Still More Conversation about How You Choose What You Read . . .

 The first post in this discussion was on August 10th, followed by the one on August 13th…

And, here are the two comments from that last mentioned post that enabled this conversation to move forward.

First, from an author in Germany:

“I try to read books by my author friends, and I have followed the “also bought”-widget. I try to avoid shop assistants whatever the shop sales, so I avoid them in bookstores, too. (They are so threatening ;-) ) When I have got rid of the hovering shop assistants, I browse and look at covers, read the blurb and the first page, sometimes the last. In non-fiction books I study the table of contents.

“A few years back I discovered a YA series through my daughter. Her teacher had shown a film in the last lesson before the holidays. My daughter thought it interesting, so I gave her the book for her birthday. She allowed me to read it, too, and from then on we have read all the sequels.”

I’m wondering how many other folks avoid the shop assistants; though, I love the idea of recommendations working their way Up the generations…

Now, from an author in Australia:

“I choose a book because something about its premise piques my interest. I may read a summary of its plot in the weekend newspaper or on The Guardian book pages and then go buy it. Sometimes a friend recommends something and I will often read what they suggest. If I don’t feel involved with a book after I start reading I will sometimes abandon it. That does not mean necessarily that it is not a good book, it’s just not the book for me and life is too short to read everything :-)  “

Hmmm… Abandoning a book… Perhaps that could be a future conversation…?

In case you haven’t noticed, there are now three author-regulars in our discussions—the two above and another from the United Kingdom…

It would be edifying to have them joined by a few readers who don’t write :-)

And, thanks to the author from Australia, I can share an Almost-recommendation list (for those of you who take recommendations) from the poet, Emily Dickinson—Imagining Book Recommendations from a Life of Letters.

So…

Reminder… it only takes one comment to keep this conversation going………
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More Conversation about How You Choose What You Read . . .

The first post in this discussion was on August 10th… 

And, here’s the single comment on that last post that lets this conversation continue:

“Unlike most people my reading is completely random. I use the local mobile library and I pick up books with an interesting cover and read the blurb. Then I look inside to see the size of the font and get an idea of the style. If I like the look of it, I take it home.

“The only books I buy are ones that I have seen recommended somewhere, or those written by fellow self published authors. However I am beginning to switch from novels to biographies so may not be looking out for King or Koontz as I have done for years.

“If I really enjoy a book I put a review on Goodreads or my wordpress blog.”

I happen to know that individual is not particularly young and is an author in the United Kingdom.

And, while I could offer a number of speculations about their reading from the comment, I’m mostly concerned with encouraging more of you to do the same as that brave woman—tell us “How You Choose What You Read“…

Also, to possibly elicit your responses, I should let you know that I don’t feel like we can have a good conversation without at least a few more comments…

So…

I’ll repeat the questions I asked in the first post:

What are the ways you’ve chosen particular books…?

Amazon’s also-bought widget…?

A bookstore clerk’s tip…?

A Goodreads review…?

A book your Grandma gave you…?

A book your child loves…?

A book you found lying under a massive oak tree in the meadows of ancient England…?

It feels to me that sharing the way you choose books to read could well be the Easiest task to perform in a blog post’s comments section :-)

And, all it takes is one comment to keep this conversation going………
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If you don’t see a way to comment, try the link at the upper right of this post…
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Blog Conversation about How You Choose What You Read . . .

 Our last conversation—What Age Brings to Writing—stopped on August 8th because there were no comments…

So, I’ll start another conversation by remembering a short discussion from June 25th that had a list of 30 reasons to choose what to read…

Reasons to choose; yet, there are, just beyond the reasons, the actual books you choose…

How do you do that—choose a book to read?

Do you have a lot of reasons or ways you choose which book is next?

I used to take an intuitive stroll within range of some books; then, pick one with no clearly conscious reason—usually, I liked the book…

After I’d read a bunch of books and acquired a few favorite writers, I tended to read more of those writers…

Hardly ever have reviews led me to read a book…

Even others’ suggestions have rarely convinced me; unless it was a very good friend’s idea…

Lately, I’ve been reading only books by my favorite fiction author, C. J. Cherryh—I’m exercising my mind for a Poetic Odyssey…

The etymology of odyssey is “long, adventurous journey”; so, I’m reading my favorite fiction to prepare to write a long poem that recounts my personal adventurous journey :-)

Well…

What are the ways you’ve chosen particular books…?

