THE JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB discussion
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WHAT ARE YOU READING AND WHY!!
Right now I'm reading Anna Kerenina, C.S. Lewis: Latter-Day Truths In Narnia, and The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo.
I always have a few books on the go - something I never used to do, but maybe my attention span is suffering as I get olde...I tend to have a couple of novels on the go (usually one light and one more weighty) a non fiction book and an audiobook (great for when doing housework or cycling) which can be any of the above.
I've just finished:
Mr Sammler's Planet by Saul Bellow
quite simply one of the finest writers ever to use the English language.
The Portable Atheist collection of writings edited by Christopher Hitchens
some truly wonderful essays on atheism, agnosticism and freethought from people as diverse as Shelley, Omar Khayyam, David Hume, Abe Lincoln, Tom Paine and many more.
and am reading
Air or Have Not Have by Geoff Ryman
a group read for the SF group, but by one of my favorite current authors.
and listening to
The Last Argument of Kings by Joe Abercrombie
fun, hokey sword swinging fantasy with a bit of bite.
Front of the queue are
The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon
because I seem to be on a bit of an American Literature kick
and Guns Germs and Steel by Jared Diamond
because it keeps trying to jump off the shelf at me
Werner wrote: "Rick, to answer your question (Message 3632), Doyle's series of short stories featuring his character Etienne Gerard is set during the Napoleonic Wars. Gerard is a cavalry officer in Napoleon's ar..."ooh, thanks for this info. I've got the Complet Sherlock Holmes (of course!) as well as a huge 1200 page volume called The Conan Doyle Stories collecting six previously published volumes of his short stories, but none of these. I shall have to look em up!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brigadie...
thank you, wikipedia!
I know things have moved on, I'm playing catch up with these threads right now.Re the Costa awards, a bit like their coffee over rated, over priced and a 'closed shop', only open to 'big boys', basically it's just a knees up for the 'great and the good' of the publishing world to put on their expense accounts. With the authors paying of course through lower royalties!
I am currently reading Little Dorrit for another group read and Don't Look Now and Other Stories by Daphne Du Maurier just for me.
Those du Maurier stories are terrific - enjoy.
Mod
what a great combo of books!!
Ingrid wrote: "right now i am reading call of the wild for school"
I love Call of the wild!
I love Call of the wild!
Mod
The following statistics about book publishing and reading were found on www.parapub.com, the Web site of self-publishing guru Dan Poynter. They'll give you an idea of what you're up against if you want to write books for a living.
1/3 of high school graduates never read another book for the rest of their lives.
42 percent of college graduates never read another book after college.
80 percent of U.S. families did not buy or read a book last year.
70 percent of U.S. adults have not been in a bookstore in the last five years.
57 percent of new books are not read to completion.
Turn off the TV and the electronics and that would certainly change.
Paul, you are an interesting eclectic reader. David Hume must have had some sharp things to say. I'm having a look at the Portable Atheist right now. Is Aristotle in it?
Rick wrote: "I Posted these stats in another thread- but feel they are so facinating as to merit another posting hereThe following statistics about book publishing and reading were found on www.parapub.com,..."
Rick....I know people who smile and say "Oh, I don't read" as if it is something of which to be proud.
"There are worse crimes than burning books. One of them is not reading them."-Ray Bradbury
I am reading Little Dorrit, I am soon getting Wives and Daughters and North and South, by Elizabeth Gaskell. I just finished Over Candleford by Flora Thompson, and enjoyed it immensely.
Mod
good question- I checked the website-www.parapub.com and it is based out of Calif. so I would assume so- I had read the same stats in the local newspaper - so I did a search and found them online. All indications are they refer to USA
Mod
Cheers"
Carmel- I was able to find these stats for Australia-
READING
In 2006, the ABS Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey found that Reading was a favourite activity for 61% of people aged over 15 years. The activity was a favourite for 73% of females surveyed, compared with 50% of males.
