Tag: book reviews

Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…

• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

This week I’d like to ask your advice on audiobooks, a medium with which I have very little experience. I’m thinking about getting into audiobooks because I now have a long enough commute that I think it would be nice to have a book to listen to. Of course I’d appreciate any recommendations for audiobooks, but my biggest concern with starting an audiobook is how to combine that with reading a physical book. I’m the sort of person who usually only reads one book at a time and doesn’t like multitasking. However, I read faster than an audiobook narrator, so I’d find it very frustrating to only be listening to an audiobook. I’m curious what other people who listen to audiobooks do, so I’ll turn it over to you guys.

If you usually only read one book at a time, are you happy to have an audiobook and a physical book going at the same time? Any advice for happily doing both?

Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…

• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.
• Do you have a bookish rant? Something about books or reading (or the industry) that gets your ire up? Share it with us!
• Instead of the above questions, maybe you just want to ramble on about something else pertaining to books — let’s hear it, then!

I was reading a review of Caitlin Moran’s How To Be a Woman on TiggerRenewing which mentioned that people who “an’t see the reason for why we need abortion on demand” might skip the relevant chapter. This got me thinking about how much I choose to push out of my comfort zone when I read. One type of book I know I sometimes avoid is popular science books in biology, because I hate how often they demonize science in order to sell a sensational story.  At the same time, I do sometimes choose to read these books and they’re often good for me. They make me look at issues in science in a new way and make me ponder ethical questions. Even if they also make me want to scream because of their inaccuracies and one-sided arguments. Read more »

Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…

• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.

This weekend I’ve been reading 1Q84, as well as playing a new computer game, both with such absorption that actually writing about what I’m reading has fallen by the way side. My first impression of 1Q84 is that it’s slow to start, but I’m certain once it get’s going it’s going to pull me along for a pretty wild ride. It reminds me of both Ray Bradbury and Stephen King in style. Bradbury because strange details are related in the same way as ordinary ones and because there are certain paragraphs I just want to say out loud, they’re so perfect. And it reminds me of King because the incredible amount of detail given strikes me as a device to build up suspense before something crazy happens.  The fact that I love both those authors only makes me more certain that once things get going, I’m really going to like this book.

What are you reading this week? Do you try to avoid wasting time by quitting slow starting books or  do you power through in hopes things will get better?

Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…

• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.

Lately I feel as though as I’ve given almost all the books I’ve read 4 or even 5 star reviews. This worries me because I feel my ratings become less useful as they become more homogeneous. At the same time, I’m happy with the ratings I’ve given each book. So the question then becomes why I read books that I can honestly give good reviews so much more often than books I don’t enjoy. Of course, this comes back to how I pick which books to read, so that’s what I’m going to talk about today.

Read more »

Musing Mondays asks you to muse about one of the following each week…

• Describe one of your reading habits.
• Tell us what book(s) you recently bought for yourself or someone else, and why you chose that/those book(s).
• Tell us what you’re reading right now — what you think of it, so far; why you chose it; what you are (or, aren’t) enjoying it.

Today I’d like to talk about how we form our opinions about books once we start reading them. This wasn’t something I paid attention to before I started blogging and some of the things I’ve noticed have surprised me…
Read more »