Reader Fatigue

Do you ever get reader fatigue? I've been reading a lot lately, nothing new there, but I've really poured it on since I got the Kindle. Now I usually have one paperback and one digital book going at all times. Problem is I've been a one-trick pony when it comes to genre.

I read urban fantasy and if you are familiar with the genre, you know it isn't always the most uplifting and the steady amount of action can be exhausting. I can feel myself burning out and I need to give it a rest. But I don't want to stop reading. So here's your chance.

Give me some book recommendations. Fiction, non-fiction, no matter what the genre, give me the title of a book you have read recently that you liked and want to share. Triple points if its available on Kindle.

Its going to be a long summer and I plan on spending much of it with a book in hand.

The Solace of a Good Book

I had a lousy day yesterday. I don't want to get into the details, but suffice it to say it sucked. There really wasn't anything anyone could say to me yesterday to make it better. So I go to where I get the most comfort. Books.

I've always escaped into books whether it was fiction or non-fiction. I was an only child and while I really liked being an only, it did have its lonely times. Television didn't offer much and video games consoles in the home were unheard of so I turned to books. My folks bought all kinds of encycloipedias when I was a baby. Apparently they were convinced by some slick salesman this was the way to best prepare a child for the modern world. I believe there was one whole volume dedicated to the propisition that a man may someday walk on the moon! Anyway, even before I could read I poured through the those books. And when I did start reading, I found myself lost in those pages.

When puberty hit along with all of the overwhelming angst it brings, I found comfort in reading. They took me away to exotic places where girls didn't get pimples and boys...well, they were nothing like the toads I mingled with on a daily basis. Those novels got me through some really tortuous years. In college I read as a relief from the stress of studying. Yeah, I read for school, but it wasn't fun reading, fiction gave me yet another place to go which didn't have mid-terms and pain in the butt roommates.

As an adult, I once again find solace in a good book. Television and movies don't provide the depth of involvment a book does. When I get caught up in a story, it lingers in my head even when I'm not reading. I spend part of my time thinking about what is going to happen next. Like an Advil, it takes the edge of whatever mental miseray I'm going through at the time. It is truly a snuggie for the soul.

Today I'm fine. However, I'm really into the book I'm reading. I don't have the excuse of a bad day to go hide with my book. Sigh...guess I will have to make up soemthing.

It's Like Dessert

I have been waiting for Magic Strikes by Ilona Andrews to come out all year. It is a series I really enjoy reading. I was going to order it through Amazon but they don't always get the books to me soon enough. So I went down to my local B&N and picked it up. While I was there I found a few other novels. I didn't realize the new Cassie Palmer book was out and I picked up a couple more of Simon R. Green's Nightside series.

So of course I got home and dove into "Magic Strikes," right? Nope. I put it aside and picked up one of the other books. I know I'm going to love the book, so I'm enjoying the anticpation. It's like when you go out to dinner and you are sitting where you can see the dessert tray. The whole time I'm eating I can see it's luscious goodness promising taste bud paradise. Not that I don't enjoy the rest of the meal, I do, but the sheer joy of eating dessert is...special.

I'm that way with books. I did it with "Bone Crossed" and I have and will do it with the next "Sookie Stackhouse" book. I think I waited a month before I read the last Sookie book and I got it on the day it was released.

It's a reading quirk, more of a game, or maybe its a ritual. I don't know. Do you have any reading quirks?

Book Buying

As you may have heard, we are suffering from a difficult economy. I think the newspapers are drooling over the constant bad news.

Does it change the way you spend money in the bookstore? Are you buying less books or buying them second-hand? Are you being more selective?

I don't think I've changed in my book buying. In fact, I imagine this summer will see an increase in my purchases. I'm not going on vacation. I don't go to the movies. Since I won't be spending money on trips and movie tickets (which, in my area, are at $11 a ticket) I feel I can pick up a couple of extra books on my trips to B&N. As a rule, I do not buy used books unless it is out of print. And I do prefer paperbacks although I do buy some of my autobuys in hardcover. So that really hasn't changed either.

I am scratching my head about the Kindle 2 which seems to be based on people buying lots of books. And the device seems to be selling. People have to buy content for them, so does Amazon know a secret? Maybe reading never goes out of style.

Bad Reading Habits

I dogear books. I bend them until the spine cracks. I lose the jackets of my hardbacks. The pages of the books I read are usually sprinkled with cookie crumbs or blotched with spaghetti sauce. The tell-tale warp of the pages reveals my penchant for drinking beverages when I read. None of this really bothers me (if the book is borrowed, I'm far more careful...or I borrow books from people with the same habits). I do something worse.

When I was a kid I loved getting the T.V. Guide and reading ahead to find out what happened the next week on my favorite shows. I was never satisfied waiting until the next week to find out what was going to happen. What new fantasy would Mr. Rourke provide on Fantasy Island? Would Gopher get a date on Love Boat? And lets not get into the soaps. I remember sneaking peaks through the soap magazines at the grocery store to find out what was going to happen to Bo and Hope.

I'm just as bad with books. I always catch myself going to the last page. Usually it doesn't mean much. The hero and heroine have generally ironed out their differences and author rewards us with a light epilogue which gives us a glimpse at the love birds. But I take it a step further. I read random pages, trying to get a preview of what lies ahead. It's such a habit I don't notice it anymore. I love to be in the know. And I'm curious. With the "Twilight" series I was desperate to hear how it all ended, however, I didn't really care for the first book. The thought of plodding through all of them didn't appeal. Luckily my son got peer-pressured into reading them and he gave me the cliff notes version.

