Three posts in just a little over a week. It's almost like I'm back in this! (And don't tell me you didn't just hum the Reading Rainbow theme to yourself. We all know you did.)
Anyway, what I wanted to talk about is books. Reading books. I've always been a reader; I read the whole Laura Ingalls Wilder series by the time I was ... oh I don't know ... really young. I'm sure my parents can tell you better.
Lately, I've been having the urge to read, but I've been really busy with other stuff and just haven't taken the time to sit down and amend that. Well, this weekend, I fixed it. I read three books between afternoon Friday and now, which is 2 a.m. Monday morning.
(I suppose you want to know what I read. Nothing earth-shattering. Books from the free bin at work, but here you go: 1) Last Night in Montreal by Emily St. John Mandel [eh, kinda depressing], 2) All Is Forgotten, Nothing Is Lost [better than the first] by Lan Samantha Chang, and 3) April & Oliver by Tess Callahan [just finished 5 minutes ago, so I'm still processing but it was my favorite of the weekend].)
When I sit down to read, I do nothing else until I've finished the book. I know not to start a book in the evening, unless it's short or I plan to be up till the wee hours of the morning. (I mean past my normal wee hours of the morning.) I absolutely cannot STAND to put a book down in the middle. It drives me nuts to have to draw one out over more than a day. I HAVE to finish. Maybe I just get so drawn into the characters that I must know what happens as soon as possible. Maybe I just enjoy losing myself in another world. I'm not really sure why I feel such a draw to read a book in only one sitting, but I do. It just drives me insane to have it drawn out over a period of time. I can't claw my way back fast enough to finish it if I didn't the first time around. Although technically I should be saying "novels," because books I feel I should be learning something from I like to read a little and give it a few days to digest before reading more.
What about you? Do you feel compelled to read an entire book in one sitting? Or are you ok with putting it down every few chapters and picking it up again hours or even days later?
Dakar Eats here
2 years ago
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5 comments:
I can put them down and pick them up, but a good book I can't put down fro long. If I leave a book I've started for a week, odds are good I'll never go back to it.
Are you on Goodreads? A lot of us cool bookworms are :) And they have a good iPhone app.
I do have a problem putting a book down once I begin it, especially if it is interesting. I do have one problem - I HAVE to finish a book, even if it is terrible. I am an eternal optimist, and I always think the next page will be better. Yeesh.
Also, goodreads (per Kari) is a wonderful website!
Oh my, I envy you. I think I read too slowly to read an entire book in one sitting. I'm reading The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo right now and I think it would take me days if I tried to read it in one sitting! Honestly, though, I think I like to stretch it out too. It allows you to spend even more time with the characters!
I think you caught that...
I can't read novels in a plane unless it's a long flight; I hate losing the continuity. Instead, I read lots of magazine articles, study and do design work while in the air.
Gone With the Wind was a 4-day read, though (in 1968!).
I'm a bit different, in that I've been working on the same book for 4 weeks now. Part of that is because the book is over 1000 pages and partly because my favorite place to read is my bed right before I go to sleep...and sleep has been winning out for a few months now :)
I LOVE the feeling of not being able to put a good book down, though! I used to not be able to stop before I reached the end of the chapter, but now I'm stopping mid-paragraph sometimes. Matt's annoyed because all my books are insanely dog-eared.
I love book posts :)
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