One of the luxuries I enjoy about summer is reading...especially since our evenings are light until ten pm and I can afford to stay up late reading since I'm on break. I just finished reading Defending Jacob and have started The Quilter's Legacy (of the Elm Creek Quilt novel series by Jennifer Chiaverini) I also visited our local library today and checked out: Three Women on the Water's Edge to read next. Which found me wondering as I walked home from the library...
...how do you read your books?
I mean, do have a kindle? Buy new? Buy used? Trade? Check out from your local library?
As you come to know me, you'll learn I'm a very practical person. Thus, the only series I collect are the Elm Street Quilt Novels...as my mom gifts them to me. Other than that, I love the feel of an old fashion book in my hand when I read and usually borrow, trade or check out books. I love the dusty ol' smell the one I picked up from the library has. It's one of those smells that reminds me of being young...my fingers searching though the old card catalog hoping to find a great adventure to bring home to read! Funny to think I now use one of those card catalogs for ribbon storage! See:
Please do comment and share how you read your books and why...curious minds want to know...and who knows, maybe this old dog will learn some new tricks in the world of reading??
Tomorrow's theme is FLAGS
I used to snag books from Half Price Books, a reseller that had an awesome clearance section. Now I hit the library with the husband almost weekly. It became a sort of 'date' since we didn't have much money to do things! 😊
ReplyDeleteI love to read. I read books, I read on my kindle, and I read on my computer. I read old books, new books and library books. The best thing that happened to me when I got my Kindle was discovering I could download library books. And there have been plenty downloaded. Let me tell you why I buy some new books. In the last couple of years, I have been writing my own stories. Finding authors that generate excitement for a story makes me want to own my own copy. Plus these authors not only write stories that start the movie version in my mind, they are writing to make a living too. So once I find an author that I totally love, I do buy their books. It's also been fun to review for a couple of the publishing houses as they send me books before they are released. All that to say, I probably won't ever be published, but if it ever happened, it would be such a blessing to have someone actually buy a book I wrote :-)
ReplyDeleteHello Val. I check out books from the local library. I never buy books when I can check them out for free.
ReplyDeleteI sometimes download books from audible.com and listen to them in my car as I travel over an hour a day to and from work.
I took am on goodreads.com
I generally read on a Kindle. I used to pick on my husband, who said that books were so heavy once he got his Kindle - but now I have one and I understand completely! We are book people, and our personal and professional libraries got a bit out of hand - a ridiculous amount of weight to move around. We have kept a few favorite hardback personal books but most of the rest have gone to the library to help them raise money. The professional libraries are another ball of was, though, and still take up a bunch of space! Lately, though, most of my book-absorbing has been through audio books on Audible. That's what I do to pass the time and engage my mind while I'm sewing or quilting - I download the books to my computer and play them there. A pair of wireless headphones allows me to listen even while I'm on the long arm! I just finished 11-22-63 by Stephen King, and recently enjoyed The Martian, and My Year of Running Dangerously.
ReplyDeleteI forgot about books on tape. I know my parents listen to these as they travel in their motorhome during their long summer trips. I've never really had the opportunity as I usually listen to sappy hallmark/lifetime movies while I sew. LOL!
ReplyDeleteHi Val, I love to read but my problem... I am the type of reader that once the book is open then I can't put it down until it is finished. I love to hold a book in my hands but it is so sad to make a purchase and be finished with it in no time at all. I only purchase my books from favorite authors and these days the purchase is downloaded to my Nook Color. I also download books from the library when they are available. I love it because I am never late in returning the book when I am finished with it. I enjoy audio books too but those are harder to come by at our library.
ReplyDeleteI have gone to Kindle as I love the backlighting and the ability to enlarge the printing. I do love a good book on tape for my walks.
ReplyDeleteI love a library book. I do often purchase quilting books tho, new and used. I own a kindle but do not like holding it, or the way it looks. I like a page to turn. I am not fast enough to need to load 7 books on a kindle for a weeklong vacation! I take a paperback on vacay, maybe two. And magazines... love to read magazines especially on vacations. I save them for that. LeeAnna
ReplyDeleteI go to the library and check out books, but I get free books on my kindle that I listen to via the text to speech capabilities. The library in my area I can get a book from almost any library in the state, I just go online look it up and request it.
ReplyDeleteI love reading books, but I am a slow reader. Since having kids and using the internet so much, I have found I'm not as good at focussing on reading a book. I have read very few books from cover to cover in the last 10 years, and have found that I look through a lot more non-fiction, where you can jump from one little snippet of information to another.
ReplyDeleteI like the idea of audio books, but my brain tends to drift of into thought too often, and I have to keep skipping back to where I last remember listening. This happens when I read, too, but my eyes normally stop scanning once my brain wonders off, or, at least, having to turn the page kicks my brain back into action, so it's not too hard to find the part where I zoned out at (although, once I read 10 pages before realising I hadn't absorbed any of the information, and 10 pages equals about half an hour for me). I'm not a fan of reading off of a computer screen (even though I do it a lot, although not for reading stories) - I much prefer a real book. I buy books new and second hand and borrow from the library. My kids love reading and think that going to the library is a great outing. I also get given books as gifts for birthdays and Christmas. My mum and I are Stephen King fans, and my mum is a speed reader, so she will often by a Stephen King book as a gift for me, but read it first (I wouldn't be able to tell, because she makes sure she keeps it looking as good as new, but she feels the need to tell me to get it off her chest :D)
I check out books from our local library system. I can browse online and then "order" them and put them on hold at the nearest branch. I've tried reading magazines online (hoopla, zinio) and can get lots of them free through my library, but I still prefer reading from an actual book or mag. I love being able to flip through and go back to re-read something, and it's much easier to do that with pages (I can physically estimate just how far back to go instead of having to scroll. My favorite place to read is in bed before I go to sleep, and a book's good for that, too. No digital screen to interfere with winding down. I'm sure I'm missing something by not using a digital or audio book, but this is what I'm most comfortable with. I envy you with your card catalog (I miss those at the library, too!). I drool over them at antique malls.