Of those surveyed, 77% read Newspapers, 58% read Magazines and 48% read Books at least once a week. People likely to read more frequently were those in the 45-64 years age group and those with University or higher qualifications.
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(a)Newspapers at least once a week
(b)Books at least once a week
(c)Magazines at least once a week
(a) (b) (c)
Male 78.6 39.2 55.1
Female 75.9 56.1 60.5
Age group (years)
15-29 67.7 42.8 55.1
30-44 78.8 48.6 57.8
45-64 82.4 50.4 62.2
65 and over 82.0 49.6 50.3
Educational attainment
University or higher 84.5 64.5 66.5
Trade or diploma 79.4 47.0 59.2
Year 12 77.1 48.8 59.4
Total 77.3 47.7 57.8
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
(a) In the 12 months prior to survey.
Source: ABS data available on request, Adult Literacy and Life Skills Survey, 2006.
Research conducted by Starcom for Australia Council for the Arts, Books Alive 2008 - reader research, looked at the reading habits of 1,200 Australians aged 16 to 65, who had read a book for pleasure in the last three years. The study found that almost 7 out of 10 people reported reading as their most preferred leisure activity. Of those who read regularly for pleasure, most read Magazines (66%), Newspapers (61%) or Fiction books (58%), while less than half read Non-fiction books (41%).
Reading for enjoyment was the main motivation for people, with 83% of readers reporting this as a reason for the activity. General interest was also a popular reason (68%), followed by Relaxation and reducing stress (67%) and to Improve knowledge (59%).
The main barriers preventing most readers from reading included Lack of time (47%) and the Cost of new books (40%), however 24% of those surveyed reported that there were no significant barriers to reading.
Data from the Time Use and Adult Literacy and Life Skills Surveys should not be compared with data from the Starcom research due to differences in survey methodology, definitions and reference periods.
The 2006 Children's Participation in Selected Cultural and Leisure Activities survey, conducted by the ABS on the activities of 5-14 year olds, showed that girls were more likely to Read for pleasure than boys at any age. Overall, 80% of girls Read for pleasure during the two-week reference period compared with 69% of boys. Girls also read for longer than boys - the average time spent by girls who Read for pleasure during the two-week period was 7.9 hours, compared with 6.6 hours for boys.
On first glance this would seem to uphold the belief that females read more than males, as discussed in another thread.
Averages and statistics do not mean that much, but they tend to persuade better than words, so people love them - I must admit I do. But it's fair to say that some men read more than the women who never read a thing. Most romance writers are women, right? Well - I know two men who make a tidy income writing romances.
Percentages can be quite deceiving: if the numbers of participants are not disclosed, the data is not terribly meaningful. I gave my daughter 50% of my money today (but I only had $5!).
The percentages of readers have to be based on the numbers of respondents. I find it hard to believe that everyone in Australia responded to the reading poll, so you have to know how many respondents there were before you make your judgement.
'Of those surveyed' does not mean much unless you know how they based their choices on 'who to survey'. It is one thing to survey people living in the leafy suburbs, with access to great bookshops and libraries, than it is to ask people out in the sticks, where the library van visits once a month... or men who live and work on a mining site, and those who ride the train to the city.
1200 people is a tiny sample: how can I take that to represent what is happening all over Australia, with a population of nearly two dozen million souls?
Now this is just me being practical and cynical, but it is fair to say that Australian authors write for a very small audience... until online bookstores and Amazon came on the scene. Now our audience is global. I have readers all over the world, including the Ukraine and Abu Dhabi. I would never have thought 10 years ago I would get emails thanking me for writing what I write from Turkey or Mexico.
Finished my 1st book Midnight for 2011 (aim to hit at least 100 this year) and have now moved on to White Death by Ken McClure.
Boys read tons of non-fiction online, if my teenage son is anything to go by. He gobbles up philosophy, economics, politics, comparative religion (long story!) and things like management, history and technology, as well as biographies of dudes he admires. But you wouldn't catch him with a paperback novel. Not his thing. So it depends a lot of how the questions were couched in the survey. How many books have you read in the last three months would have elicited a "uh - none," from my son, whereas he's read tons of stuff that's not necessarily in books.
