Reading - what is your style?

[Robin]

Same as Inez, I love books, usually get books from the library or the bookroom attached to the library. Usually find good deals there. Will be a holdout for the nook and kindle crowd. Don't want to get anything electronic.

[Shea]

We were in a Border's yesterday and they had a boxed set of all 6 of Jane Austen's major novels in paperback. It was only $7.99! I could hardly make myself leave it there and I already own all the novels in hardcover. I think I may need an intervention.

[Robin]

I hope you bought the Austen books, Shea. For $7.99 for six books, that is a deal. I need to go to Borders to buy a book for my daughter's English class, I haven't found it at any bookstore lately. The title is And then there were none by Agatha Christie.

[Carol]

I borrow books from the library but if I really like them after I read them I try to buy a first edition hard cover copy. I worked in printing and was a graphic designer so I am drawn to beautiful illustrations and text set in "hot" type on heavy weight paper. I love the physical book. I usually have 3 books going at the same time since I read in a variety of book groups.

[Maggie]

I work at the library in town as a page (I reshelve the books); so when I see what looks like a good book, I'll take it out. This leads me to reading sometimes several books at a time. Thankfully I'm able to keep track of all of their plots. I love to receive books as gifts, and buy them for myself infrequently, but mostly I borrow from the library. I don't own a eBook, but I can see the advantages. Right now I prefer "real" books, you know, the stuff with a cover and paper in the middle?
My bookshelves are separated between nonfiction and fiction, each with a respective shelf. I also shelve the fiction books in alphabetical order by the author's last name (the library OCD kicking in). I don't have a preference between hard cover and paper back.

[Rachana]

I mostly buy books, because I don't really like parting with a well-loved book. Therefore, I have got books in every nook and cranny of my room and I'm quickly running out of spaces for more to occupy.

I prefer a "real" book, regardless of whether it is hard cover or a paperback, as there's no beating the feel and smell of the pages, especially of books I keep revisiting again and again. But I have read my share of eBooks, and though convenient, I find it difficult to stay glued to a screen for long.

At the moment I have 5-6 books at various stages of completion (eBooks as well as real books), but thankfully, they are all pretty diverse ranging from fiction, biography, classics, history and sci-fi, that I dont have a problem keeping track of the plots.

[Sophie]

I use my ipod and read my books electronically. then i can carry them around easier :) lighter and smaller :) though nothing can beat the smell of an old book :) xx

[Robin]

Soph wrote: "... nothing can beat the smell of an old book :)"

Nothing! :)

[Shea]

I am horribly behind the times but I checked out the first season of Buffy the Vampire Slayer from the library. One of the main characters, Giles, is the librarian and he is tells the computer science teacher he doesn't like computers because of the way they smell. She replies that computers don't have a smell. He says exactly. He loves the smell of books old, musty, leather and paper. Also, since smell is one of the senses most strongly associated with feeling and cognition it only makes sense that knowledge gained by books sticks in the memory better. I loved his argument although I like computers as well as books.

[Lorraine]

I really love the smell of new books, I'm a little leery of old books' smell, unless they're books I've owned all my life. I have a set of Book House books that all us kids read growing up, and I still love how they smell.

[Sophie]

New book are also good - and feel and look
Good too!!!

[Barbara]

I don't have a kindle and spend to much time in front of a screen as it is as I work on a computer for my job too. I don't know that it matters whether it is paperback or hardcover. I don't want anything too nice as then I will fill I have to be too careful with it. I used to read one book at a time, but lately have been some together. Well, I just got Mansfield Park, which is the first book ever I have even cracked the cover of for Jane Austen. I am just barely started. I love the nuances and wit. The line about not enough men with fortunes as there are pretty ladies to deserve them was so classic and spot on. I don't know if I would want Jane for a friend. She is so smart and neat, but she would probably observe me too much. I don't know what kind of friend she was though. I liked the little bio at the front of the book.

[Animalia]

It depends on my mood usually I like reading hardcover books that don't have very tiny text and have a white paper background or sometimes I do my Nook color and even I sometimes read books on my laptop. It really depends on my mood. I'm a buyer/collector for my favorite books, if I could I would buy every book I like but I don't have the space/money, so I borrow at the library a lot or sometimes I go to the bookstore and just read the book there. I definitely read one book at a time and I try to read it all in one sitting and then if the book is part of a series I start with the next book immediately. It really depends on the book say if I'm reading a romance novel I'd prefer for it to be stand alone or at least for the characters to confess their love in the first book and then the next one they are a couple. Sometimes I like series because some of my questions haven't been answered yet or I just want the book to last longer.

