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

I like print books but also have a Kobo e-reader. I used to read a lot of science fiction and fantasy but now I'm more of a generalist - the last novel I finished reading was The Empusium by Olga Tokarczuk, and also two novels by friends of mine which have appeared this year, A Particular Attachment by Geraldine Taylor and Dead Dads Club by John Upton. I'm also reading Cwm Gwrachod by Colin Jones in an attempt to improve my minimal Welsh, and also have lined up a few Boris Vian novels (L'herbe rouge, Les morts ont tous la meme peau ...etc) to keep up my French.
 

CinnamonSugar said:
We’re reading this for our Mystery book club…. I don’t really care for it at first (no—IMO— sympathetic characters and kind of creepy Gothic/ suspense vibe) but by 1/2 way through I was invested, basically the morbid fascination of watching a train derail in slow motion or something 🙄🤔

In fact I’ve seldom finished R Rendell’s books… dk they just give me the willies most if the time. Anyone else feel that way?

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I've read all her books at least once and The Crocodile Bird is my favorite. Yet, I agree with you that she can be quite creepy. I miss her.

I just read Elizabeth Strout's latest, "Tell Me Everything." It had many of her usual characters, Lucy Barton and Olive Ketteridge. This one featured Bob Burgess and contained a murder mystery.
 
Pinky said:
I read this recently .. fortunate to get it from the library in Large Print!
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I too have discovered the pleasures of large print books.

I'm reading a large print version of John Grisham's 2023 The Exchange (The Exchange: After the Firm). It started off like a house afire, but the whole middle section of the book drags on, rather repeating elements that the reader is already aware of. I get the impression Grisham is simply filling up a novel length tome. I feel certain that he'll have an exciting finish, but IMO there's too much filler.
 
MaidMarian said:
I’ve been listening to audiobooks when I go for a walk or when I’m cleaning house or cooking.
In the past few months, I’ve listened to Demon Copperhead, Trust, 1984, The Vaster Wilds and currently Project Hail Mary. I’ve enjoyed every one of them.
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OMG, I totally LOVED Demon Copperhead. Read it twice! Even went back and read David Copperfield again just to see how cleverly she wrote it. I was bored by Copperfield, actually.
 
Keesha said:
Reading is a pleasant past time. There are so many great books to read.
What are some of your favourite books you have read and what do you use to read them?
perhaps an ireader or a kindle? Or maybe you prefer listening to them.

These are great for reading with since you can:
-load as many books as you want to
-adjust the letter size
-read at night without needing to turn on a light so you don’t disturb others.

At at the moment I am reading ‘The Secret Life of Bees’ by Sue Monk Kidd
which is extraordinarily written.

What are you reading right now and what great books can you suggest to the rest of us?
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I'm kind of a reverse snob in genres.
As a boy, I read Heinlein, Asimov, Bradbury, etc.

As a young adult, I found King and Koontz. My bookshelves are full of first edition of just about every King and Koontz. When I hit hard times a decade or so ago, I sold several first editions on eBay. Regretted it ever since.

As an adult, I loved anything by Crichton, Graham Masterton, Bentley Little, and a newer title by Arthur C. Clark called The Light of Other Days (a really cool book about advanced technology).

I veered off at times such as my Bonanza days where I read the entire series by Stephen Calder (sadly, all are OOP now.)
In the non-fiction area, I liked The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins and DMT: The Spirit Molecule by Rick Strassman. I also loved The Holographic Universe by Michael Talbot (a super interesting theory.)

As a senior, things changed when I wrote and published my first novel, Bad Vibe. It is a science fiction based story involving the first invention of a zero-point energy bridge and I found I had a knack for science fiction.

A long time ago, I had written four screenplays and spent a year trying to sell. This was before the internet had become big and I had little success. Later (only a few years ago), I wrote my second novel, Iddimu and I also discovered that I had a knack for horror. I had noticed that during the authoring of this second book, I had stopped reading anything. At the time, I didn't think anything of it. Then I wrote Portal, then Grief Begets, one sort of a horror scifi, the other a love story with paranormal overtones.

Again, I did not read while writing. Now, after putting all the writing away for a couple of years, I find that when I get the urge to read, I also get the urge to write. One cancels out the other and writing wins. Consequently, I have 3 other works-in-progress. I'll reveal the titles (if anybody cares) as I get further along. I think I may have already done this in an earlier post. Maybe, maybe not. My memory :rolleyes:.

That's enough of self promotion. I just wanted to illuminate why I don't read anymore.
 
Marcy Sheiner said:
OMG, I totally LOVED Demon Copperhead. Read it twice! Even went back and read David Copperfield again just to see how cleverly she wrote it. I was bored by Copperfield, actually.
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I loved Demon Copperhead too! I didn’t think I’d like audiobooks but I am enjoying them so much! The reader of Demon Copperhead was excellent and added to my enjoyment of the book. The reader of Project Hail Mary is phenomenal! I don’t think I would have enjoyed reading the book as much as I do listening to it!
 
MaidMarian said:
I’ve been listening to audiobooks when I go for a walk or when I’m cleaning house or cooking.
In the past few months, I’ve listened to Demon Copperhead, Trust, 1984, The Vaster Wilds and currently Project Hail Mary. I’ve enjoyed every one of them.
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I listen to audiobooks too and, Project Hail Mary is one of my favorites. I've listened to that one a few times. Andy Weir is an amazing storyteller.
 