Am I the only what that does this? What bad reading habits do you have?

Peer Pressure

My seventh grade son has buckled to peer pressure. Not drugs, alcohol, sex or any of those other parental nightmares. No, gave in to the need to read "Twilight." The series is quite the rage amongst the 6th-8th grade set. Both boys and girls are reading it. At school during SSR (sustained silent reading) both genders are reading the books. He finished the first one in a day and a half and now he is reading the next one. My neighbor has the other two so it saves me a trip to the store.

I asked him what he thought. I've read the book and to be honest didn't find it all that compelling. I didn't, however, share my opinion since I wanted him to form his own. He thought there was too much romance in the first. I had to explain to him that was the point. He thought Edward was creepy and Bella's clumsiness plain annoying. He likes the storyline and the pace and some of the other characters. I think he preferred "New Moon" over the first book. I think he'll finish the series just to see what happens.

I had some reservations about him reading the book. No, there wasn't anything objectionable in the contents and I thought it was appropriate to his maturity. What concerned me is that he would think relationships should work like Bella and Edward's. Without going into details, my biggest problem with "Twilight" was Bella's obsession with Edward. And once they begin their relationship, it overtakes everything she does. He becomes her world. It goes against the feminist grain in me and I really don't want my son thinking girls should be like that. I didn't have to worry, he perceived Bella's behavior as being overly needy and unattractive.

But it does make me wonder. What impact does this book have on 11, 12 and 13 year-olds who are just beginning to explore romantic relationships. Are they going to be swept away by the story and long for that kind of romance? Or are they savvy enough to see it as the dramatic love story it is?

Reading Revolution or Evolution

This is a photo from the mountains behind my house (I found it at the L.A. Times website. It would take me about 20 minutes to get there from my house. Isn't it pretty? That's about the only nice thing I can say about the weather right now. I'm a weather wimp. I don't like the cold. Winter for me means I have to put on a sweater. And when you have kids, rain sucks. They spend the entire time at school inside their classrooms and they get home so wired and obnoxious, they could be mistaken for rabid chimpanzees.

I hate going out in this weather. I just want to cuddle up with a book and a cup of tea. I have a stack of books calling my name and little time to read right now. I could sit and read at night, but by the time evening rolls around, I'm so tired and my brain is so numb, I just want to watch t.v. However, previous to this, I had been reading quite a bit and I've noticed how much my reading has changed. My choices have broadened considerably. I notice I go through changes periodically. When I was young, I read nothing but romances, historical romances, nothing else. Even in college that's what I read. Then I moved onto techno thrillers a la Tom Clancy. Then I moved on to Robert Ludlum. I slipped there into John Steinbeck and into non-fiction adventure. Then somehow I slid back into romance although I moved away from historicals and read other sub-genres. I discovered paranormal romance and that was it, I read paranormal romance exclusively. But that has petered out. I think I got tired of angsty vampires searching for their soulmate. I moved onto dark urban fantasy, but I choose books with little romance. And that isn't my exclusive reading. I've been reading cozy mysteries, literary fiction, horror and whatever else strikes. Except for romance. I have no taste for it. Odd considering I'm a card carrying member of RWA, a board member of my local chapter and have a stack of Golden Heart entries to judge.

Of course I haven't been writing romance much lately either. Perhaps as I start writing in the genre again, my interest will pick up. I have nothing against the genre, but perhaps a break is necessary to bring a fresh perspective?

Does your reading tastes change on a regular basis or are you stalwart of your favored genre?

Setbacks

We've had a setback in the remodel and now I'm hoping the project is done by Thanksgiving. I'm bordering on a meltdown. I feel bad because there are people who have lost everything in the fires and there are homeless people out on the streets. I don't have it so bad when compared to others. However, I'm afraid I'm going to wallow in self-pity for the rest of the day. By tomorrow I'll be more upbeat and able to appreciate what I do have.

I have determined that this fiasco will not impact my committment to Nano this year. I've decided on something new, far lighter than what I had originally decided to work on. I'm looking forward to the intense distraction that Nano brings to me. November is always a difficult month with all of the family obligations I have. My brain seems to crave the escape of writing.

This Saturday is my chapter meeting and I volunteered to present (dummy me). I'm going to talk about goal-setting, something I'm incredibly week at. I'm hoping that I can gain something from all the prep work I've done. How good are you at setting goals and sticking to it? Not just for writing but for other things in life?

Kathleen Woodiwiss

Kathleen Woodiwiss died at the age of 68 yesterday. It was a little jarring to me, it meant the true end of an era.

The summer between 6th and 7th grade, my neighbor lady lent "Shanna" to my mom. My mother was never a romance reader so she tossed it aside. I found it and literally my life path changed. I was so enamored of that book, I cannot tell you how many times I've read it. But after reading it, I knew I wanted to be a writer. She brought such passion and vivid characterization to her novels, it blew me away.

Younger readers and writers are probably unable to appreciate how important she was to the romance industry. She and others like Shirlee Busbee, Rosemary Rogers and Jennifer Wilde put historical romance on the map.

People put these books down now, but that is truly unfair. There was far more than heaving bosoms and uber Alpha males running around. There was always adventure and passion on a grand scale. They were not politically correct, there was always an edge to the relationships. But they engrossed me, pulling me into another world so completely, I never wanted to leave.

Goodbye, Ms. Woodiwiss, your work meant more to me than even I realized.

Are any of you Woodiwiss fans? Which was your favorite?