THE JAMES MASON COMMUNITY BOOK CLUB discussion

I know...you like a book by an author, and then pick up everything you can find by him. Then they sit (set?) on your shelf while you read library books. I didn't even mention Interlibrary Loan for books that the local library doesn't have. Or the times I read a book from the library and then tracked it down and bought it....

We need to admit it, it's probably a sickness, "bibliophile-aholics".

Mike wrote: "I know...you like a book by an author, and then pick up everything you can find by him. Then they sit (set?) on your shelf while you read library books. I didn't even mention Interlibrary Loan for ..."

hahah Mike- Guilty on all counts!

Mike wrote: "I know...you like a book by an author, and then pick up everything you can find by him. Then they sit (set?) on your shelf while you read library books. I didn't even mention Interlibrary Loan for ..."

Guilty as charged.

Mike wrote: "I know...you like a book by an author, and then pick up everything you can find by him. Then they sit (set?) on your shelf while you read library books. I didn't even mention Interlibrary Loan for ..."

Karen wrote: "Mike wrote: "I know...you like a book by an author, and then pick up everything you can find by him. Then they sit (set?) on your shelf while you read library books. I didn't even mention Interlibr..."

Maybe you feel compelled to read the library books first because you know you have to return them. Nobody likes those library fines!

When I want a book I go to Amazon.com and look for a used one. The S&H takes some of the money. A funny, my wife ordered a towel and a dozen wash cloths online, they charged S&H on each item. She got her money back.

Mike wrote: "I know...you like a book by an author, and then pick up everything you can find by him. Then they sit (set?) on your shelf while you read library books. I didn't even mention Interlibrary Loan for ..."

A disease we apparently don't mind having.

Kari wrote: "On Amazon the SH is set by Amazon not the bookdealer and the dealer only gets part of the SH money. You might try www.bookfinder.com to find a used book on an independent site to save SH. For exa..."

Of the 100 plus books I ordered from Amazon- about 75% cost less then the S&H - even when I order multiplebooks from same vendor- but I guess that is how they can sell books for a penny - with S&H it comes out to $4.00 and man it adds up!!!!

Alicia wrote: "Usually, I'm a one book at a time type of reader. However, if there is a book that is particularly uninteresting, I'll put it down read something that excites me and go back to the less interesting..."

Ditto: but since I generally crank out about one book a day (or at least every other day) this is not a burden). I might have a self-help book going on the loo (smile) or alongside the cookbook if there is a wait-time for something to rise, if I'm baking, for example... but since I don't tend to linger either place... those books collect more dust than ever does the bedside fiction/mystery book that rotates out and to my mother every day or so, by collecting in the back boot of my car (I tossed that in for the Brits in this group, as well) so we can change books once a week or so. We have sort of our own book club where we share new discoveries, most of which I find through you all. I admit to being a horribly selfish member who copies pages of recommendations and then sees no reason to re-recommend them to overly busy folks who've already heard about them. I do love reading about Mich Rapp, the series by Vince Flynn. And of course Janet Evanovich's Stephanie Plum is the plum, indeed. Also easy to follow where you are in the series, just like Sue Grafton and the alphabet series, though they get irritatingly stuck in the same year, let alone decade after 20 some books. I like the progression of time in a series. I get older, so shouldn't the protagonists in the books I love? Kinsey Millhone seems to be the sole exception.

Judith Ann Hillard

Multiple books depending on where I forget/leave a book I sometimes have to start a new one. PLUS.. I have to have an audio book at all times :D

I'm usually a "one book at a time" reader- but sometimes i'll have something light to read at the same time or to take out with me. It happens more if the main book is hard to get through.

"I like the progression of time in a series. I get older, so shouldn't the protagonists in the books I love? Kinsey Millhone seems to be the sole exception."

I'm with you. I'm getting a little tired of the fact that Kinsey hasn't hit the technological highway yet. A cell phone would do her a world of good. It's all right if you're reading an older book or an historical novel, but for a contemporary detective to be stuck in a past decade can get tiresome.

Usually always 1 book at a time, but I have read a couple at a time, from time to time. I tend to be a relatively slow reader, reading at a conversational pace, I can't read as often or for as long as I'd like, so it takes at least as long as it would to listen to the book. However, I tend to carry my books with me wherever I go and read whenever an opportunity presents itself.

I love to read aloud and/or be read to, particularly if the reader has a voice like James Mason! :)

Mike wrote: "We need to admit it, it's probably a sickness, "bibliophile-aholics".
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Bibliophiles Now THERE'S a name for a group on Goodreads.com!

Edit: Bibliophiles Unanimous?

I read several books at a time. I am happy to know that I am not alone. :)

It's funny seeing this thread for the first time right after my mom and I talked about this. She asked me what I was reading, and I rattled off three books. She asked how I could read more than once at a time and keep track of what's going on in each.