The book I just started is "Looking for Salvation at the Dairy Queen' by Susan Gregg Gilmore
The story is set in the 70's in Ringgold, Georgia small town with 1,900 residents
Catherine Grace Cline,her younger sister, Martha are raised by their father, local Baptist minister after their mom died in a tragic accident when they were young Every Saturday she goes to local Dairy Queen has a dilly bar longs to leave, head to Atlanta when she's older
I'm enjoying this funny in parts, reminds me of Fannie Flagg's books which I've read. This is the author's debut novel
 
I use an iPad to read my books. I have probably 50 books on it which barely starts to fill up the storage capacity. I like to be able to configure everything like background color and font . Also to be able to highlight words and look up their meaning. I set it to white characters on a black background and use the open dyslectic font. My eyes used to get tired when reading but switching to that font helped a lot. Maybe I have Dyslexia. I read everything from historical fiction and non fiction to sci fi. Just finished a series on Genghis Khan.
 
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Last week I searched and searched for this thread using every relevant word I could think of; nada. In desperation, I started a thread about reading. Now I somehow bumped into this when I clicked on Entertainment.

I am currently reading the new book by the Nigerian writer Adichie, Dream Count. About 4 Nigerian women, 3 of whom live in the US. Loving it.
 
Rereading some of the early Tony Hillerman Leephorn Chee Navajo Tribal Police series. Love reading the Navajo philosophy of life woven through the books.

An excerpt from Listening Woman:

There were other promising clouds to the south, drifting over the Hopi Reservation. The Hopis had held a rain dance Sunday, calling on the clouds—their ancestors-to restore the water blessing to the land. Perhaps the kachinas had listened to their Hopi children. Perhaps not.It was not a Navajo concept, this idea of adjusting nature to human needs. The Navajo adjusted himself to remain in harmony with the universe. When nature withheld the rain, the Navajo sought the pattern of this phenomenon—as he sought the pattern of all things-to find its beauty and live in harmony with it.​
 
u must read

"The Five Wishes of Murray McBride" by Joe Spie

It's about a 100-year old man who has outlived just about everyone he's ever loved. He meets a boy awaiting a heart transplant and he learns something about finding meaning in life again.
 
Marcy Sheiner said:
Last week I searched and searched for this thread using every relevant word I could think of; nada. In desperation, I started a thread about reading. Now I somehow bumped into this when I clicked on Entertainment.

I am currently reading the new book by the Nigerian writer Adichie, Dream Count. About 4 Nigerian women, 3 of whom live in the US. Loving it.
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Ooh... that sounds good! Just put it on my library list. Funny thing - their E-book copies have 698 borrowers waiting on 81 copies, Audio: 439 waiting on 56 copies, but traditional book has 107 waiting for 57 copies (so about a 3 week wait).

Can you guess which version I requested?
 
The Book of Harlan .. by Bernice L. McFadden
The novel follows Harlan Elliot, a Georgia-born musician who leaves the south for Harlem, flourishing in New York during the Harlem Renaissance. His music takes him to Montmartre, Paris, where his ambitions collide with history when the Germans occupy the city.
 
Pinky said:
The Book of Harlan .. by Bernice L. McFadden
The novel follows Harlan Elliot, a Georgia-born musician who leaves the south for Harlem, flourishing in New York during the Harlem Renaissance. His music takes him to Montmartre, Paris, where his ambitions collide with history when the Germans occupy the city.
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What do you think of it, Pinky?
 
David later version said:
I'm kind of a reverse snob in genres.
As a boy, I read Heinlein, Asimov, Bradbury, etc.

As a young adult, I found King and Koontz. My bookshelves are full of first edition of just about every King and Koontz. When I hit hard times a decade or so ago, I sold several first editions on eBay. Regretted it ever since.

As an adult, I loved anything by Crichton, Graham Masterton, Bentley Little, and a newer title by Arthur C. Clark called The Light of Other Days (a really cool book about advanced technology).

I veered off at times such as my Bonanza days where I read the entire series by Stephen Calder (sadly, all are OOP now.)
In the non-fiction area, I liked The God Delusion by Richard Dawkins and DMT: The Spirit Molecule by Rick Strassman. I also loved The Holographic Universe by Michael Talbot (a super interesting theory.)

As a senior, things changed when I wrote and published my first novel, Bad Vibe. It is a science fiction based story involving the first invention of a zero-point energy bridge and I found I had a knack for science fiction.

A long time ago, I had written four screenplays and spent a year trying to sell. This was before the internet had become big and I had little success. Later (only a few years ago), I wrote my second novel, Iddimu and I also discovered that I had a knack for horror. I had noticed that during the authoring of this second book, I had stopped reading anything. At the time, I didn't think anything of it. Then I wrote Portal, then Grief Begets, one sort of a horror scifi, the other a love story with paranormal overtones.

Again, I did not read while writing. Now, after putting all the writing away for a couple of years, I find that when I get the urge to read, I also get the urge to write. One cancels out the other and writing wins. Consequently, I have 3 other works-in-progress. I'll reveal the titles (if anybody cares) as I get further along. I think I may have already done this in an earlier post. Maybe, maybe not. My memory :rolleyes:.

That's enough of self promotion. I just wanted to illuminate why I don't read anymore.
Click to expand...
Congratulations on publishing your novels. It takes a lot of work to write, revise, edit, and publish. It's also good for our brains.
 
I have three books I am currently reading:

"The Ability to Love" by Allan Fromme - nonfiction

"The Artist's Way" by Julia Cameron - nonfiction

"Flood Tide" by Clive Cussler - fiction
 

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