What do you want us to talk/write about? Showing 1,051-1,100 of 1,312

[Gerald]

I have had an interest in the future of the printed book for the last few weeks. Do you two see anything exciting for the printed book?Something that could enhance reading a printed book. I know that from left field but I just wonder.ger

[Douglas]

Toni wrote: "Ha! Good luck to you, Kate. I wish we could all retire and just read."

Having recently retired and now happily reading, guilt-free, for several hours every day, I feel like I've died and gone to Heaven.

[Antonia]

Awww, that's wonderful, Douglas. I will probably work a couple more years. Then . . . Heaven! :)

[Junek]

Sally wrote: "Make that triples! I try to mix it up. Read Mister Pip, Old Filth and am now reading And The Mountains Echoed. A Constellation of Vital Phenomena is my favorite so far this year!! I read and lis..."

Sally, Try to follow up "Old Filth" with "The Man in the Wooden Hat" it is a companion novel, I am sure that you will enjoy!!!

[Sally]

Thanks - I will do that. Enjoyed Old Filth!

[Junek]

Douglas wrote: "Toni wrote: "Ha! Good luck to you, Kate. I wish we could all retire and just read."

Having recently retired and now happily reading, guilt-free, for several hours every day, I feel like I've died ..."

Hi folks, I am a retired person, and find that I am only able maybe find two hours a day for reading!!! I think the secret is to live alone and retired.

[Douglas]

Junek wrote: "I am a retired person, and find that I am only able maybe find two hours a day for reading!!! I think the secret is to live alone and retired. "

I don't live alone. My secret is that my dear wife loves to read as much as I do.

[Linda]

Douglas wrote: "Junek wrote: "I am a retired person, and find that I am only able maybe find two hours a day for reading!!! I think the secret is to live alone and retired. "

I don't live alone. My secret is that..."

Envy, envy, envy. I love my husband dearly, but why does he always want to talk when I want to read? Even when I tell him I NEED to read (for work, a book discussion, etc.)

[Douglas]

NEED to read is right, Linda! Actually, the fact that we could both sit in the same room and read for hours is one reason we got married! We've been together over 32 years, and counting.

[Junek]

May I add from my posting 1080 that 2hours reading a day is really quite good, looking back on my working days this would not have been possible.

[Linda]

Douglas wrote: "NEED to read is right, Linda! Actually, the fact that we could both sit in the same room and read for hours is one reason we got married! We've been together over 32 years, and counting."

I need to clarify that I am married to the most wonderful man in the world, but we are very different. He is dyslexic which means he is incredibly intelligent but doesn't get along well with the written word.

Yesterday we went off on Route 40 (the National Road) garage sales together. I asked if he brought his iPod, he's listening to Team of Rivals: The Political Genius of Abraham Lincoln , because I have to finish Inferno since it's due back at the library on Monday. He did not. He talked a lot yesterday and it became a joke that he was talking and not allowing me to read.

It was enough of a joke that when I got home early this morning from taking our son to work and heard him coming down the stairs way earlier than I expected, I teased, "Great! Now you're going to ruin my reading time by getting up early."

His response, "Damn straight." And we kissed each other good morning.

We've been married 25-1/2 years and I have vision issues that prevent me from fully appreciating his photography.

My husband recognizes that I will be jaunting off to parts I've never been when I hear the word "Booktopia". He does not complain that he stays home and goes to work.

I know I didn't need to explain. I should say something positive about the wonderful man I married.

[[deleted user]]

My DH and I are both intense readers, but he and my daughter have this uncanny sixth sense that detects when I am five minutes away from finishing an audiobook, movie or book!

DH: "Honey? Where's the large colander?"
ME: "Where it's been shelved the entire 6 years, five months and 2 days that we have lived in this house!"
DH: "I can't find it!"
ME: [Sighs. Pauses program/bookmarks book; stomps into kitchen and open cupboard to reveal aforementioned item]

It's maddening to be jolted out of a story that close to the denouement every single time!

[Readnponder]

Linda, we could be married to the same man. My husband is also dyslexic and has difficulty reading. (Although somehow it doesn't keep him off the internet!)
My family can't be found when I'm doing chores, but let me sit down for breather with a book and out they come. To their way of thinking, one only reads when there is nothing better to do. They think they are rescuing me from boredom. No amount of explaining on my part has undone this false notion.