I reminded her that she watches more than one TV series a week and keeps track -- it's the same for books! I usually read one book for my book club (usually literary fiction or similar), and then something silly or fun just for kicks, and sometimes there will be a third long-term or nonfiction project on the side as well. For example, I just finished The Girl Who Played with Fire for book club (now moving on to An Arsonist's Guide to Writers' Homes in New England ) and Breathers: A Zombie's Lament for fun (and Horror Afsicianados discussion), plus I'm still working on The Absolute Sandman, Vol. 1 . :D

I am still reading my 3 books- a current thriller, a classic and a fantasy book- I am debating whether to reduce it to 2 books at a time as three can at times be a bit much- but I vow to finish all three and then decide!

Zuzana wrote: "It's funny seeing this thread for the first time right after my mom and I talked about this. She asked me what I was reading, and I rattled off three books. She asked how I could read more than o..."

that is the argument I use all the time to my mom as well.

OK, so I have attempted to juggle more than one book at a time and have found myself overwhelmed. I think that it is safe to say that I am a one book at a time reader. I am definitely going to finish one of the 3 that I had going before moving on to the next one.

Nope - I am always going back and forth based on moods

I'm a one book at a time but several books a night, up to 5 if I can't sleep. The topic may vary wildly, from a collection of comic strips to a biography to a fantasy to a bodice ripper. It all depends upon my mood, so I am always sure to have a bag of books handy!

i read 2 or 3 books at a time some time more on this i perfectly agree with rick its really feel like on different places at same time.

I read about three books at a time--I almost always have a few books I need to review, then I have books I am reading to blurb for other people, then books purely for my own pleasure. (Well, the above is for pleasure, too, but you know what I mean!) There are opened books in every room in our house--which I think is kind of nice.

Caroline Leavitt

It really depends on my mood at the time. Sometimes I will concentrate on only one book at a time, but for the most part I have at least 2 or 3 books going at a time.

I read multiple books at a time. Sometimes up to eight or ten at the same time though they are always different genres. My formula is usually a classic, nonfiction and sometimes a collection of short stories or a modern novel.

I try, not always with success, to vary the length of the books I read to keep myself from becoming overwhelmed. But that doesn't always work out (usually when my attention span goes out the window) and I end up with many different books going at same time.

I definitely can relate to liking an author so much that you need to own everything they have written.

For the record I like all forms of ice tea, but especially blackberry ice tea.

I can't say I like "all" types of iced tea... There are probably so many commercial ones now I'd get blind sided by something like "okra rutabaga surprise" or something lol :). But I do love iced tea though straight tea and some flavored ones and little else goes better with a good book.

Mike wrote: "I can't say I like "all" types of iced tea... There are probably so many commercial ones now I'd get blind sided by something like "okra rutabaga surprise" or something lol :). But I do love iced ..."

Okra rutabaga surprise! Sounds awful!:D
Chilled Brambleberry by Tazo is one of my favourites.

I also have several books by the same author and so far only Alexander McCall Smith has sustained my interest in every single book he has written.

I have a system where I read two books at a time--one from my own shelves and one from the library. This summer is the first time I'm trying this out, and it seems to be working for me so far.

I'm trying to cut back on the library books. I always seem to have 3 or more books from the public library going or waiting to be read. I want to read some of the books I've banked on my shelves!

Mike wrote: "I can't say I like "all" types of iced tea... There are probably so many commercial ones now I'd get blind sided by something like "okra rutabaga surprise" or something lol :). But I do love iced ..."

Lai wrote: "Okra rutabaga surprise! Sounds awful!:D
Chilled Brambleberry by Tazo is one of my favourites"

I am so odd that I might like that. I've had the brambleberry tea and like it a lot.
All this talk of tea has made me want some! I'm off to scavenge for tea.

Mike wrote: "I'm trying to cut back on the library books. I always seem to have 3 or more books from the public library going or waiting to be read. I want to read some of the books I've banked on my shelves!"

I'm usually the same way with library books. That's why this summer I decided to restrict myself to only one at a time, but only if I'm reading one of my own, too. My bookshelf at home is out of control, so I've got to start reading!

Bookreads is part of the problem, lol. I come here and read book reviews and recommendations and end up running them down!

Self control! Must develop self control!

While I may choose the next three or four books I plan to read, I am definitely a one book at a time reader. I just get so absorbed in the book, the characters, the story, etc. I must finish before I can move on to the next one.

I read multiple books at a time and also have an audiobook in the mix for the daytime. I usually have one quicker read, one classic, and one in Japanese, the language I am still immersed in the study of. I try to skim my law journals but find myself caring less and less for them as they have little relevance to my actual job.

I usually have at least 2 print books going and 1 audio. Sometimes 2 audios if I have one going with my 12 yr old.