[Maggie]

I have a kindle, and like it a lot, but I still prefer reading 'real' books. One of my favorite things is to go into the secondhand bookstore in town and browse :) I can't decide if I like starting books in the middle of a series or not, I hate waiting for the new books to be written, but at the same time the anticipation is exhilerating. Like Christmas Eve.

[Barbara]

Stephanie, it is so great when you find something that is just what you are into at the time or very historical. I agree with Animalia regarding the large print. Maggie, Happy Book Eve, Maggie!

[Charlene]

I agree a hardback book is great and I collect all the classic's I can get and any book I deam worth reading more than once. But I have to say that I love my Kindle dearly. I can pick up and put down books on a whim. If what I'm reading doesn't suit me I just move on. I don't have to take a bunch of books with me on vacation. There all with me on my kindle. What's even better is most of the classic's are free on kindle. You can't get better than that!!! :)

[Shea]

I agree Charlene. I love the free classics for my Nook and only having to take "one" book on vacation with endless possibilities for reading.

[Maggie]

Happy Book Eve to you as well Barbara!

[Barbara]

:)

[Xenia]

I love hardcovers but rarely buy them because of the prices. They can also be cumbersome to take with you to work or if you are traveling. I purchase paperbacks and sometimes the larger softcover books. I love spending time in bookstores buying books. For a long time I swore that I would never buy a kindle. Well, I decided to treat myself to a kindle fire this past January and I have to admit that I love it. I still buy books, but I also purchase a lot of them in the kindle version. I have so many books on my kindle now including Jane Austen's Completed Works. I do not get decorating books or cookbooks in the kindle version. I prefer the hardcovers for those. I do not like mass market paperbacks; especially when the book has been turned into a movie.

In my home I have my very own library room. You can see photos of it here: http://www.collarcitybrownstone.com/2...

I am still having shelves built for my library because I have so many books. Two years ago I did donate a lot of them to the local library because I simply had so many and not enough space for them.

[Pamela]

I am one of the few people who don't care whether I have paperbacks or hardcover. Paperbacks let me buy more books because their cheaper but hardbacks are more sturdy. I also have a kindle (one of the originals with the buttons on it so you can type things), I have hundreds of books on my kindle, and I do read on it sometimes but not as much as I read paper books. I read mostly in my bed or on my porch. I want to get a ipad for reading so I can look at magazines and books with colored pages like cookbooks, and have the tablet features as well. In my room I only have a tall skinny bookshelf the size of a small door. Three tall shelves on it are devoted to my To be read books, then one book shelf just my writing books and the last shelf is all yearbooks and stuff like that. I also have all my craft books in a stack on my night stand and my Jane Austen complete collection book on my tv dresser, so there are books everywhere. Like Xenia, I do not like movie or tv show tie in covers on my books, but I am okay with mass market since they are cheaper, but I prefer bigger books. I have more books but those have been read and are in plastic containers sealed in the barn shed out back. But thats only a part of them because I sold the ones I knew I wouldn't read again to a local used book store that I go to from time to time. I do like to have all of one style of cover, if a book series has come out with different types of cover art design. I like to have all of one design, otherwise it drives me nuts.
-Pammie

[Maria]

I love books, hardback, paperback, don't care. I Love the smell of new and old books. I do have a kindle which I bought to take on holiday, the baggage restrictions meant that there was no way I could take the amount of books I was likely to read. I'm glad I did 'cos I read eight books in 10 days. Although I like my Kindle I still prefer to read an actual book, and I like to own my books.

[shuurei]

I collect my books. So I'm into paperbacks. I splurge to books a lot especially if it is a series :) It's always a pleasure to see your bookshelf full of books. I don't buy hardcover books because usually its expensive.

[Stephanie]

I have a NOOK, but for certain things, I do prefer reading an actual book. When I have been reading Jane Austen I have been reading a book, it just didn't seem proper to read them on my Nook. I love the way that a book feels and smells, so that is why I still prefer a book to my Nook.

[shuurei]

Stephanie wrote: "I have a NOOK, but for certain things, I do prefer reading an actual book. When I have been reading Jane Austen I have been reading a book, it just didn't seem proper to read them on my Nook. I l..."

I agree with you. Touching and smelling my books is like a regimen before I start reading. It just feels different when you are not reading an actual book.

[[deleted user]]

I agree with all who say reading on a Kindle or Nook is a different experience over all. I also enjoy the tactile joy of a well made book and the smell of the pages. There is nothing better than a wonderful coffee table type book of one's favorite subject. But e-readers are good for portability and the opportunity to try (for cheap or free) different authors and genres very easily.

I have been really fascinated reading all the responses here since I started this thread - so many wonderful posts and ideas! Thanks all!