[Junek]

Ladies your day will come, I am a 1935 baby and do enjoy reading about your reading habits, and your family, my children have all left the nest and are most probably experiencing the things that you are.

The thing is as you get older cunningness allows one to plan the reading habits to suit!!!

[Antonia]

Yay, Junek! Hurray for cunning!

[Gerald]

My cunning ran out years ago and I am a 1951 baby.

[Sally]

Question?? About two years ago I was sitting in my chair reading a "real" book. Now I am downloading books (more than I can ever read) and getting some of them as audio books!! I am changing from my Kindle, iPad and iPhone (when I am out). Sometimes I am listening to and reading the same book - at the same time. Am I crazy!! Is listening to a book reading?? Let's not forget listening to podcasts about books and getting on Goodreads to see what everyone else is reading!! Help!

[Doreen]

Sally, I hear you....I find myself in the same place......there are so many downloads on my Kindle that I cannot even remember where they came from. Then I realize that I m reading 3 or 4 books at the same time, and occasionally one drops off the map! More and more I am curling up with a good mystery....in paperback, and just shutting everything else out. Or a good nonfiction, and reading it all the way thru. Sometimes even Goodreads makes things worse....there is the main book, then the short story, then the classic.....and I mistakenly signed up for more than one book group on Goodreads....I find that I am no longer listening to book podcasts on my iPod....it is as if I can't handle one more book recommendation. Somehow I need to simplify.....anyone have any recommendations, besides taking myself off to a monastery?

[Junek]

My husband has a sight problem and only has audio books,
I often ask him what he is reading, it does sound strange, however I class it as reading.

[Doreen]

P.S. if anyone had told me that when I was semi-retired, I would be stressed out because I had too much to read, I would never have believed them! I may sound like I am complaining......but not really!

[Sally]

That is how I way I feel. I need a 30 year extension to my life!!

[[deleted user]]

Sally wrote: "Question?? About two years ago I was sitting in my chair reading a "real" book. Now I am downloading books (more than I can ever read) and getting some of them as audio books!! I am changing from my Kindle, iPad and iPhone (when I am out). Sometimes I am listening to and reading the same book - at the same time. Am I crazy!! Is listening to a book reading?? Let's not forget listening to podcasts about books and getting on Goodreads to see what everyone else is reading!! Help! "

"Listening" vs "Reading" is an old argument with diehards on both sides as to whether listening to audiobooks counts as reading. Personally, I say "Yes" as the same imaginative parts of the brain are activated plus more of the memory parts. Others say "No" because the brain isn't actively decoding field rows of symbols. Interestingly, there is an argument that reading eTexts is changing the way we process information (and not for the better) and destroys our ability to read critically (ref. The Shallows: What the Internet is Doing to our Brains by Nicholas Carr.) Whatever side of the argument you come down on, it's not like the Ghost of Gutenburg is going to come down and rip up your library card! :-D

[Douglas]

Tanya/dog eared copy wrote: "...there is an argument that reading eTexts is changing the way we process information (and not for the better) and destroys our ability to read critically..."

Carr's article (and the research cited therein) relates to online reading of website content (what they refer to as eText), not to reading books in ebook format. There is no cognitive difference in reading a literary work published in paperback, ebook, or, for that matter, deluxe leather editions. Reading Proust is reading Proust, no matter how the text is presented to the eyes.

However, there certainly esthetic differences in the reading experience afforded by different formats which are important to the pleasure of reading. Most people object to ebooks on this basis. Further, ebook reading subverts the bookstore culture we readers all love. Even so, the ease (and, for many, the pleasure) of ebook shopping, downloading, reading, and keeping an entire library on a 7-inch tablet is undeniable.

[[deleted user]]

Douglas wrote: "Carr's article (and the research cited therein) relates to online reading of website content (what they refer to as eText), not to reading books in ebook format. There is no cognitive difference in reading a literary work published in paperback, ebook, or, for that matter, deluxe leather editions. Reading Proust is reading Proust, no matter how the text is presented to the eyes."

