Chicks On Lit discussion
How do you choose your next book?
message 1:
by
Kimberley
(new)
Feb 26, 2010 04:12PM
I have lots of books on my shelf that are unread, so I tend to choose my next book by my mood at the time.
reply
|
flag
*
It would be a lot easier for me to choose if I understood what made me choose the last one, so to speak. Actually I'm reading for the club read, so that was a no brainer. I have lots of unread books (close to 60?) on my shelf, all of which I once thought would be interesting. Sometimes I'll pull down 3 or 4 - loved author or maybe how long they've been on my shelf or even maybe a new author - and then reread the synopsis. Eventually, one ends up by my bed.
That's what I do too Elizabeth, reread the synopsis and Kimberley, it also depends on my mood at the time. This time I made a list of 5 books that I was reading next no matter what! I'm trying to get through some of the books on my TBR bookshelf here at home so I won't feel guilty when I buy more books!
I do the same as you Kimberley and Cindy. Once I'm reading the book if it doesn't appeal to me, I got back to my shelf & try again!
If I've started a series, then I try to finish it (or catch up if it's unfinished) before I switch to anything else. When I finish a long series of good books I have to give myself a day or two before I jump into another book sometimes just to let it kinda wear off. It's almost like you're breaking up with the characters and need closure or something before you pick new ones lol.When I need to choose something new, I usually go for something long that looks like it will have great characters. I like to be able to enjoy something for a while, which is what's so great about a series or trilogy.
My moods vary from time to time though. I'll usually get addicted to a particular genre for months at a time, then switch when I find some random book that piques my interest in other areas or fall particularly in love with a book club selection. Then I'll be obsessed with that for a while and switch again later. :)
Jenny, I know just what you mean about it feels like you're breaking up with characters or something! And I also get addicted to a particular genre for a time!
Cindy wrote: "Jenny, I know just what you mean about it feels like you're breaking up with characters or something! And I also get addicted to a particular genre for a time!"Oh, I get the same feeling! I felt that way about Outlander
Thanks, for all the replies. I have so many books to read that I'm not going to buy anymore until I have read at least half of my collection. It will be hard but I will try.I really do love fantasy books and the classics, but I love to try new authors also.
I have a box of 68 books at home that need to be read and i honestly just stick my hand in there and fish around and pull one out blindly. They are all in there because I thought they looked good at one time or another so I just make that my next book.
That's a great way to do it Holli. Maybe I should do something along the lines of 'pin the tail on the donkey' next time I go to my to-read- shelf in the livingroom!
I can just picture it! Blind-folded fishing for books! :)
Cindy wrote: "I can just picture it! Blind-folded fishing for books! :)"That's a better visual than a monkey throwing darts, a similar strategy. ;-)
I love the way Holli chooses her next book! I think I will try that next time.
My books are on a shelf, rather than a box. I think my picking 3-4 and then rereading the synopsis is the "monkey throwing darts" srategy.
Unless I have to read a specific book for something, a challenge or whatever, I choose mainly by my mood at the time. Sometimes I'm craving a good, old-fashioned historical romance and then sometimes I'm feeling like a fantasy or paranormal. It all depends.
Thanks guys! I love being random like that..... and I love to be surprised so that method fits the bill on both counts.And yes Elizabeth I think you have the same strategy too!
Thanks, Holli. I didn't want people to think I meant they were the monkey with the darts.
This is a truly inspiring topic! My to read shelves are overflowing! I like the random pick as well - monkey, donkey and me! ha-ha.I try to pick a pulitzer in between because that is my personal challenge. I have a face to face book club once a month AND I try to participate in the chicks monthly read.
Oh my, I'll never catch up! Oh well!
Know what yo mean Rose, I'll never catch up either!!
This is like bookaholics anonymous for me! Thanks for making me feel "normal", girls! ;)
Never catch up?!!! I have 58 unread books on my shelf - those are the ones I have that I think I'll read. I just looked and I have 198 books on my Wish List. Come on now, send me some goodies, and it will be an even 200! LOL
Okay, E! I'm taking up the gauntlet:#1 One Thousand White Women begins with May Dodd's journey west into the unknown. A government program, in which women are brought west as brides for the Cheyenne, is her vehicle. What follows is the story of May's adventures: her marriage to Little Wolf, chief of the Cheyenne nation, and her conflict of being caught between two worlds, loving two men, living two lives. Jim Fergus has so vividly depicted the American West that it is as if these diaries are a capsule in time.