ReplyDeleteI buy quilting and embroidery books but novels etc I get from the library. I have from when the girls were young they are now 44 and 40 read in the bath, it was a peaceful place to be and the only time apart from in bed when there was reading time. Now I still take my book with me every morning to the bath no showers for me. Also enjoy to read light hearted novels whilst sitting in the garden when which is not so often we get some sunshine that is if I am not stitching binding.
ReplyDeleteI adore books! I am addicted to buying books and display them on my many bookshelves. One of my favourite things in life is to buy a book. A book shop with a cafe is my idea of paradise. I would have to say every time I go shopping, I always seem to find myself in a book shop to see what's new. Books' gorgeous bindings add a sense of style to any room. I love to read on a comfy sofa, on the garden swing, in the bath........anywhere, anytime. I am not a fan of E-readers or Kindles as I love to turn the page of the written word and smell the pages.....besides books are so much prettier than a kindle. I know, I know 'tis a shallow gal that I am....I am that gal that judges a book by it's pretty cover. =)
ReplyDeleteI prefer paperback or hardbound and enjoy using my library card, too. For those who mentioned Stephen King, I just finished reading "On Writing" where he shares his inspiration for writing many of his stories. My next read will be about Isaac Singer . . . it occurred to me that I didn't know much about the Singer Manufacturing Company so I ordered a book about the American Inventor, Actor and Entrepreneur.
ReplyDeleteWhat a creative way to store your ribbons, Val - in that great card catalogue display.
I used to read books every night in bed but haven't for a few years now. Don't seem to be able to concentrate. Then I got a kindle for on holidays. Now I borrow talking books on CDs to listen to in the car..
ReplyDeleteI also have the whole set of the Elm Creek novels. I haven't read them all yet. They have been gifts from my daughter.
I have read 2 books on a Kindle donated for the purpose by my sister, but it wasn't the same as reading the old paper kind. I'm like you - I love the object as well as the read of an old book. I've collected some old books over the years... Lately I've started reading the books I bought when I worked and didn't have the time to read them. (Mostly I'm reading off my own bookshelves because I don't want to donate them to the Friends of the Library without reading them first. (Also, I don't want to haul them again, if we move again.) Love historical novels.
ReplyDeleteHugs
I love to read, though I have not read a lot lately. I have quite a few books in my collection both on my Nook and actual physical books. Our little town has put up portable libraries all over the place. You can take a book anytime you want they only ask that you put one back in it's place. It's very very cool.
ReplyDeleteMy husband bought me a basic (black and white only) Kindle when it was on sale. I was surprised to find that I actually like it. I still buy quilting books on paper and, because I like to read in the bathtub, the occasional novel.
ReplyDeleteI do books on cd and my iPod while driving and exercising. I get recommendations on Goodreads, and do reviews there too. You would like the Cobbled Court Quilt series by Marie Bostwick, really good!! Are you on Goodreads? Check out my Books and Reading Category for some summer reading recommendations.
ReplyDeleteOh, and I like hardback real books for reading when sitting on a plane or in a waiting room.
DeleteRetired librarian here. I applaud all of you who use the library. When I retired the library staff gave me a Kindle and while I've downloaded a few books, I've yet to read any of them. I use the library and I still prefer print books. I do buy quilting books and books for the grandchildren.
ReplyDeleteMost of my reading done on my Nook. It's just so much easier to cart around. Though I still do cart home the odd book from half price books if we happen upon a good one.
ReplyDeleteOh your card catalog cabinet is very neat~
ReplyDeleteI have been an avid Audio Book Reader for about 18 years. I started with Cassette tapes, then CDs and now downloads to my phone with the Audio AP
This way I can listen and quilt, garden, do laundry, drive, walk my dog, etc. My friend Kelly once said, is there any book you haven't read? It has increased my reading by 10 times.
Defending Jacob is good - a little tough but good!
I tend to read in phases, you see I am an obsessive reader, once I start I can't stop, so my husband comes home to a messy house, no clean clothes, and no meal waiting. He is used to me by now. I like real books but I am happy with the kindle too now. But if it is non fiction it has to be the real thing. I love Diana Gabaldons Outlander series, I started with the paperbacks years ago, as they dropped to pieces I replaced them all with hardbacks, I don't read them much though, they might get spoiled, I read kindle version, most of the time. I don't have a library near and when I registered online the books I liked were never available, so I gave up. I do buy the odd second hand book if I see one somewhere.
ReplyDeleteI buy used mainly (from: http://www.betterworldbooks.com/), I also borrow from the library particularly audio books, I probably own more books than I could read in a lifetime after binge buying at used book stores about 2 years ago LOL. I am currently reading an Augusten Burroughs book
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