I figure that if you are dnloading content from the internet onto a device that has a chip and a program that enables you to read the content, click on links (either internally e.g. footnotes or bonus material), go social (highlighting and sharing notes), sync up with other media (e.g. WhiperSync audio + text), that alters the form of the codex (swiping pages that remove the cues that help determine where a previously read passage may be), that is formatted by programmers/conversion program, that eBooks qualify more as material that Carr is referring to than not; but maybe that's just me :-)

But all that is beside the point: Again, whether you count or discount any form (text, eText or audio) or not, there's really no credible literati referee out there saying "You're wrong! It's cheating! It doesn't count!" Any or all of it counts if it works for you :-)

[Amy]

Tanya/dog eared copy wrote: "Douglas wrote: "Carr's article (and the research cited therein) relates to online reading of website content (what they refer to as eText), not to reading books in ebook format. There is no cogniti..."

*Like!*

[Paula]

Can we talk about authors? I'm especially interested in the new supernatural/horror/ghost story writers that are worthy. Or what short story collections are really good. The literary darkness genre doesn't get enough attention out there and there are lots of readers who would like to read thrilling supernatural stories.

[Junek]

Paula wrote: "Can we talk about authors? I'm especially interested in the new supernatural/horror/ghost story writers that are worthy. Or what short story collections are really good. The literary darkness genre..."

A good topic, I shall have to put my thinking cap on.

[Lil]

Wanda wrote: "Sally, I hear you....I find myself in the same place......there are so many downloads on my Kindle that I cannot even remember where they came from. Then I realize that I m reading 3 or 4 books a..."

Wanda,
I know how you feel. I love all the new avenues that I get books and recommendations, but it absolutely heightens my sense of too many books, too little time. I actually feel this way about content in general...there are so many amazing things out there now (and readily available), and I know I'll never get to even the tiniest fraction...great books, great movies, tv series, blogs, pinterest, twitter, and on and on. I wish I had a personal content concierge.

[Doreen]

PCC! Personal content concierge! What a great idea! Where would one start looking for such a person? I have a picture of opening my computer on arising and being told what to read today, in what order, and having everything just fit perfectly...and also being reminded of the books that I started and somehow put aside....I often feel unable to decide whether to continue reading or just close it and put it back on the shelf or toss it! Maybe in the future there will be little chubby robots following us around reminding us what to read when........

[Sally]

Enjoyed all comments. I have decided to enjoy what I can and not worry about it. I finished Inferno this afternoon - not so great but had to finish. Did not like audio version!! On to Life After Life!! Sounds like a good idea - if I can take my books with me!!

[Junek]

Junek wrote: "Paula wrote: "Can we talk about authors? I'm especially interested in the new supernatural/horror/ghost story writers that are worthy. Or what short story collections are really good. The literary ..."

Irish author Jennifer Johnston writes of talking to the departed in two of her novels that I can recall "The Christmas Tree" and "The Captains and the Kings" it for me was fascinating reading, not scary.
Another author is Edna O'Brien in her novel "House of Splendid Isolation" she is another Irish writer.

Another is Alice Hoffman, she often adds some magical haunting into her novels, especially "Blackbird House".

[Karen]

My husband and I just completed our first "couples" book club dinner/meeting where we discussed "The Dinner" by Koch. Great discussion and the group all enjoyed our first selection. Where do we go from here? Our second meeting will be in September and I've thought of a few titles (A Constellation of Vital Phenomena, The Tenth of December, Transatlantic), but was wondering if you (Ann and Michael) had some suggestions. Leaning toward new titles as we have a few avid readers in the group.

[Joan]

I have always been fascinated by World's Fairs and Expositions. I love reading about them and reading books where events take place in and around a World's Fair. I would be curious to know how many books take place in that setting. The obvious one is The Devil in the White City. I'm sure there are so many more.

[Gerald]

Went to the imdb and found that MEET ME IN ST. LOUIS was based on a book of collected stories by one Sally Benson. The film takes place in St. Louis in 1904 at the time of their worlds fair.

[Douglas]

World's Fair, by E.L. Doctorow, has the 1939 New York World's Fair as its setting.