Mod
I certainly agree with Rosanne that living in Aust, with such diverse communities throughout the different states & with availablity o..."
Rosanne wrote: "Averages and statistics do not mean that much, but they tend to persuade better than words, so people love them - I must admit I do. But it's fair to say that some men read more than the women who ..."
As a seasoned political watcher here in the States- I know Very well that Stats and polls can be used to make whatever point one wants to. Usually all I have to do is hear the results and I can tell if the Poll Org. is Repub or Dem.- that said- it was hard finding info relating to reading rates in Australia- but i feel it makes for interesting anecedotal reading.
It does appear that that Australia is quite a bit more Book Friendly than many other countries
Doyle had a series out about a French cavalryman Gerard and his continuing adventures in the Napoleonic Wars ending with an attempt to rescue Napoleon from St. Helena. Bold daring, not too bright, but LUCKY...
Rosanne wrote: "1200 people is a tiny sample: how can I take that to represent what is happening all over Australia, with a population of nearly two dozen million souls?"What really matters is how the sample of people for the survey was selected. A sample of 1200 can give a very accurate reflection on how the whole population feels/behaves as long as it is selected in such a way to ensure it is representative of the whole population. Oddly enough, the size of the sample relative to the size of the population is irrelevant to the reliability of the statistics. If however they did their survey by standing at the door of a bookshop and interviewing people who walked in, or put an ad in magazines/newspapers for people to respond to, then even a really huge sample size is going to give unreliable results.
*removes maths teacher hat*
Pretty much reading the same stuff I was reading a week ago. Going deliberately slow with Three Men in a Boat, as the libraries mostly don't reopen after the New year's holiday until Wednesday, and I don't want to be stuck without an audiobook if I finish "Three Men.." too quickly.
I'm reading Cutting for Stone
and I'm on about page 270. I love the vivid descriptions of the interaction of the English, Indian and Ethiopian cultures. The story is wonderful and written in such a pleasing way that I have stop, close my eyes and imagine myself right in the middle of it. I have a hard time laying it down!
Well, I've been all over the map with my reading lately, which is good. Variety works for me. I just finished rereading a classic Nancy Drew, The Secret of the Old Clock, for sheer fun. I'm now reading The Jade Owl by Ed Patterson because I've heard a lot of good things about it, and believe in supporting indie authors. And I'm about to read a book that was recommended to me and which I got for Christmas. It's a book about writing by Betsy Warland, called "Breathing the Page". I listened to an interview with her on CBC radio and the concepts she talks about are amazing. It makes those of us who've been writing awhile look at our work in new ways.
Mod
What really matters is ho..."
excellant point! like I said- when political or interest Groups want to show support for their point of view- it it not hard to make polls and stats concur.
I really don't know how the 1,200 were selected
Mod
love that term "I've been all over the map with my reading" Is that not what is so wonderful about books? They are like Time Machines and Mind transportors - they can take us on amazing voyages all over the World, from the earliest of times to the present to well into the future and BEYOND!!
Rick wrote: "Debra wrote: "Well, I've been all over the map with my reading lately, which is good. Variety works for me. I just finished rereading a classic Nancy Drew, The Secret of the Old Clock, for sheer fu..."You're right! Right now, The Jade Owl has taken me to China, and since I've never been there it's quite interesting.
I'm reading other Oklahoma authors' works right now. I've read The Drifters, Canady, and Morning Mist of Blood, and I'm presently reading Prairie Sunset, also by an Oklahoma author. Yet these aren't big name books, so why? I basically think that if you're an author, you ought to support other authors.
