf'ed, and find you liked it after all..."
Hear, hear. That would be my no. 12.
CBRetriever wrote: Don’t buy it, even if it’s a great sale, unless it’s something I already intended to read
This one is too hard for me since I have a gigantic wishlist shelf :( when there's sale for many books at the same time, I ended up either buying them all like I did in June or not buying one at all and regret it.
Silvana wrote: "11. If I can find an author's social media account I will try to let them know I enjoyed their book. Small positive gestures is helpful .....CBRetriever wrote: Don’t buy it, even if it’s a great sale, unless it’s something I already intended to read
This one is too hard for me since I have a gigantic wishlist shelf :( when there's sale for many books at the same time, I ended up either buying them all like I did in June or not buying one at all and regret it. "
I've occasionally had the thrill of an author liking my review of their book on GR. I know some authors stay away from GR cos it can at times be quite negative, sadly, but obviously some do read our reviews on here.
@Silvana, your final comments made me smile. I feel you.
1. Read all the things!2. Go outside! It’s been 3 weeks, ya doof.
3. Repeat
Trike wrote: "1. Read all the things!2. Go outside! It’s been 3 weeks, ya doof.
3. Repeat"
Trike, those are the best rules I've seen! Thanks for the great laugh. Every time I pick up a book, I'm going to be saying to myself "Go outside ya doof!"
And I'll take the book outside.
My rules are to read more of what is recommended from others. I bounce between reading the highly recommended and the unknown indies with interesting blurbs. I typically don't even know who the author is (both camps). I just look for catchy cover and catchy blurb. Unfortunately, then I buy and have too many to get through. Or I find out they weren't as interesting/fun as I expected. Which leads to two more rules:1. Learn to DNF instead of trudging along on something that doesn't work for me. I always feel compelled to finish and review (even with a 1.6 million word epic that I lost massive interest with every passing chapter).
2. Learn to read the free sample online to see if I still want to buy the book.
Trike wrote: "1. Read all the things!2. Go outside! It’s been 3 weeks, ya doof.
3. Repeat"
Oh, thank you.
Silvana wrote: "11. If I can find an author's social media account I will try to let them know I enjoyed their book. Small positive gestures is helpful. ..."Lovely. I can do that if they are a goodreads author, even though I don't use other platforms... I'll try to remember to do so.
Pretty much only have 3 rules. 1 Acquire all of the books (and no I don’t buy all of them even though I have bought a lot in the last few years including 3 yesterday....I find a hell of a lot of free stuff on the net)
2 Read all of the books.
3 No lending of books, DVDs, records of anything else I don’t want to lose or have to replace. My daughter is still fuming about lending her limited edition The Notebook DVD to a friend and she never saw it again. That was over 10 years ago. The replacement just doesn’t cut it. I did tell her. She learned that lesson the hard way.
DNFs don’t really exist here. They just get put down and picked up again when I’m in the mood for them. Might be a month or might be 12 months. Hubby slogs away on every book until he’s finished whether he likes it or not.
I don’t have any rules about how many I read at once. I have 14 (I think) in my “Currently Reading” list. Depends on what mood I’m in as to what gets picked up again and when. I like to keep them on there though so that I know what page I’m up to if I lose my bookmark.
No rules, really, except that I don't lend books to anyone other than my kids--I'd rather just give them away if I'm going to let someone read one of my books outside of my house. Oh, and virtually all of my reading comes from the library right now and I buy only a few since my kids are in college.
Helena wrote: And I'll take the book outside. I like the way you think! haha.
I've been trying to find the "right" book to start since the beginning of the month and today I decided to just pick up anything and try it out or I wasn't going to read anything... so I guess a new rule for me is to not waste too much time trying to find the perfect book for my current mood.
Jan, your rules are very similar to mine. I always check the library first. Used to be I would look for hard copies nowadays I go to my library's online collection first because it's so much easier! But I'm surprised by how many books I've heard a lot of buzz about and not found at the library.
I guess that makes a new rule: put in requests for purchase at the library so that they can become aware of good books and get them for others to enjoy as well!
Silvana I like to thank an author if their book made an impact on me. I follow a few of my absolute favs on Insta and FB and I have even become friends with a couple. It’s nice when someone who has made a difference to you in some way likes your comment or answers it or even better yet likes the latest dog photo you’ve put up.
If I don't have a few books that I think will be good lined up after the current one I am very reluctant to read at all, I have a sort of secondary list of books which I think are good but not something im in the mood for, in desperate times I have to move them up.Sometimes I feel like I spend more times reading reviews and excerpt than you know, books.