I'll research and find another, I'm sure, for you my friend! :D
I'll often just wander around the library picking up books until I find something that strikes me. I'm fortunate enough to work 1 block from the main branch of our public library, and I go there several times a week. Either that, or I'll come here to Goodreads and see what other people are reading. I found my current read (Pope Joan) that way, and it's fantastic!
Thanks to Goodreads and other book sites, there are so many great suggestions! Lately I've been downloading several Kindle samples that fit my mood (literary, mystery, etc.) and then choosing the one I can't wait to read.
Rose wrote: "Elizabeth, I found your #200.Foreign Affairs: A Novel by Alison Lurie."
LOL It's one of the 198.
Was One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd really that good? I've looked at the synopsis a couple of times and haven't added it.
Holli wrote: "I have a box of 68 books at home that need to be read and i honestly just stick my hand in there and fish around and pull one out blindly. They are all in there because I thought they looked good ..."Wow Holli that is a great way to choose a book! :)
Like most of you, I too have an entire bookshelf at home waiting to be read. I just seem to buy them so much faster than I read them! I usually base my next pick on my mood as well, sometimes I need something light and sometimes I can tackle the more challenging reads. Also, if a book has been sitting on my bookshelf for a long time (I mean really really long!) I feel an obligation to pick it up and get started. So that is also a motivation for me.
Sometimes I'll be reading a book and another title will just hit me, "Oh! I MUST read Such and Such next!" Other times I'll look at my shelves until something stands out. Or I'll be reading a book I'm not particularly enjoying and something else will sound infinitely better.But I really like Holli's method! I just don't know if I have a box big enough to hold all of my to-reads. I really want to get to the point where I'll finish what I start before moving onto something else. It's starting to drive me insane the way I flit from book to book.
Lori wrote: "Sometimes I'll be reading a book and another title will just hit me, "Oh! I MUST read Such and Such next!" Other times I'll look at my shelves until something stands out. Or I'll be reading a bo..."Lori, I use to do the same thing. If I wasn't getting into the book fast enough I would start reading something else. I was always reading two or three books at a time and it got so frustrating cause it took me that much longer to get through a book. One of my goals for this year was to try and break that habit :) I am doing much better so far but it is easy to get distracted when there are so many great books to read :)
Amanda wrote: "Lori wrote: "Sometimes I'll be reading a book and another title will just hit me, "Oh! I MUST read Such and Such next!" Other times I'll look at my shelves until something stands out. Or I'll be..."I was not like this until I started college. I think it's because my reading time is so rare and precious (and often guilt-filled since there's always something I could/should be doing) that I don't want to spend my time reading something that doesn't grab me and not let go. But I need to realize that books like that are really few and far between. So I should enjoy each book for what it's worth, even if it's only worth crossing off my list and adding to PBSwap.
I started doing that in college too - reading 2-4 books at a time. As a lit major I had to for different classes or I would've fallen behind. It is a habit that is sticking with me even with my personal reading. :|
Jenny wrote: "I started doing that in college too - reading 2-4 books at a time. As a lit major I had to for different classes or I would've fallen behind. It is a habit that is sticking with me even with my pe..."Hey! Don't ruin my dreams of losing this habit when I graduate! Haha. I'm usually reading 2-4 books in addition to the ones I'm supposed to be reading for class. (I cannot wait to no longer be an English major!)
lol I just graduated in the winter and when I finally handed in my last batch of final papers (142 pages of crap all due in the same week - ugh!) it was the best feeling EVER.
I have to tell you how much I appreciate you chicks saying that you have (insert # here) books sitting on a shelf to read. I really only buy one or two books at a time. My husband thinks I'm just a little bonkers for buying books at all! That's when I remind him about his DVD addiction! LOL. I choose a book to buy by the synopsis, author and mood. I will be going thru my TBR list (all theoretical, BTW) and making a list to keep in my purse for when I am in buying mode.
At least we aren't buying expensive shoes or something, right, Angie???
