It's 7/11, What Are You Reading?

[dorothyinAus]

What are you reading this fine Friday?  How are you enjoying it?

QOTW:  Do you have bad book habits?  Do you write/highlight in your books?  Dog-ear the pages?  Bend the paperback covers around?  Do you use the dust jackets as bookmarks?  (If you read exclusively e-books now, did you have bad book habits when you read paper books?)

[dorothyinAus]

I woke up early this morning to finish The Palace Tiger and then took a few hours before I decided what to read next. I finally settled on Mr. Churchill's Secretary, though if I can't get into it quickly, I'll set it aside in favor of The Orchid Affair.

QOTW: I may, it depends. I have a bad habit of ruffling the corners of paperbacks as I read them, so my corners usually look beat up and the covers start splitting. I do not write in books, and I have never dog-eared pages or bent the covers back. I have been known to use dust jackets as bookmarks, but usually only until I find something more suitable. I'm usually careful with my books, and even more so with loaners, but I do have a bad habit of leaving things in books. I'm never without a book, and often I'll stick papers in the book, and more often than not, the papers get left there.  The other day I found $25 in a book on the shelf the other day (not really useful as it was US$), and it's not unusual for me to find random receipts, notes, lists, etc. in between the pages.

[christy082]

What are you reading this fine Friday? How are you enjoying it? I'm reading The Vacationers by Emma Straub. It hasn't really pulled me in yet.

QOTW: Not usually, unless it's a reference book then I may dogear the pages.

[charlatti]

I'm reading Murder with Peacocks by Donna Andrews, the first in a new-to-me cozy mystery series. I'm really enjoying it and I was excited to see there are lots more in the series, now that I'm caught up on all the other cozies I read.

QOTW: The worst things I do are eat and drink while I'm reading (I can't really recall any spills, but I'm sure crumbs have happened) and toss books in my bag. I'm definitely not one to try to keep my books pristine, but I don't like folds or writing on the pages.

[frog]

I'm reading A Clash of Kings. It's good, but so, so long. And there's so much to go yet, lol.

I was always pretty pristine with books beyond throwing away dust jackets.

[msmerymac]

I'm reading The Heart is a Lonely Hunter by Carson McCullers. I'm enjoying it. She published it when she was only 23 and in 1940, and it's quite astute as to human nature and also the racism and social problems in the south in the 1930s. I've also read at least 3 books on the Modern Library Association's 100 best English-language novels of the 20th century this year. After this, I will only have read 22 total since the list came out, so I'm happy with my recent progress. My goal is to finish the list before I'm dead.

I read e-books 95% of the time. Previously, I wouldn't crack the cover of a new book, but I would dog-ear paperbacks. I was frantically looking for a book mark one night when my dad told me to turn out the light and go to sleep, and he showed me that "trick." With an old paperback, I don't mind it - it's more convenient than carrying a book mark around. And on that note, I seem to have misplaced my leather Westminster Abbey book mark I bought in London.  I do not highlight or notate physical books.

[2curlydogs]

I'm finishing up "City of Masks" by Daniel Hecht. PHENOMENAL. As an audio book especially. The narrator on this one is amazing. 

Otherwise still working on "The Plantagenets" by Dan Jones


QOTW: Do you have bad book habits? Do you write/highlight in your books? Dog-ear the pages? Bend the paperback covers around? Do you use the dust jackets as bookmarks?  

These are bad habits? Eating and drinking while reading is a bad habit? God, I live for a glass of wine and a good book at night.

[mrspez07]

I am reading The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh and am loving it. It is beautifully written.

I eat and drink while I read, but other than that I try to respect the book, plus I read so many library books, so they aren't mine to begin with.
I do dog ear magazine pages, especially for recipes I want to try later.

[aurora]

I'm reading Nickel and Dimed by Barbara Ehrenreich. It's interesting - she's a journalist who goes "undercover" to work at (close to) minimum wage and describes how she tries to get by. Of course she still has her safety net so it's not the same as truly being poor.

However, it's making me feel super guilty about our plan to hire a housekeeper.

I don't purposefully abuse books, but I also believe they're meant to be enjoyed and if they get damaged, as long as they're still readable it's no big deal. I did have to replace my copies of Lord of the Rings because I had originally gotten them from a garage sale and then read them so many times they were falling apart, but I didn't worry about it when a friend who borrowed Deathly Hallows spilled some water on it and curled the pages.

