Booking Through Thursday - Preferences

Which do you prefer? (Quick answers–we’ll do more detail at some later date)

• Reading something frivolous? Or something serious? Serious!
• Paperbacks? Or hardcovers? Paperbacks.
• Fiction? Or Nonfiction? More likely to read fiction
• Poetry? Or Prose? Prose
• Biographies? Or Autobiographies? Biographies
• History? Or Historical Fiction? History
• Series? Or Stand-alones? Usually stand-alones.
• Classics? Or best-sellers? Classics.
• Lurid, fruity prose? Or straight-forward, basic prose? Lurid & fruity, as long as there is a purpose to it!
• Plots? Or Stream-of-Consciousness? Got to have a plot. Think Dickensian plots.
• Long books? Or Short? Long.
• Illustrated? Or Non-illustrated? Either.
• Borrowed? Or Owned? Owned.
• New? Or Used? New if I can afford it.

Bet some of the regualrs could have guessed my responses!

Booking Through Thursday - TBR

Follow-up to last week’s question:

Do you keep all your unread books together, like books in a waiting room? Or are they scattered throughout your shelves, mingling like party-goers waiting for the host to come along?

No, all my books are kept together, whether I have read them or not. After taking the photograph for the last Booking Through Thursday response, I did put all the "to be read" books at the front of the shelf, and all the "read" books at the back. I don't know how long that will last though. It is convenient, because when I need a new book, I can see at a glance the choices I have. I like the "books in a waiting room" analogy, although that would imply there was some method about which book I would choose to read next, (Mrs Dalloway, this way please!) and that is not something I have ever been able to do - a choice of reading material is very spontaneous for me, and reflects my mood more than anything.

Booking Through Thursday - Unread

This is the prompt today: “So here today I present to you an Unread Books Challenge. Give me the list or take a picture of all the books you have stacked on your bedside table, hidden under the bed or standing in your shelf – the books you have not read, but keep meaning to. The books that begin to weigh on your mind. The books that make you cover your ears in conversation and say, ‘No! Don’t give me another book to read! I can’t finish the ones I have!’ “

This is not truly reflective of my "to be read" pile - you have to bear in mind that I am living in a new country, and so do not have all my books with me. These ones are mainly used books that I have collected from sales while here. The 2 piles on the right are the ones I intend to read ASAP, and the ones on the left, I will get around to eventually! A very mixed selection, so always a lot of choice. I don't mind how big my TBR pile gets - it is good to have the right book to hand when the need arises.

Book Club - The Island

We had our 4th bookclub meeting last night. Our book was "The Island" by Victoria Hislop. It is a novel about discovering family secrets, including the taint of leprosy and murder! I was dreading reading it - it just sounded like the worst kind of chic-lit, but I made the effort, and although it was a very light read, I quite enjoyed the plot of the book. The writing style was a bit amatuerish though, and could have done with a bit more editing I think.

Surprisingly most people in the group didn't really enjoy the book, even those that had been looking forward to it so much.

Today I read a book called "Even a Moron with a Dream" by Pathman Senathirajah, a network marketing guru from Malaysia. It is a book designed to inspire people to pursue their dreams, with a particular look at network marketing. He definitely has some interesting ideas, although I don't agree with some of the things he says. I did like his point about taking small steps every day towards your dream, just so that you get things moving, and prove to yourself and others that you are working for this goal and not just wishing out loud.

I am still trying to get through "Bliss" - it is not really doing it for me. I think my reward when I finish it will be to read "Vanity Fair".

Booking Through Thursday - Celebrities

Do you read celebrity memoirs? Which ones have you read or do you want to read? Which nonexistent celebrity memoirs would you like to see?

In high school music class we were encouraged to read about famous musicians and to report on them to the class. I remember reading about Ray Charles. I had no idea who Ray Charles was at the time, but remember taking his autobiography with me on a camping trip during the holidays, and I was so blown away by his story.

Last year I read the autobiography of Sidney Poitier, which was incredibly well written and insightful.

I don't go out of my way though to read celebrity memoirs usually, as they are often just read like "I did this, and the I did this and then that went wrong and then I did this..." Unless very well written and honest, and not just a fleshed out version of a career, autobiography can be a bit tedious and self-serving. Much prefer to read biographies about celebrities.

Can't think of any celeb whose life story I am dying to read right now...it seems like as soon as a person gains any sort of fame or notoriety these days there is a rush to put out a book about them. So, no, am more than happy to wait for the next celebrity read to fall into my lap.