Another Rule:1. If a book on your wish/want to read lists goes down in price to an acceptable price, get it.
The Outlander Series 7-Book Bundle: Outlander, Dragonfly in Amber, Voyager, Drums of Autumn, The Fiery Cross, A Breath of Snow and Ashes, An Echo in the Bone was at one time, for about 6 hours or less, $1.99 for all 7 books in one Kindle book. It was never that cheap later (I think it was a typo myself)
I have almost 400 books on my wish lists and I'm tracking them on ereaderiq.co. If they go down to an acceptable price, I will get them. Acceptable depends on the book, author and how much I want to read it. A new Patrick Rothfuss, I would pay full price for, the rest of Jim Butcher's Harry Dresden series, I'll wait for a price between $3.99 to $1.99 (I'm missing 9, 10, 12, 13 & 15)
Jacqueline wrote: "Silvana I like to thank an author if their book made an impact on me. I follow a few of my absolute favs on Insta and FB and I have even become friends with a couple. It’s nice when someone who has..."I know how it feels! The reason why I have not left Twitter is so I could interact with my fave authors....aside from the cast/crew of The Expanse.
Noor wrote: "I guess that makes a new rule: put in requests for purchase at the library so that they can become aware of good books and get them for others to enjoy as well!"I like your thinking.
1) I refuse to suffer through a book that is just not doing it for me. With that being said, if I feel like I am not in the right mood/zone; then I will gladly set aside for a later date. Hence, the 3 strike rule. 2) I don't follow recommendations at the detriment of my reading. I like what I like. I don't have to like, care or listen to anyone's recommendations. They're someone else's opinion of a book, not mine. Recommendations will keep you from reading something fantastic; be careful who you listen to.
3) I don't lend books. Period. I will buy someone a book I recommend, but will not let them borrow. Family, friend, etc.
4) I don't mark in books. Exception: A Clockwork Orange. I actually wrote the meanings/descriptions, above the language used; which is a Russian, teenaged slang. It was the first and last time. High School doesn't count. LOL
5) I don't break the spine in my books.
6) I don't fold pages.
For Fun - Here are the 10 Readers Rights by Daniel Pennac:
The right to not read
The right to skip pages
The right to not finish a book
The right to reread
The right to read anything
The right to "Bovary-ism," a textually-transmitted disease (LOL)
The right to read anywhere
The right to browse
The right to read out-loud
The right to be silent or to defend your tastes
Those are true and hilarious. My own rules are varied and wide, and above all I put a disclaimer on my yearly individual list. I refuse to suffer through a horrible book!!
My Personal Disclaimer: Book-throwing zone. Please feel free to throw a book at the wall due to unforeseen circumstances...i.e.; Sucky plot, no plot, too much romance, no character development, spelling/grammatical errors, etc. Please note that no books were harmed in the making of this list. ;)
Looking over the comments; like so many are against book buying or don't see the point. Yikes *looks at book shelves* 😩😩😩I love every book I own; most I have read. I do buy books that I haven't read though. I just kinda know what I love/like/enjoy and haven't been disappointed enough to not buy.
I have each of my shelves personally made. I have 7 full sized shelves and 1 half-shelf. So, for those that love shelves, I feel ya. LOL
I too have bought scores of physical books over the years and have read all of them that I still have at least twice. I used to hate my twice a year "all the books have to fit on the shelves" clean ups because I had to get rid of some if i wanted to keep some. Now that I'm slowly switching to Kindle books, I have unlimited shelves (space).The library was too frustrating as they too had limited shelf space and never had all of a series and they'd "offed" lots of older books (Robert Heinlein, Andre Norton, Leigh Bracket, etc) that I wanted to read. And I don't want to be put on a waiting list for Kindle books and then have to finish the book within a set time period
CBRetriever wrote: "Another Rule:1. If a book on your wish/want to read lists goes down in price to an acceptable price, get it.
This is a good rule ;-) I often look again at Amazon because it is so often that a very expensive book goes down to 99 cents. A couple of days ago I got Planetfall because it was surprisingly cheaper and I wanted to start this for a while now.
Other rules: 1) If you can get a book used or from the library that's better than new, because of less paper being used (and this is better for the environment) plus, second hand books need a home! :-)
I do support authors often by getting e-books and just now and then I get new paperbacks. I rarely get hardcovers too, since I like e-books or paperbacks better.
