Books! How do you read and what do you read?

I've always been a reader and lover of books. Read hardbacks until arthritis in my hands made it difficult to hold them comfortably so switched to a Kindle. I buy a few but most of my reading comes from my public library, downloaded through their website using Overdrive and my computer.

I just finished JEFFERSON'S DAUGHTERS about Thomas Jefferson's three daughters - two white and 1 black. Tonight I'll begin THE TASTER which is about a young German woman who was sent to work at Hitler's mountain home as an official taster. He was so afraid of being poisoned that he had all his food tasted prior to being served. I'm wait listed for POISON, new book by John Lescroarts.

Fiction authors I like are the Kellermans, Elizabeth George, Michael Connelly, J. A. Jance and others similar.

I always read myself to sleep at night.
 

The book I'm reading now is "Killers Of The Flower Moon: The Osage Murders and the Birth of the FBI" by David Gramm.
This a true story of members of Osage Indian Tribe in the 20's in Oklahoma. When oil was discovered on their land they became rich, then were being killed under mysterious circumstances. This case was taken up by newly created FBI under its young director,J.Edgar Hoover.
This is a terrific book,can't put it down Sue
 
I have been an avid reader since childhood. I have such fond memories of the library in the small town where I grew up.
Move up to today and I have a Kindle. While I love holding a book or paperback, it’s so much easier to carry a Kindle around.
When I’d buy books, what was I to do when done reading? Certainly can’t keep all the books I’ve read around the house.
I am an avid reader of Mystery, Thriller and Suspenseful books. Grisham, Balducci, Flynn and currently CJ Boxx.
Couldnt imagine my life without books.
 
I was raised as an only child (I'm 71) so books were always my friends. There was a small branch library a few blocks away from our house by my elementary school and on Saturdays I'd ride my bike there and spend almost all day reading and looking at books.

Fast-forward to now and I have collected quite a few books and have several bookcases in the house that are full. When we moved across the country 4 years ago, I donated 30 cartons of books to the library in the town we moved from. My husband is NOT a reader and doesn't understand the obsession I have with books.

I love British mystery writers like M.C. Beaton (Hamish Macbeth series in particular), Anne Perry, etc. My favorite US authors are Preston and Child (Pendergast series) and Lee Child (Reacher series). Once in a while, I'll read something like a historical romance, but not very often. I'm not a fan of most "Best Selling" authors. I find them boring. I don't care for James Patterson very much either.

I do have a Kindle but prefer to have a "real" book in my hands.
 
I find it very frustrating when the first book in a series is very, very good and then the subsequent volumes read like they were written by someone else, definitely someone without a lot of talent. Do you think some authors "farm out" the writing of subsequent books? Otherwise, how could the writing change so much?

I tend to stay away from books that say, "first book of the ________ series".

One of my favorite "prolific" authors was Maeve Binchy. Her books were so readable and she kept up the quality through the books. She didn't really write series books but some characters pop up in more than one book and some stories follow lightly on an earlier book.

A book I recently re-read was "Prayers for Sale" by Sandra Dallas. I'm going to search for what else she wrote.
 
jujube said:
I find it very frustrating when the first book in a series is very, very good and then the subsequent volumes read like they were written by someone else, definitely someone without a lot of talent. Do you think some authors "farm out" the writing of subsequent books? Otherwise, how could the writing change so much?

I tend to stay away from books that say, "first book of the ________ series".

One of my favorite "prolific" authors was Maeve Binchy. Her books were so readable and she kept up the quality through the books. She didn't really write series books but some characters pop up in more than one book and some stories follow lightly on an earlier book.

A book I recently re-read was "Prayers for Sale" by Sandra Dallas. I'm going to search for what else she wrote.
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The Preston/Child (Pendergast) books are not a series per se. They are a story in each book, however, there was a Trilogy (which I did not care for because they were out of the "norm" of their other Pendergast books) which was enjoyed by more people than me. The Lee Child (Reacher) books are not a series either. Each one is a new "adventure".
 
