Read Any Good Books About American Idol Lately?

Contrary to what you may imagine if you base your appraisal of what I do with my free time on my last post, my reading/watching TV ratio is at least 10/1. Reading is one of the supreme joys of my life.

If you're like me, you probably have quite a number of books in your TBR (to be read) pile right now. If you didn't feel guilty or have any qualms whatsoever about acquiring yet one more, what would be the one book you'd get?

I keep hearing great things about the novel Gilead, so that's my pick for today. However, I do feel guilty about my unread backlog, so I'm going to hold off for now. Unfortunately, a number of my backlog books are ones I've started, but they didn't capture my imagination sufficiently to keep reading.

Here's another booky question: How many of those TBRs have you started, but for one reason or another have cast aside? Once you've lost interest, do you ever regain it?

Is there any one reason that typically makes you throw a book against the wall and give up on it?

Posted by Katy on 04/30/05 at 11:49 PM

Fallible Comments...

I'd buy the novel SNOW by the Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk, but it's still only in hardback and I just can't do it. So I wait.

Having just returned from the States with 20 lbs of new (unread) books in my suitcase, my TBR list is really long right now! But there is a difference between these new TBR books, and the ones that I brought with me when I moved to Bosnia 3 years ago and STILL haven't read. About 50% of those TBR books have been started and set aside again. The other half may never be opened.

Novels are easier for me to finish, even if I lose interest halfway through, there's something about my personality that has to finish the story. It's much harder for me to finish a nonfiction book if it doesn't captivate me the first-time round... or if it's a book that I bought because I felt like I SHOULD read it. Take "Bosnia: A Short History" for instance, which I really feel like I should read... well, it's not short, I've tried 3 times and I still get bored after the first 2 chapters.

Ahhh, books and reading. One of my favorite things in life, so I could chatter on all day about this topic!
-----
Posted by Elizabeth on 05/01/05 at 12:24 PM
I've just spent about $300 on more books so I don't even want to think about my TBR right now!!! I think my ratio of books read out of books I own would be 1:8. Good grief.

I almost never regain interest in a book that loses me. But, I cannot stand not reading the whole book, so I will make myself plough through it until I'm finished. (This only applies to fiction)
Posted by irene on 05/01/05 at 06:17 PM
I've learned to offer grace to myself. I used to think there were "reading nazis" around every bookstore corner, checking up on me, making sure I finished terrible books. Now I have freedom! If I don't like a book, I set it aside, neglect it, let it languish. And I don't feel guilty. Really. Well, er, maybe a little.
Posted by relevantgirl on 05/01/05 at 11:24 PM
The Paula G. Memorial Library is much smaller than in its former state some eight years ago. Had to move; they had to go. I am still a bibliophile however, and hate to part with them once I acquire them. Still, once I've read them, if I really don't think I'll re-read them or want to refer to them again, they're outta here. I read mostly non-fiction and the fiction I get from the library. I have about half a dozen books on the TBR list for the next six months because now I'm pacing myself. I was shamelessly carousing around my stacks for awhile and not getting anything else done. Balance, Pg, balance...
I have lost interest in one book in the last year that I cast aside and that is because I totally disagree with this woman's viewpoint now. I used to read her all the time. One fellow I gave some grace to and finished the book so that I could say, "boy is he messed up" and really know what I was talking about. The first couple chapters made it relatively clear, but I kept saying to myself, "Is he for real?" he was.
Posted by Paula on 05/02/05 at 08:13 AM
Elizabeth--Welcome home! Are you acquainted with Ellen, another American girl living in Bosnia who visits here? Is there anything crazier than hauling books in a suitcase? When we went to Ireland, I had to have a bunch of books about "the troubles"-- books I purchased from a Sinn Fein bookstore in Belfast. (Yeah. I was scared.) I'm pretty sure these titles aren't ones I could easily find on Amazon! We ended up shipping stuff home, but we carried those books, baby!

Irene--I have only VERY recently stopped feeling like I must finish a book if I lose interest. However, I still feel like I shouldn't buy any more books for a while, kind of like a punishment for having chosen so poorly the last time. It's a goofy strategy that's not working for me. I think I'll give it up!

Mary Relevant--My little mind is filled with every kind of nazi, I'm afraid. Dictators reside up there, too. I think I'm making bits of progress, though, in letting myself off the hook now and then--giving myself grace. Right now, I can make out the titles of at least a dozen books on the shelf across the room that have to go. There taking up space in my life, taunting me, daring me to replace them with new loves, not believing that I can abandon them. But I think that's just what I'm going to do! :)

Paula--Pacing yourself? We're supposed to pace ourselves? Who knew? ;) This is the type of idea I need to apply to many areas of my life. It's another way to say "discipline," I think.

Here's another question: Do you have people you trust who recommend books to you? Or do you read reviews and believe them?
Posted by Katy Raymond on 05/02/05 at 08:37 PM
My TBR pile is enormous . . . but I keep saying I'll get through it when I finally finish school and no longer have papers, textbooks and exams demanding my time. Will it ever really happen? Only time will tell . . .