[Junek]

The Hatbox Baby by Carrie brown, fascinating description of the Fair, also a great story.

[Gerald]

I went to the 1964 Worlds fair. A couple of weeks ago on tumblir Pari

[Amy]

Joan wrote: "I have always been fascinated by World's Fairs and Expositions. I love reading about them and reading books where events take place in and around a World's Fair. I would be curious to know how ma..."

My book group just read Eiffel's Tower: And the World's Fair Where Buffalo Bill Beguiled Paris, the Artists Quarreled, and Thomas Edison Became a Count. Not nearly as exciting as Devil in the White City, but still interesting. It tied together several different historical figures and placed them in context of the World's Fair. Especially interesting (at least to our group) were the parts about Van Gogh, as we had recently read a historical fiction novel based on his life.

[Janet]

I would love a show about bookstores that have especially good handsellers that you know either through your work, personally, or have just heard about. One of the best things about Booktopia Santa Cruz (for me) was when the booksellers pitched their favorite books to us. I would love to know that when I'm in a particular city, I could visit a bookstore and talk to a good handseller, one on one.

[Ann]

Janet wrote: "I would love a show about bookstores that have especially good handsellers that you know either through your work, personally, or have just heard about. One of the best things about Booktopia Sant..."

Hi Janet,
I love the idea, but it would be very hard for us to do that, since Michael and I work with a lot of bookstores. While some have fantastic handsellers, and most do a good job, we'd be too worried about leaving someone out and insulting others.
I can 100% state that any Booktopia partner store will have excellent handsellers. Beyond that, I'd recommed checking out the IndieNext List (http://www.indiebound.org/indie-next-...), which has recommendations from booksellers around the country. If you look through a few random editions, you will see many of the same store names pop up again and again -- those stores are a great place to start!

[Janet]

Thanks for the suggestion! Though I've seen the list many times, I never noticed that the titles are actually recommended by a particular bookseller. It is a great starting point!

[Chanda2426]

How about a show about bookshops with the best staff recommended or shelf-talkers? I would love to hear some cool suggestions from across the country.

[Ann]

Chanda2426 wrote: "How about a show about bookshops with the best staff recommended or shelf-talkers? I would love to hear some cool suggestions from across the country."

Chanda, see above. I think, because of our jobs and relationships we have, we will have to stay away from "best" bookstore anything. However, this might be a great future call-in show....

[Gerald]

Who is the patron saint(writer) of BOTNS?

[Wendy]

Personal stories about people surviving political upheaval in other countries could be an interesting topic. Often very painful stories, but I appreciate what I learn, personally and politically.

My favorite books in this vein have been:
A Constellation of Vital Phenonema (Chechnya)
Running the Rift (Rwanda)
In the Shadow of the Banyon (Cambodia)
On Sal Mal Lane (Sri Lanka)

Another angle on this would be books that are set in a different time, but weave the memory of the political upheaval in and out. My favorites are:
The Surrendered (Korea)
A Measure to Mark Drift (Liberia)

[[deleted user]]

Wendy wrote: "Personal stories about people surviving political upheaval in other countries could be an interesting topic. Often very painful stories, but I appreciate what I learn, personally and politically."

You might be interested in Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood by Marjane Satrapi. It's an graphic novel that illustrates what it was like to be in Iran when The Shah was overthrown, from the POV of a girl forced to bear witness for virtue of having lived there at the time. It is autobiographical and stunning with his b&w artwork and poignancy.

[Anna]

Persepolis is an amazing graphic novel ... I'm not used to reading graphic novels so it took me a little while to get into it but its a really thought provoking and interesting story! :)

[Victoria]

Wendy wrote: "Personal stories about people surviving political upheaval in other countries could be an interesting topic. Often very painful stories, but I appreciate what I learn, personally and politically.
..."

AThousand Splendid Suns (which I just finished!) falls in there too.

[Elizabeth]

Not sure if you listen to audiobooks, but would love to understand the abridged version market. Who is the target audience? Thanks.

[Gerald]

My guess is that the abridged market is very small or nonexistent. Students probably or readers who want to get a taste for the book. I have always stayed away from shortened novels.