I have one book out, I didn't write it to make money, I wrote it to take away some of the pain, everyday the pain is still there, at night I'm right back, where it all started, people tell me I should do another book, but , my eyes are bad now, the stars look like christmas trees, for some reason, the only thing I can write about is my life, and I know the facts, would hunt some people still alive today. Just setting here remembering my Grandmother , Where The Blacktop Endedgrandmother.jpg
 
I'm also an avid reader, mostly non-fiction these days but good fiction remains a guilty pleasure. Just finished "The Swans of Fifth Avenue" to rinse my brain after (mostly) slogging through "A People's History of the United States" by Howard Zinn. The latter is very well written and I have no doubt of its accuracy, but as I told a friend who is convinced that the 9-11 attacks were orchestrated or tacitly approved by the US government: even if true, there are some things about my government and my tribe (Caucasian settlers in the US) that are too difficult for me to deeply explore and process at this point in my life. Zinn's book is a powerful but painful read. Let's just say that I'm a bit relieved to know that my own family didn't arrive in this country until 1885-1905.

These days I check out most books from the Overdrive option from my public library. I donated nearly my entire personal library about fifteen years ago and never looked back. On the rare occasions when I purchase a book I pass it to a friend or donate it to the library after reading it.

I look forward to reading some of the titles recommended on this thread.
 
It’s great to donate used books to your local library . Then others get some use out of them and it’s not a fire hazard in your home. I’m all for it. I’ve been so darn busy I haven’t been able to read lately but I will come fall.
 
I enjoy reading, and I will often be reading more than one book at a time. Some books, like books with health or other life information, I read for the purpose of educating myself, and then I also read fiction books just for entertainment.
I always loved regular books, and when I tried reading on the computer, that was just a pain, because I couldn’t get comfortable in my chair and relax that way.
Now, I have my iPad Pro , with the external keyboard, and that is what I use as my computer, and I also have my little Kindle, and I use that excluselively for reading books.
I really like that I can make the print whatever size I need to read it easily, plus, it does not matter what size the book actually is; they are all the same with a Kindle, and it is small and lightweight to carry along if I want to do that.

I do get some books from the library with Overdrive, but mostly I get them free (or really cheap) on amazon at the Kindle book store. Amazon puts different books on sale or free, and changes every day; so if you are watching for the specials, you can get books for free.
I also belong to both Bookbub and Book Gorilla, and they do the checking for you and send out an email each day with new books that Amazon has put on special.
I also get my knitting and craft books that way, and I can either just follow the pattern with the online book, or print out the page if I want to do that.
 
The books I've read since my last post in April are:
"The Lost City of Z' by David Gramm,true story about British explorer,Percy Fawcett.In 1925,he goes into the Amazon searching for the lost city,never returns
"The Soul of Amercia' by Presidential historian,Jon Mecham which I found fascinating. In our country's history,we have gone thru good&bad times, as citizens and nation have survived,will continue to do so.
The book I'm reading now is "Sinatra:Behind the Legend' by J Randy Tarborrelli,its a wonderful book,learning facts about him I didn't know before. Sue
 
I enjoy history, biography, and travel books. My library joined a regional group that enables me to get almost any book I want. They recently got in a lot of rock biographies that I read...Neil Young, The Band, Van Morrison, Pink Floyd, John Fogarty, Bruce Springsteen etc. The Hamilton biography by Chernow was an excellent read. I learned so much about our Founding Fathers and appreciated what the play on Broadway was all about. James Comey's biography was a surprise since it is mainly about his career before he became the FBI Director.

I'm currently reading a book of Tolstoy's short stories which I first read about 30 years ago.
 
The books I read are mine, just paid $2200 for one, so no I will never donate one of my books, my grandchildren will get them , in fact the Liberties burned a lot of their old books, I'm talking pre 1800's copyright , when they first went digital, (got computers)
Keesha said:
It’s great to donate used books to your local library . Then others get some use out of them and it’s not a fire hazard in your home. I’m all for it. I’ve been so darn busy I haven’t been able to read lately but I will come fall.
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I read with a Kindle and just finished "Varina" by Charles Frazier, a fictionalized historical novel about Varina who was the wife of Jefferson Davis, President of the Confederacy. Next will be "Poison" by John Lescroat.

If anyone is interested in contemporary poetry, I just discovered James Seay. Love his work.
 
I read a great deal.