There are certain people whose recommendations I will follow immediately. You know, the kind who share a brain with you and have never given a poor recommendation as long as you've known them. I love those moments.

And then there are others . . . well, you know how that goes.
Posted by Amber on 05/02/05 at 10:13 PM
Yes, Ellen and I were roommates for two years until she returned to the States last fall. She introduced me to blogging and I found Fallible through her blog.

I always end up buying books on trips, as well as taking along lots of reading material from home so it's not unusual for half of my suitcase to be filled with books. My mom says I must have some deep fear of being stuck somewhere without reading material.

The semester that I studied in France I had to ship two boxes of books back to the States... novels in French! I read maybe 3 of them. That's when I realized my addiction to books might be something serious. As much as the stories in them, I love the smells and the textures of books... so I buy them even in languages that I can barely read!
Posted by Elizabeth on 05/02/05 at 10:46 PM
The next book on my "to buy" list is Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke and the only reason I am going to read it is that it was highly recommended by a friend. The next book I actually buy will probably be a cookbook because I can't seem to stop acquiring them at the moment. I always finish fiction. I never finish non-fiction.
Posted by edieraye on 05/04/05 at 04:19 AM
Amber--Good luck with that! The older I get, the bigger the pile. I must be losing brain cells, to accumulate so many books at such high velocity...

Elizabeth--Whoa! You've read 3 novels in French! I'm impressed. That's worth a few dozen in English, I'm thinking. I'm trying to brush up on my French, but I doubt it will ever be adequate to read a novel. To get around Paris without being totally humilated: hopefully.

Edieraye--There seems to be a common thread here--many readers finish a novel, no matter how crummy it is. I used to ALWAYS finish novels, but not now. Now my age 50+ motto kicks in, "I don't have that many good years left." Works every time!
Posted by Katy Raymond on 05/06/05 at 06:15 AM
I think you'll like Gilead--if you haven't already read it and liked it. I wrote about it at my blog about a month ago. http://semicolon.reachcoop.org/index.php?p=678
Posted by Sherry on 05/18/05 at 10:00 PM