2)Another thing I have, no rule but a habit is that I don't manage to read too many books in one genre. I must change from Fantasy to sci-fi, to YA, to anything else classic/literary/mystery/contemporary/romance and so on, or I get extremely bored.
3)I also don't manage to read books that are too badly written or written in a very confusing way. I think this comes from English not being my first language but if the writing is too forbidding and too little rewarding I will probably give up even if the world says it's great.
4)I also drop books with too much misogyny in them because I already have to stand this enough on the real world. I also can't stand books where children suffer too much or die. Or if you have a main character that is a victim and therefore hates all women around her or has a world view where all women are bad/competing with her and so on. A similar thing is a book with a main male character where all women are interested in him. I don't like Mary Sue and Marty Stu.
CBRetriever wrote: "The library was too frustrating as they too had limited shelf space and never had all of a series and they'd "offed" lots of older books (Robert Heinlein, Andre Norton, Leigh Bracket, etc) that I wanted to read...."I never hit the library. I love libraries and have a library card, but having to give that precious book back is heartbreaking. After owing about $25+ in late fees at age 16; I stopped going. I got a job and bought all of my Stephen King books. (that's all I read for about 2 years)
Rules? I don't have any. I could make some up but I wouldn't follow them anyway. :)
Ok, I agree on lots of the above, of course.Two that I haven't seen are:
**read poetry out-loud
**recognize that tastes/ interests change, and science advances, and for those reasons some books I have had on my to-read list for some years may not actually belong there any longer
To elaborate on a few, my own take:
*skip to the end of a boring book, and if it turns out to be what I expected, dnf the middle
*review the dnfs with extra care, to specifically warn other potential readers why it's 1. a bad book 0r 2. maybe a good book but not for me
*use the library especially to try to broaden my experiences, to read outside my comfort zone, because naturally I'm likely to find more dnfs in those books (and gosh if I bought books at the rate I read them there's no way I could actually have a job that pays well enough to buy them, nor time to read them...).
Mod
Alondra, my book buying rules are because I love my library and want to keep it open, and because I only have limited space! Also, my spouse says that if I get pretty things to put around the house, he should, too, and we disagree about which hobbies deserve display room. ;-)
Too things I don't care about:1) Having a huge TBR, like infinite and never ending. I remember the times before the internet when I didn't have an idea of what to read and just picked up anything because I had no recommendations. From one side this was good because I read a lot of classics this way, just borrowing them from my mother's library, but from the other side I never read more fantasy and sci-fi with a goal.
And 2) DNFing books. I might come back eventually to a book, but I probably won't... Too many more interesting books to read and I often don't like them on my second trial too.
Allison wrote: "Great rules, everyone!Alondra, my book buying rules are because I love my library and want to keep it open, and because I only have limited space! Also, my spouse says that if I get pretty things..."
LOL; I hear you on that one! I must say, my hubbies hobbies are much more expensive, so I take advantage... hehehhee
M.L. wrote: "Rules? I don't have any. I could make some up but I wouldn't follow them anyway. :)"LOL; wait, is that a rule.... 😏
M.L. wrote: "Rules? I don't have any. I could make some up but I wouldn't follow them anyway. :)"guidelines?
habits?
tendencies?
M.L. wrote: "Rules? I don't have any. I could make some up but I wouldn't follow them anyway. :)""My only rule is to not follow any rules I make up."
(disappears in a puff of logic)
Alondra, I've never met another "Book Hurler", I remember years ago My Mother investigating a significant "Whap!" and I had to explain "The book accidentally fell across the room", She arched an eyebrow but didn't ask anymore questions.
Don wrote: "Alondra, I've never met another "Book Hurler", I remember years ago My Mother investigating a significant "Whap!" and I had to explain "The book accidentally fell across the room", She arched an ey..."I like that.... Hurler. Like an Olympic sport....
*ponders height, distance and stance*
I am normally obsessed with keeping all my books in perfect condition (no dog-earing, no creases in the spine, etc.), but there have been a few times in my life that I have been so disgusted and frustrated with a book that I have thrown it. Once, I threw a book at my brother because his recommendation stunk so bad.My own rules mostly involve how to protect my books. I have no real rules about how many books to have in progress at once (sometimes >15), and I will read just about anything. I will abandon a book when I am a few pages in or when I'm more than halfway through if the book doesn't work for me. I mostly get books from the library, but I buy a lot of books too.