I use my ipad when a book is available from my library in that format. I purchase many books, only from apple ibooks or KOBO, by my favorite authors. Also GoodReads sends sale emails and if the book sounds interesting I will purchase it in an ebook.

Presently I am reading “The Whispering Room” by Dean Kootz

Two recently read fiction favorites:

How to Stop Time” by Matt Haig and

“Evidence of Things Unseen” by Marianne Wiggins

Recently read non-fiction

“Comfort: A Journey Through Grief” by Ann Hood and
“The Suicide Index: Putting My Fathers Death in Order” by Joan Wickersham
 
Happyflowerlady said:
I do get some books from the library with Overdrive, but mostly I get them free (or really cheap) on amazon at the Kindle book store. Amazon puts different books on sale or free, and changes every day; so if you are watching for the specials, you can get books for free.
I also belong to both Bookbub and Book Gorilla, and they do the checking for you and send out an email each day with new books that Amazon has put on special.
I also get my knitting and craft books that way, and I can either just follow the pattern with the online book, or print out the page if I want to do that.
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Thanks for the great tip about Bookbub and Book Gorilla! I'd never heard of these services before.

So many great books, so little time...
 
I love books, real books, the kind where you turn the page. Don't have a Kindle or iphone and am not interested in either. However, to help my friends I will read some of their books on my computer as a PDF, but I prefer not to. I still enjoy the library - the one you walk into and walk through the aisles. I also enjoy audio books if the narrator(s) do well. What I mean is no monotone.

Years ago I read many of Agatha Christie's but after a while I found her mystery plots similar and tedious. I grew up on Nancy Drew and Trixie Belden. :D
 
HI Miss Mae,welcome aboard,glad you found us
I just finished reading a fascinating book"Code Girls:the Untold Story of the American Women Code Breakers of WW2' by Liza Mundy
The Army&Navy recruited college age women from around the country,taught them how to decipher German&Japanese military codes. They worked under a vow of secrecy,couldn't tell friends,family what they were doing Sue in Buffalo,NY
 
Hi Moviequeen1, I grew up in East TN and went to school with lots of kids whose parents worked in Oak Ridge. Saw documentaries about Oak Ridge during the war and how folks there absolutely kept their secrets. I think many kept them until their dying days.

Nice to meet you. :)
 
I've been a lover of books since childhood and to this day my favorite hangout is the library. Favorite authors are Robert Ludlum, John D. MacDonald, Lee Child, Sandra Brown, Nora Roberts, Linda Howard and Elizabeth George. One of the best books I have ever read is "The Nightingale, by Kristin Hannah...a tale of two sisters in German-occupied, war-torn France during World War II. A story for everyone.
 
Like others I have been a life long reader..I loved books from the time I could read. I was never bought books except the odd comic annual... but I used our school and public library all the time. Saturday afternoons were a joy in the public library with my little ticket in my hand I'd go searching for something new every other week, we could take 3 books out at a time then, and I'd take them home carrying them like they were gold, loving the smell and the feel of them and my heart pumping with excitement at what was ahead.

As an adult I've always used the public library...until perhaps the last 2 or 3 years. Up to 12 books at a time can be borrowed, for 3 weeks and then that can be extended up to 2 more times...so not for the first time I would find a whole 12 to lug home ( thank goodness for cars and no walking like I did as a child)....

I read a lot of fiction as a youngster and as a young adult ( no romance or slushy chic-lit)... but mystery and crime, and of course the classics...

All of Conan Doyle all of Christie, but after a few years I tired of fiction..and my choice of reading material to this day is all factual...

However after 50 years of using the public library I no longer find joy in it. The aisles and aisles of books have been reduced drastically to just a few that are rarely updated, and have been replaced by dozens of desks filled with computers, and the noise of the clattering of keyboards and the chattering (no more silence)... has driven me and many others away!!

Now I buy new or barely read books from Amazon or second hand books stores.. ( we're lucky to have a superb old fashioned book store just a few miles away)... . I prefer Hardbacks..and now I only read in bed at night before sleep , but I can easily have up to 3 books on the go at any one time.

I have a kindle, but I only ever use it if I'm away on holiday to save the weight of books in my case... or I'll take it in my bag if I'm attending an appointment where I expect to have a long wait...otherwise the books for me will always be made of paper.
 

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