Amazon’s also-bought widget…?

A bookstore clerk’s tip…?

A Goodreads review…?

A book your Grandma gave you…?

A book your child loves…?

A book you found lying under a massive oak tree in the meadows of ancient England…?

All it takes is one comment to keep this conversation going………
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If you don’t see a way to comment, try the link at the upper right of this post…
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For Private Comments or Questions, Email: amzolt {at} gmail {dot} com

Still More Conversation about Libraries . . .

This conversation began on July 9th and continued on July 11th and July 13th…

~ Village Library in Greece ~

It began with me remembering a few of my library escapades and interests, continued through four readers’ experiences in libraries, then on through a focus on a particular “library-charity-shop” in the UK…

Now come the reader comments that enable this continuation of the discussion…

Concerning my trying to locate a particular place in the UK, an author from Australia said:

“Well, I loved looking up the link to The Corner House and reading about the Oxfordshire community and I wished I lived in a small town in that community with a local library. Even if it was only in a novel—I wanted to live in: East Hagbourne, Toot and Marsh Baldon, or Long Wittenham. Thinking about libraries took me to these places in my imagination :-) “

How delightful to have a search in a small UK community for the resting place of donated books propel a woman in Australia into imaginative visits to libraries in other small communities in the English countryside :-)

And then, the author from the UK, who facilitated the search for the donated books, said:

“I’m glad you liked the link to Oxfordshire, but to get back to your initial discussion. In Worthing the mobile library brings books to a street ten minutes walk from our house so I don’t have to get the bus downtown. The main library is full of computers but has plenty of talks and events going on as well as a large children’s section. Each week I select four novels at random, unless I have read a recommendation.
“Certain authors always delight, Stephen King for one, and I try to mix thrillers and sagas. I get put off if I see a pretty woman in period costume on the cover. I try to keep a record of all books read on Goodreads; but, I have been known to pick up one a second time, just because I found the cover attractive.
“I donate copies of my own books to the local library after about three months, just to find readers; but, the latest one isn’t in there yet.”

So…

An author in Australia has imaginative visits to local libraries in the UK, while an author in the UK describes her library access and reading routine…

Have you imagined visits to libraries in another country…?

Have you made a visit to a certain library in another country…?

Do you want to visit any particular libraries…?

Do you use bookmobiles (mobile libraries)…?

Does your local library supply most of your reading…?

What’s your relationship to your local library…?

Can you tell I’m trying to encourage you to share a comment about libraries…? :-)
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Yet More Conversation about Libraries . . .

 As tens of thousands of citizens flood the streets of London, I recall part of a comment from a UK author in our July 9th post in this discussion about libraries:

“We have just come back from Charlbury in Oxfordshire where I took some of my books to what I thought was an independent bookshop.
“When I got there I found it was a room where local people brought books and bought another copy for 50p – rather like a charity shop. In fact, it was a charity, for the upkeep of the building. Not strictly a library but almost the same.”

I worked to find that charity “library”; but, ran into a quandary and couldn’t say much about it in the post on July 11th…

However, our UK author came through and resolved the quandary, by saying:

“The [‘library’] in Charlbury has closed but if you look up ‘The Corner House’ you’ll find where all the books went.”

So, while almost stepping into a different quandary checking Google maps, I, at least, found the street the former Charlbury “library” was on—our image for this post—a twee area, which looks like it might also embrace “The Corner House”…

So, the quaint little British mystery “library” has been accounted for… :-)

If we could only account for all those lovely British folk protesting a man who seems to have worked hard to earn those protests…

So…

Since it takes at least one comment on any given post in one of our Blog Conversation series to have the discussion continue, here are some possible things to comment about:

• Your first library memory…
• Your first major book discovery in a library…
• Your first kiss in a library…
• Your most memorable visit to a library…
• Your reason for feeling like libraries should be supported and maintained…
• How many books, and an indication of the types of books, in your personal home or digital library…
• Any ol’ thing you can urge yourself to share about libraries :-)

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If you don’t see a way to comment, try the link at the upper right of this post…
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For Private Comments or Questions, Email: amzolt {at} gmail {dot} com