Usually I just read one book at a time but in the last week I have found myself reading several. One of the reasons for this is that I am reading some non-fiction books and it is hard to sit down and just read straight through those. I won't even tell you how many books that I own that I haven't read but it is probably in the thousands (and that is not an exaggeration). The sad thing is that I don't read any of my own books but I get books from the library. Right now I have 17 books checked out for myself and 20 on reserve. Four I just put on reserve this morning and 7 I put on reserve yesterday from reading posts on Chicks on Lit. We won't talk about the hundreds of little pieces of paper with book titles on them that I want to read. Don't laugh, but I have this serious phobia that I will run out of books to read. Is that weird or what??? One time I had almost 50 books checked out and I just took them all back without reading them, making notes on the ones to reorder at a later time.
I have two ways of picking my next book to read. One is I have to go by what can't be renewed at the library. That kind of dictates what needs to be read urgently. Also sometimes I check out a book that is new and only has a 14 day loan and can't be renewed. When that happens I either finish the book I am currently reading and then read it next or I just stop reading what I am reading and read the new book with the short loan period. Also I use interlibrary loan if my library doesn't have a book. Those usually don't have a very long loan period and they cost $2.50 a day late fees so I give them top priority.
AngieA, you think your husband thinks you are bonkers for buying books, I'm surprised my family hasn't committed me. I have boxes of books in a storage room that I don't even know what is in them (long story short a friend of mine that is in charge of a yearly book sale for AAUW asked me if I wanted the leftovers one year--I will not tell you how many years ago that was--so I've gone through some of the boxes but not all of them and since I wasn't the only one packing boxes I'm not really sure what all is in there). Plus I have bookcases in every room in my house and I'm not talking one bookcase either. Some of the bookcases are shelved two rows per shelf and then books on top of those (laying down) as many as I can fit on the shelf. And when I buy books do I buy just one? Oh, heck no, I usually buy at least one bag full sometimes more. I also carry a notebook with me and jot down book titles while I am in a bookstore to see if the library has the book. I haven't been to an auction for a while because then I come away with boxes of books (one time I bought three bookcases full of cookbooks from a book auction). I'm sure there is probably a word for my addiction for hording books or phobia for the fear of running out of reading material. I also have boxes of magazines that I haven't read because I don't have time to read them because of the books I am reading but I still subscribe and then keep them.
Carrie wrote: "At least we aren't buying expensive shoes or something, right, Angie???"I always say that there are worse things I could be spending my money on.
Denise, at our library we can only put 3 books on hold at a time! An endless list of holds sounds wonderful! I also carry a little notebook in my purse to jot down the names of books I want to get from the library!
It sounds like you are in desperate need of a whole room with floor to ceiling bookshelves, a big room! That would be great!
and
I agree Lori! There's worse things we could spend our money on and worse addictions we could have!! :)
Cindy wrote: "Denise, at our library we can only put 3 books on hold at a time! An endless list of holds sounds wonderful! I also carry a little notebook in my purse to jot down the names of books I want to get from the library!
It sounds like you are in desperate need of a whole room with floor to ceiling bookshelves, a big room! That would be great! ..."
Cindy: I had to go look up the "rules" from my library so I could tell you accurately what our library system allows. You can check out 50 books and an additional 30 audio items which includes audiobooks. I have never listened to an audiobook so I have never taken advantage of that service. I was also looking and it says that you can download digital books to your PC or PDA. I have never done that either. It looks like that is a free service. There is also something called NetLibrary and this is what it says about that: " NetLibrary offers access to more than 4,000 eBook titles--full-text electronic versions of books that can be searched, borrowed, read and returned online. Initial registration at a library location is required to use the NetLibrary service." I don't really know anything about eBooks and don't have a reader so I haven't explored that service either.
Even though you can have 50 books checked out you can only put 35 on reserve at a time and of course you have to balance your checked out and reserved books so that if a gob of books would be ready for pickup at one time you don't want to have to leave some there because it would put you over the 50 book limit for checked out books.
I love the Columbus Metropolitan Library system. We have been the #1 Library in the U.S. two years in a row now. I am in the process of looking for a house in Phoenix AZ and my daughter tells me you can only reserve 3 books on hold at a time there like your library. I'm not sure how I will handle that!
The other really cool thing is that you can renew a book up to 5 times if another customer hasn't placed a reserve on the item. This is a real blessing when you check out as many books as I do.