I'm half way through Room. I love the freshness of the child's perspective and the way that all the objects in the room, where he's been held captive all his life, take on animate qualities.... His discussions with Ma about what's real and imaginary broach interesting philosophical questions, while the plot of their struggle for survival and escape propels the narrative forward. Can't wait to see how the story thickens in the second half!Ex Lit Prof
www.the-reading-list.com
I'm working onn Uglies by Scott Windfield I think. Its sort of slow but is getting better
Just started reading The First Men in the Moon by H. G. Wells. So far another gem. This is my fifth Wells in a row, and is the February group read selection in the H. G. Wells group http://www.goodreads.com/group/show/3... - if you're interested you should pop on over and give us your input.
Just began the Tea Rose
by Jennifer Donnelly as my third book of 2011. It is interesting so far, although I really had no expectations, barely knew what it was about, just knew it had a nice cover and was on sale. It has not disappointed so far. I also just read A Christmas Carol for the first time, and I can't believe it took me this long to discover its wonder! It will definitely be an annual read for me now!
I always have a least 2 books going at any one time, right now I am just about finished with Magic in the Blood by Devon Monk. I am also reading Rebecca by Daphne Du Maurier and Storm Prey by John Sanford.
The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell. I bought this some time ago and only recently got around to reading it. It's excellent!
I am simultaneously reading Safe Harbor and Little Dorrit, and a smattering of others, too.
Leslie wrote: "I'm half way through Room. I love the freshness of the child's perspective and the way that all the objects in the room, where he's been held captive all his life, take on animate q..."I just started this one and I'm thinking it's one I need to read by itself, not simultaneously with other reads as I usually do... it's slow getting me interested right now.
Mary wrote: "The Thousand Autumns of Jacob de Zoet by David Mitchell. I bought this some time ago and only recently got around to reading it. It's excellent!"I've only read Cloud Atlas by Mitchell so far, but it immediately put him on my favorite authors list.
Paul wrote: "I've only read Cloud Atlas by Mitchell so far, but it immediately put him on my favorite authors list."That was my first Mitchell novel! Black Swan Green is also very good.
Mary wrote: "That was my first Mitchell novel! Black Swan Green is also very good. "i've got that and Ghostwritten on (one of my) TBR shelves :D
I started Trespass by Rose Tremaine yesterday, and I really enjoy her writing style. Her novel Restoration is a favorite of mine.
Currently, I am reading Devil in the White City: Murder, Magic, and Madness at the Fair That Changed America by Erik Larson, and Bloom County: The Complete Library, Volume 1 (1980-1982) by Berkeley Breathed.I started reading the former because it sounded like a fascinating story, and a great way to learn more about one of my favorite cities, Chicago. I'm a little over half way through the book now, and really loving it. Larson really knows how to weave and engrossing tale that sucks in the reader.
Bloom County was my favorite newspaper strip growing up, and I was excited when I first heard about these new editions from the Library of American Comics. I got the first and second volumes for Christmas, and it has been great going back and reading the early strips that I missed out on when I was a kid. The comic really holds up well, though it is kind of scary and sad that they still feel sort of fresh and relevant today. Either way, I'm loving it.
Last night, I started reading a Western by Edgar Rice Burroughs, The Bandit of Hell's Bend (1924). My wife is the avid Western fan in our house, and she recommended it; I might (or might not) have some other reading commitments coming up pretty soon, so I wanted a book that would be a relatively quick read, which I think that this one will be.
Jenny wrote: "Leslie wrote: "I'm half way through Room. I love the freshness of the child's perspective and the way that all the objects in the room, where he's been held captive all his life, ta..."This book was wonderful. I will never forget the unique voice of Jack.
Reading The Giver...really good and thought provoking so far...only half-way but hope to finish today or tomorrow.
I am reading Five weeks in a balloon, one of the most famous novels of one of my favorites, Verne. It's a classic, and right now I am looking for classics I haven't read, so I am open to any suggestions on this =)
Beatrix wrote: "I am reading Five weeks in a balloon, one of the most famous novels of one of my favorites, Verne. It's a classic, and right now I am looking for classics I haven't read, so I am open to any sugges..."
classics like little Women?
classics like little Women?
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THE JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB
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Thanks Werner- I knew I had either heard about or read something by Doyle during that period!