[itsme]

I'm reading Her Daughter's Dream by Francine Rivers. I didn't realize it was a book two in a series. I think it works somewhat fine as a stand alone. There are some parts that I can tell were explained in book one but it hasn't taken from my enjoyment of the book. The book is out of my norm but I am so glad I grabbed it. It's been quite interesting and I think part of the reason is because it's not like what I have been reading the past few years.

I'm also reading A Dance with Dragons. I think I may have gotten through one page this entire week. It's not that I don't like it, I just keep falling asleep. I read this one right before bed and apparently that's not working.

QOTW:  I never wrote in my books.  Ever.  I would feel horrible doing that.  What would I write or highlight anyway?  I very rarely re-read books.  I have at times dog eared my page but that is extremely rare.  I usually grab whatever I can within reach to bookmark my page. 

[charlatti]

Jul 11, 2014 9:29:48 GMT -5 2curlydogs said:

Eating and drinking while reading is a bad habit? God, I live for a glass of wine and a good book at night.

It's probably only bad if, like me, you are prone to spilling things. Luckily I usually miss the book and hit the couch with my wine glass. (I am the reason we can't have nice things.   )

[rootbeerfloat]

I'm still reading The Silkworm.

I used to dog ear if I didn't have a bookmark, but I never write in them.

[rootbeerfloat]

Jul 11, 2014 9:35:06 GMT -5 mrspez07 said:

I am reading The Language of Flowers by Vanessa Diffenbaugh and am loving it. It is beautifully written.

I really liked this book.

[ChillyMcFreeze]

I'm finishing Save Me by Lisa Scottoline. This is the 2nd book of hers I've read and I just don't love her stories. Bland.

I started Profit Over People by Noam Chomsky today. I love ole' Noam.

I try to treat my books kindly. I might write in non-fiction books and dog-ear them if I think I can get some research out of them one day (like the Chomsky book).

[DarcyLongfellow]

I just finished Written In My Own Heart's Blood (Outlander #8). I'm in the middle of A Feast For Crows (A Song of Ice and Fire #4) -- I started it over a year ago and was too burnt out from reading book #3. I picked it back up (and started over from the beginning) after watching Game of Thrones season 3, but put it down again. I want to start it again now that I finished Heart's Blood, but I just picks up a library book today that I'll read first. It's historical fiction about Benedict Arnold's wife -- I think it's called The Traitor's Wife.

QOTW -- I actually don't think any of those are "bad" habits! I think books should be enjoyed. I actually love finding old books where I wrote my thoughts in the margins! Folding down pages bothers me, but not enough to fuss at someone else for doing it. I eat and read all the time.

The only really bad habit I have is reading in the bath. Not bad at all for regular books, but I almost always read e-books. On my iPad. I know I shouldn't take it in the bath, but I do.

[krystee]

I just finished Jennifer Weiner's new one and I liked it.

I use dust jackets as bookmarks and I ruffle the pages as I read. It drives H crazy.

I have a question. On Goodreads, do you rate a book on its own merits or do you judge everything on the same scale? (For example, some mass-market thriller is not going to be a five-star book when compared with all books ever, but it might be a five-star book for what it is...really fast-paced and exciting.)

[Deleted]

Currently reading:

E-book: Small Wonder by Barabara Kingsolver. Essay collection. I love her, but not sure I'll keep at it.

Also, a few pages in to A Dance With Dragons.

Audiobook: Life After Life by Kate Atkinson. Hoping I start to like it better.

I'm hard to please this week. All my library holds came up at once so I don't feel patience for books that aren't grabbing me.

Bad habits? I rarely read physical books any more, but I dog ear the hell out of magazines. HGTV magazine = many folded corners.

[Deleted]

krystee,
Great question. I never thought of it that way. I rate overall, not within a genre. So a 5 is a truly outstanding book to me, not just a good effort for the category.

[labbie]

I'm still reading Kindred and loving it. Up early this morning and determined to finish! Listening to Mindless Eating and it's OK but I'm not thrilled.

I read a mix of ebooks and regular. I don't really have bad book habits but as a teen I used to dogear pages all the time. I will occasionally use dustjackets for bookmarks but that's about it. I love collecting "bookmarks" which are rarely traditional bookmarks.. I use flyers or postcards from spots we visit, wineries or restaurants in our travels, etc and it's a nice way to remember places. I spend a lot of time in books so I get to reminisce about my fave spots often!

Sent from my XT1080 using proboards

[dulcemariamar]

I am reading Gone with the Wind. I am only on page 34 of like 1000 pages so it might be my big summer read.

