Category: Blog Series Page 110 of 220

Book Blogger Hop

This prompt was submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer:

Do you prefer to leave book jackets on or off while reading?

Obviously, we’re talking books that I own or borrow from a friend, right? Because I absolutely leave the dust jackets in that film (plastic? polyester? mylar? whatever) wrap the library uses on all the time. I’m no vandal.

But if we’re talking about my own books, those jackets are off when I read (or, before I loan it out). And I treat a borrowed book the same. I’m the biblio-equivalent of the person that makes you take off your shoes before you enter their house. I try, for reasons I don’t care to examine, to keep those as pristine as possible–if I’m manhandling them the whole time I’m reading, they’re going to get torn, creased, frayed, etc.–and that would drive me batty.

Now, I used to know a guy who hated dust jackets. The first thing he did when he bought a book was to throw it away. His shelves were full of hardcovers, too. I never understood that. The cover design is all in the dust jacket (well, almost all of it).

What about you?

Book Blogger Hop

This prompt was submitted by Julie @ Stepping Stone Book Reviews:

Are you able to choose your favorite books?

Um, er…yeah.

Sure.

Maybe?

I need some parameters, or we’re going to be here for a while. Quite a while.

How many can I pick? My desert island, all-time, top-five? Favorite Books in _____ Genre? Favorite Books from a certain year/decade/century? Favorite books by an Author?

And even then…an hour or so after I gave you my list, I’d have to revisit it.

And then a month later, and….you know what?

No. No, I am not able to choose my favorite books. I even tried to come up with a partial list, 2-3 books, with a few alternatives and I just quickly realized that I was going to spend more than an hour on the joke. A not-very-good joke.

Rats.

What about you?

Book Blogger Hop

This prompt was submitted by Billy @ Coffee Addicted Writer:

Do you ever get burnt out from reading?

Theoretically, yes. It’s been years since it happened, though–I honestly can’t tell you how many. At least 5, maybe 10. This blog has kept me from it, I think, I just don’t have the opportunity for it.

At the same time, for 40 years now, reading has been my escape, a haven from whatever is going on in my life. Even when life is good, I need a way to disengage from it all and recharge. My need for that seems to be increasing, too. I’m not sure if that’s a commentary on my life/mental state or the world around me (a quick glance at headlines suggests the latter is likely). So getting burned out is difficult–how do you need a break from your break? (ask anybody at the end of a long vacation, and they probably have some ideas)

Now. I do get burnt out with individual books–or reading for the purposes of blogging (i.e., for tours or because I’ve accepted a book from a publicist/author). If I do too many “obligation” reads in a row–no matter the quality (but a string of “how do I say something nice about this?” books makes it harder)–it starts to take a toll on my attitude. This is the major contributing factor for my cutting back the last couple of years. Even with these reads, however, within a couple of minutes of starting a reading session, the psychological effects kick in, and I get over it. It’s really the effort to get started where I notice the burnout/”blah”-ness/Carter-esque “malaise.”

Usually that burnout lasts no longer than a book or two (if I scheduled smartly, I don’t read two of those in a row).

What about you?