Cindy, I have almost floor to ceiling bookcases in my dining room (which is my library). We eat in front of the TV so I don't need a formal dining room. My house was built in 1920 so my ceilings are 10 1/2 foot tall. I have 8 tall bookcases and one short bookcase in that room plus two wooden boxes stacked under one of the windows. In my foyer I have a double sided bookcase (that is really cool, I got it at an auction, I have never seen one before) and it stands at the top of my stairwell (I own an up/down duplex and we live in the upstairs part--the apartment downstairs is vacant and the overflow of books is down there). I also have a short bookcase on the landing of the stairwell, another 5 foot bookcase when you turn to come up the last two stairs, and two other bookcases in the foyer. In the living room I have 3 bookcases. I have a few cookbooks in the kitchen but the kitchen is small so I really don't have room for all my cookbooks in there. We also have a partially finished attic (which I call the loft because it has a halfwall that overlooks the kitchen). I have a bookcase on the landing, paperback books on a (7+ foot)ledge going up the stairs, and there is a bookcase in the loft. Several of my closets have boxes of books in them and also boxes of magazines as I mentioned in my previous post. And like I said I have about 50 boxes of books from that book sale (see message 36 above regarding this).
The sad thing is I have to start getting rid of a massive amount of books here pretty soon. The house that I have bid on in Phoenix is a ranch style (no basement) and about 1600 sq ft. I think my current house is about 3000 sq ft.
Most of the books I have read this school year were suggested by a student or a continuation of a series that I have been reading. Since I have joined Goodreads whenever I get a suggestion of an author or a specific book, I have put it on my to-read list. When I finish my current books I plan to sort the list and read the oldest book on the list if my library has it which I think right now is Little Women.
AngieA wrote: "I have to tell you how much I appreciate you chicks saying that you have (insert # here) books sitting on a shelf to read. I really only buy one or two books at a time. My husband thinks I'm just..."Angie, I so agree with you.I have ordered 6 new books based on what I have read here, and will be happy if I really like 4 of them. I have no library at all except the school library that I am "building", so there is no way to peruse books in a library first.
When I can get to a bookshop (am going to Singapore next week - Hurray)I choose by reading the blurb and sometimes look for specific titles I have heard about. Amazon is good too.
I am seriously considering a Kindle to download books. I have heard that they are easy to read, but is that true? What do you think?
Denise, I live in Chandler but work in Phoenix!! When are you going to be moving?? That's exciting!
Gaynor wrote: "I am seriously considering a Kindle to download books. I have heard that they are easy to read, but is that true? What do you think?"I LOVE my Kindle.
I need to be surrounded by books because I just love them, I like to have so many to choose from and at least one will suit my mood.
Jenny wrote: "Gaynor wrote: "I am seriously considering a Kindle to download books. I have heard that they are easy to read, but is that true? What do you think?"I LOVE my Kindle."
One of my friends was looking at the reader from Barnes and Noble. I think that would be good for her because she spends almost 2 hours a day going to and from work. I drive to and from work and the only time I really get to read for pleasure is in bed before I go to sleep. It really depends on your lifestyle and if you love the feel of the book while you are reading it.
I tend to do reading challenges so I have a list of books and from that I tend to just pick whatever I feel like reading from that list. Group reads also dictate what I read.
I usually choose my next book based either on what I'm in the mood for or which book has been longest on my TBR list. Though I think I tend to lean more towards depending on what mood I'm in; it really affects my reading if I'm reading something I'm not in the mood for xD
There is no rhyme or reason to the way I pick my next book. If I am playing with my Kindle, I will look through it and find 3 or 4 that catch my attention.... come here, read the synopsis and which ever one pulls me more, thats the one I read.....If I am at home and wandering through the den, I look at my bookshelves and just pick. I have one entire bookshelf that is nothing but TBR books........... (pronounced about 200)......
Many times it is based on the book that is released from my library hold list. I'll find books that sound interesting and put them on hold. Of course tomorrow I am hoping to get the latest Elizabeth Berg for Mother's Day--hopefully my daughter listened to my hints!
Chicks On Lit
Books mentioned in this topic
Outlander (other topics)One Thousand White Women: The Journals of May Dodd (other topics)
Foreign Affairs (other topics)