[Shea]

On Sunday I was all comfy on my couch with a heating pad when I came across a word I didn't know. I was just about to get up and get my dictionary when I realized I was reading on my Nook and it has a dictionary built in. I was able to look up the word while my back stayed warm and relaxed. I love print books but the Nook scored bonus points that day.

[Xenia]

Shea wrote: "On Sunday I was all comfy on my couch with a heating pad when I came across a word I didn't know. I was just about to get up and get my dictionary when I realized I was reading on my Nook and it h..."

I know what you mean. My kindle has a dictionary on it too.

[Sophie]

I loved reading the Austen's on my iPod because of the built in dictionary!!

[Ev]

If I can I prefer a paperback book.

[Eszter]

It's hardcover for me. I simply can't read on e-readers and most paperbacks are of very poor quality. Smell and feel bad. An Austen heroine would never have touched them...

[Julie]

18 years ago I started working at Barnes & Noble, thank goodness I was a single mother with a limited income. As it is I have a storage locker full of books. Now I work at the public library, so I'm more apt to checkout a book for the first time I read it and if I think it's something I would read again and again then I'll buy it.
I'm not keen on the idea of technology. I love the feel and smell of books and I'm afraid that after I have paid a small fortune for a Kindle, Nook or Ipad, I would lose it or drop it in the tub.
I too love audiobooks if they are done by great narrators. Interestingly, I find that I am unable to follow a book on audio unless I have already read the book. That's ok. I always find that a good narrator is able to add another dimension to a book I already enjoy.

[Anne]

You name it, I'll read it...lately I am reading more on my iPad from both the iBooks and Kindle apps. I do however love a good book. My husband and I often get our books from Goodwill. If you love he classics it's a great place to go. Lots of former Uni students unload their books there.

[Kathleen]

On principle I'll try just about anything, but left to my own devices I gravitate towards "literature"—my favorite author of all time, ever, no qualifiers, is Virginia Woolf—classics as well as the modern stuff. Length in either direction is of no consequence to me. I like long drawn-out novels like Vanity Fair and Moby-Dick; or, The Whale as well as collections of short stories and poetry (everything from Dybek's modern The Coast of Chicago: Stories and Szymborska's View With a Grain of Sand: Selected Poems to Poe's The Fall of the House of Usher and Other Tales and Sidney's Selected Poems).

I insist on paper-and-ink books, and do not yet own an e-reader of any kind. I usually buy (or check out) hardcover or "trade paperbacks" because I try to buy books used or check them out of the library whenever possible.

[Caity]

Kathleen wrote: "On principle I'll try just about anything, but left to my own devices I gravitate towards "literature"—my favorite author of all time, ever, no qualifiers, is Virginia Woolf—classics as well as the..."

AAAAH!!!!!!! I am with you on the "paper-and-pen" books!!!! cannot use an e-reader- it would be like playing traitor to a best friend. :(

I LOVE Regency, Medieval, Tudor, Victorian, and Gilded Age historical fiction! :D

[Maria]

I prefer a real book in my hands but I must say that ebooks are cheaper and I have bought some of them especially because of their price.

[Sophie]

I prefer a real book as well but they are cheaper and very useful for travel when you need to travel light. Also some books which are more unknown I want to read are often only available on Kindle!
What is useful is if I am unsure about a book, I buy the Kindle version (as it is normally considerably cheaper) and then if I really enjoy it I will buy the paperback immediately! (Like I have done with the last two books I have read :))

But... nothing will ever beat a real book!

[Angharad]

I always hated the idea of ebooks, but ever since i got a kindle hd fire last christmas, i've been in love with it and reading ebooks... i've read far more than i usually do because of it because of cheaperness etc... i usually have more than one book on the go too

[Lydia]

I am a collector. The way I see it, if a book is worth reading it is worth buying and treasuring forever. Very rarely do I part with any of my books. I have a library card, but I rarely use it because after I read a book I want to put it on my shelf and keep it. My only goal that has remained unchanged since childhood is that I want my house to be a library with books in every room, and I am working towards that goal. One of the reasons I keep books is because I know other people who can enjoy them when I am done reading. I very often loan books to friends and family members, and I pride myself on having a large selection for them to choose from.

I am typically in the middle of several books at once - very different ones so I can go back and forth between them depending on my mood. But if one of them is better than the others I'll stick with that one until it's finished. Then I'll get very sad that it's over and console myself by diving back into one of the other books I'm reading.