YouKneek and I have a few things in common when it comes to reading threads and series. It's fun to know I'm not the only one!My rules sometimes end up frustrating me, but I can't seem to break away from them. Particularly this first one:
1. I don't DNF. I know. I should. But I can't do it. In my entire life there have been two books that I didn't finish. I skipped the epilogue of The Diary of Anne Frank in middle school. And yes this still bothers me 20ish years later. And I got halfway through Divergent and went and saw the movie because I promised I would take my sister. Then for whatever reason never actually finished the book. I will finish both of these one day.
2. The DNF rule does not apply to series. As long as I finish the individual book, I feel no need to keep going in a series I'm not seriously invested in.
3. Don't buy it! I spent way too many years not using my library. Now I don't buy anything unless it's an AMAZING deal, the library does not have it and I absolutely HAVE to read it, it's an all time favorite author, or a collectible book that's more for looking at than just sitting and reading. Since my library gives me access to eight different e-catalogs, including Boston, it's usually a safe bet I can find it.
4. Try to know as little about the book as possible before reading. This sometimes ends up amusing or unfortunate. But all in all, I prefer going in blind.
5. Read any threads and reviews from friends as soon as I'm done with the book.
6. Read at least 52 books a year.
7. Read only one thing at a time. I really only broke this rule recently when I just could not get through The Gray House. But in general, I use the fact that there are other books I want to read as motivation to get through the book I'm on if I don't love it. (Fanfiction does not count in this rule. If I'm in a funk with the book I'm reading and just need a change of pace, I'll hit ao3 as a palate cleanser.)
8. Update finished dates and add rating on Goodreads as soon as I'm done with a book.
One that I don't do, but would like to start doing: Reviews! I almost never review books and I think it would benefit me to do so.
I'd like to stick to a "get it from the library" rule. I'm a member of two libraries but they never have what I want. One of them was going to try and get me a book I wanted and then I finally saw it on their website 12 months later in Large Print. I mostly only borrow audiobooks from them now because I'm not there very often. Also I'm a mood reader and I borrow books and then I'm not in the mood to read them. I did get the book out though.....from the other Library up near the beach house. It took me about 6 weeks to get through it because of the mood thing. I also found one other book I couldn't find anywhere else and finally read it too. They only let you borrow a book three times in a row and the librarian made an exception and let me have it four times. Nobody else wanted it so it was OK. As I said....I'm not good with libraries.
The good thing is the digital borrowing that the libraries offer. I've listened to a few audiobooks from the one out here even though their range isn't very good. They were supposed to be partnering with a number of libraries in Sydney but it doesn't look like that's happened yet. The one up at the beach has a crappy digital library. They used to be in a partnership with a dozen or so other libraries when we lived up there 20 years ago and the library system was brilliant. Now they stand alone and the service has dropped significantly.
I do buy a lot of books. I can mostly afford it and I see it as spreading the love and helping to keep the shops in the towns. I buy from a second hand bookshop near the Outback town, one near my childhood home in the Mountains and one in the town where the farm is. I also buy new books from two bookshops near the Farm and the Big W store that's there. It's a discount department store sort of like KMart and Target. They're threatening to close ours so I use it as much as possible. The books are half the price of the bookstores but they don't get all of the new releases. The ones I can't get there I wait until they're re-released a year later and they're smaller and cheaper. I did buy three books from the same shop in the big town near the Outback house on the weekend. 2 new releases at $16 each instead of $32 and an older one for $10 instead of the $20 they would charge me for the same book in a bookstore. They want to close it too. Ridiculous. Anyhoo.......
I don't have a "rule" about reviews. If I've been in a buddy read of a book, often I've said what I'm gonna say there and just write a small paragraph or two, or rate it and move on. Or the idea of writing a review for that specific book is boring to me. Etc. But usually I try to write a little something.
SciFi and Fantasy Book Club
Books mentioned in this topic
Seven Deadly Wonders (other topics)The Diary of Anne Frank (other topics)
Divergent (other topics)
The Gray House (other topics)
Planetfall (other topics)
More...
Do you have rules for your reading, whether formal or informal, permanent or malleable? The linked thread has a lot of good examples!
Here are mine as of today. Subject to change:
1. Read more books than you buy.
2. Enjoy what you're reading!
3a. Trust your instincts about a DNF and let it go. It's okay to not feel bad about it (work in progress).
3b. And for goodness' sake, don't buy it a second time after getting rid of it!
4a. Feel free to hate the book, but respect the author.
4b. You need not read books by authors you don't/can't respect, no matter the reputation of the book.
5. Read authors outside your demographic.
6. Don't waste emotional effort comparing your reading progress with others'.