I like a wide variety of genres and my reading mood can change from day to day. The books I have going are usually different genres. I might have a classic going as well as a bodice ripper romance. Or an Urban Fantasy with a cozy.

If I get to the point where I have 4 or 5 going than I make myself finish a couple before I open another one.

Jess wrote: "I have a system where I read two books at a time--one from my own shelves and one from the library. This summer is the first time I'm trying this out, and it seems to be working for me so far."

jess- we are very similar- I always read a current thriller from the Library- and a classicor two from my HUGE HUGE HUGE (LIKE 1000 PLUS) collection of books I own.

I am finding it difficult to read 3- 2 seems to be the right number for me

I will read two hardcover/paperbacks and listen to an audio book.

I tend to have a stack of books that I am working through. My attention span is pretty short, so if I pick up one of my books and am not feeling it, I just move on to the next one. Usually my pile looks something like this:

A big ole clunker (right now I have two, Anna Karenina and Gone with the Wind.)

A graphic novel series that I am whipping through (Fables and Jack of Fables.)

A young adult novel or series (nothing at the moment.)

A mystery (The newest Flavia de Luce novel, Final Stieg Larsson mystery, and Smilla's Sense of Snow.)

A fantasy or sci-fi novel (Clash of Kings, the second Song of Ice and Fire novel.)

Then, I usually have a smattering of various novels that I have started or am in the middle of, but put down because there was a Shinier, more Exciting book that I had to start That Instant. (A bunch of the books in that pile used to be the aforementioned "Shiny" books, but were discarded for something else...I always eventually go back to them, but my attention span is such that I have to sift through my stack before I can sit down and read. In my experience, many of the books that I have had trouble getting into a month ago are perfectly what I want to read Now, they just have to wait for me to get in the right mind set.

I have bookshelves and bookshelves of books that are my TBR "pile." Books that I know I will read eventually, classics, bestsellers, authors I love, young adult novels, etc.

Does anyone else have a house full of TBR books? Any one else read a table full of books at a time?

Hillamonster wrote: "Does anyone else have a house full of TBR books? Any one else read a table full of books at a time?"

Definitely! And that stack is growing as I get all kinds of wonderful suggestions from people all over this darn, er, wonderful site... ;)

I agree with Rick -- 2 is good, 3 is too many. Like potato chips, I can't eat/read just one. :) Usually, I'll start a second book when the one I'm supposed to be reading (like for a club read) is not so thrilling. Or I'll read one fiction and one nonfiction. Or I'll read two books in completely different genres.

I recently read two similarly constructed books -- both with an outcast young male narrator recounting family history -- and it made it a little hard to remember which one had had which experience! So I try to stay away from that type of similarity.

I've commented before on this. I'll have several books going at once, but then I'll continue on with 2 or 3, finish those and go on with the others. Usually (like other folks) an audio, a fiction, a non-fiction or two, maybe a "genre" fiction... Whatever catches my attention.

Rick wrote: "I am finding it difficult to read 3- 2 seems to be the right number for me"

We do apparently have a lot in common! I've recently found that 3 is too many for me, that I do much better with 2. If I do more than 2, I can't focus on the books in order to write reviews.

Hillamonster wrote: "I tend to have a stack of books that I am working through. My attention span is pretty short, so if I pick up one of my books and am not feeling it, I just move on to the next one. Usually my pile ..."

UH- YES!!- I have over 100books on my TBR list- on my bookshelves- hopeto use the summer vacation to catch upon my reading

I want a summer vacation! :(

I have a huge TBR list, and that's because I only read one book at a time! LOL

I also have an ever growing tbr list because I keep getting recommendations from seeing what other people on this site are reading and I read more than one book at a time.

Zuzana wrote: "I want a summer vacation! :("

Yes, and lets not forget the obligatory afternoon nap too!

Generally 2 books at a time. One at home and one for my breaks at work. I just leave that one in my locker so I'm not trailing it around.. right now I also have a third book on the go plus another I stopped reading because the current book was borrowed so I want to get it read quickly

I used to read many books at a time, but since I have upped my speed (finishing most books in a day or two) I tend to stick with one at a time.

The one difference is when I am reading non-fiction as I tend to have a fiction going at the same time.

I keep one book next to my bed-usually a nonfiction or slow moving classic-to read before I go to sleep. I keep a book in my purse in case I have a break at work. I also have a book that I read during the day that usually is a "faster pace"/popular novel. For example, I have The Richest Man in Babylon on my nightstand, In Cold Blood on my couch, and Band of Brothers in my purse. I've learned my lesson to not have a fast paced book next to my bed. When I was reading The Kite Runner I ended up not going to sleep until 3am!

Most of the time I read just one book at a time, because writing takes up much of my time, but this month I am taking on two books - The Lovely Bones and Rose Cottage. I only took on two this week, because I have a full day of Jury Duty to serve and plan to get through one of them during that day. Blessed Be!