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Personal blog of christian writer & fallible mom Katy McKenna Raymond in Kansas City, Missouri Katy is represented by Greg Johnson at WordServe Literary Read more Katy at LateBoomer.net Follow Katy on Twitter Follow Katy on Facebook 123 Recent Posts Try Becoming Brenda Starr Off Beat Scattered That’s It So I’ve Finally Signed With An Agent. Now What? The Spoon Sciatica Sweetheart A Woman’s Train of Thought Has No Caboose However much we own, we are all still living on borrowed time After all, when restaurants shrink portions, they don’t shrink prices. As with everything in life, balance is key. Slow down, you move too fast… Yeah, I know. I have issues. Search Advanced Search Syndicate Login E me at katy @ ngenius.com	Read Any Good Books About American Idol Lately? Contrary to what you may imagine if you base your appraisal of what I do with my free time on my last post, my reading/watching TV ratio is at least 10/1. Reading is one of the supreme joys of my life. If you're like me, you probably have quite a number of books in your TBR (to be read) pile right now. If you didn't feel guilty or have any qualms whatsoever about acquiring yet one more, what would be the one book you'd get? I keep hearing great things about the novel Gilead, so that's my pick for today. However, I do feel guilty about my unread backlog, so I'm going to hold off for now. Unfortunately, a number of my backlog books are ones I've started, but they didn't capture my imagination sufficiently to keep reading. Here's another booky question: How many of those TBRs have you started, but for one reason or another have cast aside? Once you've lost interest, do you ever regain it? Is there any one reason that typically makes you throw a book against the wall and give up on it? Posted by Katy on 04/30/05 at 11:49 PM Fallible Comments... I'd buy the novel SNOW by the Turkish writer Orhan Pamuk, but it's still only in hardback and I just can't do it. So I wait. Having just returned from the States with 20 lbs of new (unread) books in my suitcase, my TBR list is really long right now! But there is a difference between these new TBR books, and the ones that I brought with me when I moved to Bosnia 3 years ago and STILL haven't read. About 50% of those TBR books have been started and set aside again. The other half may never be opened. Novels are easier for me to finish, even if I lose interest halfway through, there's something about my personality that has to finish the story. It's much harder for me to finish a nonfiction book if it doesn't captivate me the first-time round... or if it's a book that I bought because I felt like I SHOULD read it. Take "Bosnia: A Short History" for instance, which I really feel like I should read... well, it's not short, I've tried 3 times and I still get bored after the first 2 chapters. Ahhh, books and reading. One of my favorite things in life, so I could chatter on all day about this topic! ----- Posted by Elizabeth on 05/01/05 at 12:24 PM I've just spent about $300 on more books so I don't even want to think about my TBR right now!!! I think my ratio of books read out of books I own would be 1:8. Good grief. I almost never regain interest in a book that loses me. But, I cannot stand not reading the whole book, so I will make myself plough through it until I'm finished. (This only applies to fiction) Posted by irene on 05/01/05 at 06:17 PM I've learned to offer grace to myself. I used to think there were "reading nazis" around every bookstore corner, checking up on me, making sure I finished terrible books. Now I have freedom! If I don't like a book, I set it aside, neglect it, let it languish. And I don't feel guilty. Really. Well, er, maybe a little. Posted by relevantgirl on 05/01/05 at 11:24 PM The Paula G. Memorial Library is much smaller than in its former state some eight years ago. Had to move; they had to go. I am still a bibliophile however, and hate to part with them once I acquire them. Still, once I've read them, if I really don't think I'll re-read them or want to refer to them again, they're outta here. I read mostly non-fiction and the fiction I get from the library. I have about half a dozen books on the TBR list for the next six months because now I'm pacing myself. I was shamelessly carousing around my stacks for awhile and not getting anything else done. Balance, Pg, balance... I have lost interest in one book in the last year that I cast aside and that is because I totally disagree with this woman's viewpoint now. I used to read her all the time. One fellow I gave some grace to and finished the book so that I could say, "boy is he messed up" and really know what I was talking about. The first couple chapters made it relatively clear, but I kept saying to myself, "Is he for real?" he was. Posted by Paula on 05/02/05 at 08:13 AM Elizabeth--Welcome home! Are you acquainted with Ellen, another American girl living in Bosnia who visits here? Is there anything crazier than hauling books in a suitcase? When we went to Ireland, I had to have a bunch of books about "the troubles"-- books I purchased from a Sinn Fein bookstore in Belfast. (Yeah. I was scared.) I'm pretty sure these titles aren't ones I could easily find on Amazon! We ended up shipping stuff home, but we carried those books, baby! Irene--I have only VERY recently stopped feeling like I must finish a book if I lose interest. However, I still feel like I shouldn't buy any more books for a while, kind of like a punishment for having chosen so poorly the last time. It's a goofy strategy that's not working for me. I think I'll give it up! Mary Relevant--My little mind is filled with every kind of nazi, I'm afraid. Dictators reside up there, too. I think I'm making bits of progress, though, in letting myself off the hook now and then--giving myself grace. Right now, I can make out the titles of at least a dozen books on the shelf across the room that have to go. There taking up space in my life, taunting me, daring me to replace them with new loves, not believing that I can abandon them. But I think that's just what I'm going to do! :) Paula--Pacing yourself? We're supposed to pace ourselves? Who knew? ;) This is the type of idea I need to apply to many areas of my life. It's another way to say "discipline," I think. Here's another question: Do you have people you trust who recommend books to you? Or do you read reviews and believe them? Posted by Katy Raymond on 05/02/05 at 08:37 PM My TBR pile is enormous . . . but I keep saying I'll get through it when I finally finish school and no longer have papers, textbooks and exams demanding my time. Will it ever really happen? Only time will tell . . . There are certain people whose recommendations I will follow immediately. You know, the kind who share a brain with you and have never given a poor recommendation as long as you've known them. I love those moments. And then there are others . . . well, you know how that goes. Posted by Amber on 05/02/05 at 10:13 PM Yes, Ellen and I were roommates for two years until she returned to the States last fall. She introduced me to blogging and I found Fallible through her blog. I always end up buying books on trips, as well as taking along lots of reading material from home so it's not unusual for half of my suitcase to be filled with books. My mom says I must have some deep fear of being stuck somewhere without reading material. The semester that I studied in France I had to ship two boxes of books back to the States... novels in French! I read maybe 3 of them. That's when I realized my addiction to books might be something serious. As much as the stories in them, I love the smells and the textures of books... so I buy them even in languages that I can barely read! Posted by Elizabeth on 05/02/05 at 10:46 PM The next book on my "to buy" list is Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell by Susanna Clarke and the only reason I am going to read it is that it was highly recommended by a friend. The next book I actually buy will probably be a cookbook because I can't seem to stop acquiring them at the moment. I always finish fiction. I never finish non-fiction. Posted by edieraye on 05/04/05 at 04:19 AM Amber--Good luck with that! The older I get, the bigger the pile. I must be losing brain cells, to accumulate so many books at such high velocity... Elizabeth--Whoa! You've read 3 novels in French! I'm impressed. That's worth a few dozen in English, I'm thinking. I'm trying to brush up on my French, but I doubt it will ever be adequate to read a novel. To get around Paris without being totally humilated: hopefully. Edieraye--There seems to be a common thread here--many readers finish a novel, no matter how crummy it is. I used to ALWAYS finish novels, but not now. Now my age 50+ motto kicks in, "I don't have that many good years left." Works every time! Posted by Katy Raymond on 05/06/05 at 06:15 AM I think you'll like Gilead--if you haven't already read it and liked it. I wrote about it at my blog about a month ago. http://semicolon.reachcoop.org/index.php?p=678 Posted by Sherry on 05/18/05 at 10:00 PM Page 1 of 1 pages Commenting is not available in this weblog entry. Next entry: Threshold Previous entry: Somehow, We'll Get Through This Together... << Back to main


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Read Any Good Books About American Idol Lately?

Personal blog of christian
writer & fallible mom
Katy McKenna Raymond
in Kansas City, Missouri