I am thoroughly and completely anti electronic books. Ok, sometimes I will read a book downloaded to my smart phone, but that's fairly rare because I so love the sumptuous feeling of an actual book in my hands. I know some people like the portability of a kindle or nook, but I just carry a big enough purse to fit a couple books in and a book light, so I'm never unable to read. Hard or softcover makes no difference to me, I just love flipping the pages. And I have learned how to bind books by hand, so if a cheap paperback starts to fall apart, I'll take it apart, re-glue the pages, and fashion it a new cover.

[Caity]

Just finished Emma!! =D http://readingwithalice.blogspot.com/...

[Karlyne]

Alice wrote: "Just finished Emma!! =D http://readingwithalice.blogspot.com/..."

I like your perspective, Alice! Knightley really is the catalyst for the story.

[Karlyne]

And I'll be re-reading Emma soon, so I'll keep that perspective in mind as I do.

[Caity]

Karlyne wrote: "Alice wrote: "Just finished Emma!! =D http://readingwithalice.blogspot.com/..."

I like your perspective, Alice! Knightley really is the catalyst for the story."

Thank you, Karlyne! =D
I'm interested to hear what you think of the story! =)

[Rachel]

Do you prefer hardcover books, paperbacks, a Kindle, Nook, iPad or an audiobook?
I am the daughter of a librarian--he's retired now, so think of the librarians who actually didn't know much about computers--and therefore grew up around bookcases filled with books, real books, in every room of our house. Yes, I am a "real book" snob. I love how they smell, I love buying new ones, I love getting them in the mail from Paperbackswap, I love going to bookstores and just browsing for hours. I love books!

Are you a buyer/collector or do you borrow/swap?
I actually do all of the above. If it's a book I will need (like Jane's books) to read again, I buy it and keep it. If I'm reading a series, and I just have to read the next one, I'll get it from the library. And sometimes I buy books that I read once and then swap on PBS.

Do you read one book at a time or do you have multiple titles going depending on your mood or interests? Do you prefer stand alone novels or series?
This is an interesting question as I have just recently realized that I cannot read only one book at a time anymore as there are just too many books out there I need to read or reread. I've started to think of it like being back in college, where I had to be reading all kinds of books at once, doing chapters or sections each night as assigned by the professors. So now, I assign myself books to read, going back and forth one to the other.
I love both stand alone novels and series.

[QNPoohBear]

Rachel wrote: "I am the daughter of a librarian--he's retired now, so think of the librarians who actually didn't know much about computers"

Unfortunately, we are not required to have a certain amount of computer knowledge and keep up with changing technologies. I tried to avoid that by getting into special collections, which I love, but that also requires a lot of computer skills.

If it's a book I will need (like Jane's books) to read again, I buy it and keep it. If I'm reading a series, and I just have to read the next one, I'll get it from the library. And sometimes I buy books that I read once and then swap on PBS.

Rachel our reading styles are just the same. I'm on paperbackswap too. I get my paperback Regency books that way when the library doesn't have them/lost them/sold them.

[Rachel]

Unfortunately, we are not required to have a certain am..."

I assume, therefore, that you are a librarian as well? You know, if I had it to do all over again, that's the profession I would've picked. Instead I became a teacher, which is okay, and I try to focus on books as much as possible.
It's nice to meet you!

Oh yeah, my favorite book as a child, the ones that my dad read to me again and again, and I had records of (remember records, ha ha), were Winnie-the-Pooh, The House at Pooh Corner, When We Were Very Young, and Now We Are Six.
"James James
Morrison Morrison
Weatherby George Dupree
Took great
Care of his Mother,
Though he was only three . ."

[QNPoohBear]

@Rachel I just finished my MLIS/MA so I'm not technically anything until I'm employed but I like to say I'm a librarian anyway. I feel like one anyway.

[Rachel]

Lydia wrote: "I am a collector. The way I see it, if a book is worth reading it is worth buying and treasuring forever. Very rarely do I part with any of my books. I have a library card, but I rarely use it beca..."

Hi Lydia,
Couldn't agree more about being "thoroughly and completely anti electronic books!" I mean, what's the point of reading a really good book if you can't pick it up off the shelf some night when you want to look up that really funny part, or find that witty quote?
I love to surround myself with all my favorite books--those characters are my friends and I like to keep them close by for comfort.

[Rachel]

That's so cool! And congratulations on finishing graduate school!!
What a feat!

[Stanley]

Great thread! For myself, I am such an addict that I have to ration new books, as I will become completely asocial and nonproductive until it is finished: bad for work and family.

But on the subject of ebooks vs real books, has anyone else noticed that they relate to the writing differently on screen than on a physical page? I have often read the same thing in both formats, and I am much more drawn into the story and characters with a real book; I think there is just something more appealing and intimate about a book.