Q: i dog ear and I have a huge pile of books that I started but didnt finish

[charlatti]

Jul 11, 2014 22:37:01 GMT -5 krystee said:

I have a question. On Goodreads, do you rate a book on its own merits or do you judge everything on the same scale? (For example, some mass-market thriller is not going to be a five-star book when compared with all books ever, but it might be a five-star book for what it is...really fast-paced and exciting.)

I think I'm somewhere in between. Fluffy, fun books are probably not going to get five stars from me, but that's because the writing and plotting is rarely up to par with my other five star books. But it doesn't have to be  the best book in all the world to get a high rating from me -- It just has to be among the best I've read, if that makes sense.

[sparrowsong]

I just finished Written in My Heart's Own Blood. Switching back to The Quantum and the Lotus, a book about the overlap in buddhist philosophy and quantum physics. It's interesting, but tiring because a lot of it is over my head.

Next up is probably Dune, which might be the book that has been on my "to read" list the longest.

I dogear all the time, unless it's a super nice hardback copy I intend to keep forever. I'm not afraid to highlight my own books, but I don't do that very often.

[dorothyinAus]

Jul 11, 2014 22:37:01 GMT -5 krystee said:

I have a question. On Goodreads, do you rate a book on its own merits or do you judge everything on the same scale? (For example, some mass-market thriller is not going to be a five-star book when compared with all books ever, but it might be a five-star book for what it is...really fast-paced and exciting.)

If they're good books, I rate them for what they are.  A cozy mystery like Murder on Sister's Row is not Literature in the same way The Three Musketeers or Captain Corelli's Mandolin is.  But both can be excellent examples of their style.

If they're bad books, they're rated as books, ignoring genres.  Jane Eyre is in the same category as the Kindle Freebie Fools Rush In.  Neither is a book I ever have to read again, and neither makes me want to explore emote books by the same author.  (For the record, I did not like the story, or style or writing in Jane Eyre, through it was well-written.  Fools Rush In had potential as a story but it was poorly written and and parts were completely unbelievable.)

[msmerymac]

krystee, I give 5 star ratings to what are basically MY favorite books. Books that blow me away. They can be in any category and not critically acclaimed, but like Charlatti said, it's more likely that something that is regarded as a good book will make the grade for me.

[Pippin]

Finished Whom The Gods Would Destroy by Brian Hodge, really good scifi horror. I need to start my book club book The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society but I might start the next Vampire Academy book first.

QOTW: I dog ear every once in a while but otherwise I'm very protective of my books. I used to have a rule about loaning paperbacks that they couldn't have the cover bent around. I hated that.

[apelila]

I'm reading "I Know Why the Caged Bird Sings" by Maya Angelou. It's okay.

I usually treat my books with the greatest care: NO bent corners, NO writing inside. When I was younger I would make it a point to not bend/break the spines. Now, I'm not so strict about that one, as long as it's me that is doing the bending/breaking. I am very hesitant to loan books out because I don't trust others to follow my 'rules'.

As for rating books on Goodreads, I rate them for how much I enjoyed it, and nothing else.

[aurora]

Jul 12, 2014 6:38:34 GMT -5 dulcemariamar said:

I am reading Gone with the Wind. I am only on page 34 of like 1000 pages so it might be my big summer read.

I was pleasantly surprised at what a fast read this ended up being, IMO.

[aurora]

Jul 11, 2014 12:19:40 GMT -5 rootbeerfloat said:

I'm still reading The Silkworm.

I used to dog ear if I didn't have a bookmark, but I never write in them.

How are you enjoying The Silkworm?

I liked listening to the Cuckoo's Calling on audiobooks so I ended up putting a hold request on The Silkworm from my library. I think I'm next in line.

[rootbeerfloat]

Jul 13, 2014 23:59:25 GMT -5 aurora said:

Jul 11, 2014 12:19:40 GMT -5 rootbeerfloat said:

I'm still reading The Silkworm.

I used to dog ear if I didn't have a bookmark, but I never write in them.

How are you enjoying The Silkworm?

I liked listening to the Cuckoo's Calling on audiobooks so I ended up putting a hold request on The Silkworm from my library. I think I'm next in line.

So far, I like it less than The Cuckoo's Calling. The crime is... unpleasant. And it took me awhile to get into it, but now it's moving along.

[dulcemariamar]

Jul 13, 2014 23:56:56 GMT -5 aurora said:

Jul 12, 2014 6:38:34 GMT -5 dulcemariamar said:

I am reading Gone with the Wind. I am only on page 34 of like 1000 pages so it might be my big summer read.

I was pleasantly surprised at what a fast read this ended up being, IMO.

It is an easy read. I am not sure if it will be a fast read because I can only read while LO naps.