Discussion: Paperback Vs. Hardback

Happy Valentine's Day!!!

Question of the week: Do you prefer paperback or hardback books?

Personally, I prefer paperbacks. They are smaller and more lightweight than hardbacks which is great because I carry my book around in my purse sometimes. I'd rather be carry a smaller paperback than a bulky hardback. Another reason I prefer them is because they are cheaper. I don't like to spend a whole lot of money on a book because I know I'm only going to read it once. Why spend $20 when I can get the same thing for $10.
I know paperbacks usually come out months after the book is released but I don't mind waiting. I'm not the type of person who has to have the newest back right now. It's also common for the paperback to include excerpts of the next book in the series which is something hardbacks don't have.
Hardback do have the advantage of being more durable though. Paperback covers get torn very easily and hardbacks hold up to reader wear & tear. That's especially good for library books since those gets handled my tons of people.

What is your opinion? Why do you prefer hardbacks or paperbacks more?

Discussion: Trading Vs. Giving

Question of the week: Do you prefer trading or giving in the book community?

I've been blogging for a while now & there is one thing I must say I don't like in the blogging community. Wait for it.....
It's the act of trading books. I know, I know! Don't jump down my throat, let me explain.
We've all seen that bloggers post a list of books on their blog that they have that they're willing to trade for a book or 2 that you have. You scroll through and see many great books you'd love to have including that one you've wanted for so long! You're heart leaps at that thought of FINALLY getting your hands on it.... only to sink like Jack Dawson when you realize you have not a single book they want. 

That has happened to me many times, too many to count. I've actually stopped looking at trade lists now because I know I have nothing of value to give. Almost all the books I do own came out a while ago and aren't really in demand anymore. And the hot new books I have, I haven't gotten around to reading yet. I'm not the person who buys a lot of books, I use my local libraries a lot and get free ebooks from Amazon. So I generally don't have the books that the bloggers are asking for. When I do decide to buy something I usually buy it for my kindle. What's the point in owning one if I don't ever use it? The problem with that is you can't loan the books that are from major publishers. Even if you could it still wouldn't be fair because you get a book to keep for forever and they get a two week loan.
I wish more bloggers would just give their books away with maybe some rules saying the person has to do a review of the book or has to pass it along once they finish. Or they just could give them away to make room for new books. I'm the type of person who believes that you should give without always expecting something in return. Just do it because it's nice. I came across a blog called ARCycling not too long ago. It's a program where they give away books once a week without needing you to give them a book back. I wish more bloggers would give their books and arcs away, it would be great if we all just shared with each other.

What about you? How do you feel about trades? Are you a blogger that does them?

Discussion: Are You An Avid Reader?

Question of the week: what makes an avid reader? 

The term avid reader is one that is commonly used, but I've realized that we all have different opinions of what an avid reader is.

 I came across an article that said avid readers are people who purchase 10 books or more a year. SERIOUSLY?? If that's all it takes to be an avid reader then just about everyone would be considered an avid reader, that's less than one book a month. This statement was also found in a 2007 article that said the typical woman reads nine books a year. I think that statement needs to be reconsidered. We have people who read 30-100 books a year and those special readers who read more than 100 books a year!!
I came across another article that was written in 2009 that talked about a woman who has borrowed 25,000 library books over 60 years! That's definitely an avid reader.

I think there needs to be a clear definition of the term and possibly levels. Like Baby Avids = 15-30 books a year, Junior Avids = 31-50 a year, Intermediate Avids = 51- 100 a year & Senior Avids = 100+ a year. In my opinion reading 10 books doesn't make you an avid reader. Anybody can do that, it's not exactly a challenge unless you're reading giant books with pages in the high hundreds & thousands.

What do you think about the term avid reader and what do you believe makes one?

Discussion: Does Captcha Getcha?

Question of the week: Does captcha getcha? 

I have been trying to be more friendly in the blog world and comment on more posts on other blogs but sometimes I get turned off from it.For some reason I really hate it when I write a good comment and click to post it and then the captcha thing comes up. I really don't like looking at & trying to decipher small fuzzy numbers & letters just to post a comment. I really really hate it when I post from my phone. I know it serves the purpose of keeping spam comments off your posts and all that but it's really just annoying.

I took the captcha verification off my blog for the simple fact that I didn't want to bother my readers with it when they wanted to leave a comment. I haven't ever had a spam comment & if I ever got one i'd just delete it. Interacting with people is supposed to be fun & easy, not work.

How do you guys feel? Does captcha prevent you from commenting on blogs? Do you not mind it? Do you have it on your blog? Why or why not?

Books To Movies Discussion

So, what so you guys think about all these movies coming out that are from books? Personally I have mixed feelings about it. On one hand I think it's great that all these authors are gaining extra exposure. It's wonderful  for them & it's cool to see a movie trailer on tv and say "I read that book!".But on the other hand, it's kind of annoying. I'd like to go through a few months where the movies coming out are ONLY movies. It's as if these production companies can't find an original idea for a movie so they just pick up a book. What are your thoughts on the issue?

Here are all the books that I know of that have been turned into movies from 2012-2014 or books that have been planned to be movies.

                                     

Man, that's a LOT of movies! 38 to be exact, that's like one movie a month for 3.2 years! And i'm sure there are some that I missed or don't know about. If you know any more let me know.

Library Rediscovery

So over this weekend I have rediscovered my local library. I honestly haven't been to my local library since 10th grade & I'm now going into my final year of college. Sad I know, but better late than never. I had a great time walking through the young adult section and seeing several books that I have wanted to read for a while now. I have a list of books that I want to check out. Today I checked out Hex Hall & Graceling. Demon Glass, Tricks, Impulse & The Magician are some of the books on my list of books to borrow. Borrowing from the library will surely help me save money since I'm always buying new books.
Do you borrow from your local library?

Multiple Books At Once

So for the past few weeks, I've tried my hand at reading 2 or 3 books at one time. Usually 1 book on my kindle and the other one or two as physical books. Here's how it turned out.

I would usually read the book on my kindle using text to speech while driving in my car. That way I'd have more time to sit & read the other book at home. The problem with that was that because I'm more focused on driving I'm really paying close attention to the book being read to me. I'd miss things or get lost so it turned out not to be very effective for me.

When it came to the physical books I would divide them up by hours or days. Sometimes I'd spend 2 hours reading one book then switch and read the next book for 2 hours. Or I would use the whole day to read one book and spend the next day reading the other book. I made nice progress in both books doing this and I figured finishing both books on days 3 & 4 is pretty much the same as reading one book all the way through in 2 days & then reading the next, so I may continue this. I may start doing this with three books, but no more than that so that I don't start to get characters mixed up. Of course I'll make sure the books are different types too to reduce that chance.

Who knows though, I may just go back to reading one book at a time. It is nice to get fully immersed into only one book before moving on to the next one.

How do you read? Do you read multiple books at once or do you just go one at a time? There's now right or wrong way, to each his own.

Choosing Books

So I finished Beautiful Creatures today & I should be done with Tiger's Curse by the end of the week. Now I'm sitting in bed wondering what books to read after those. I wrote out a list of all the books I wanted to read this month & in what order, but now I'm not feeling the list. I'm feeling like I want to read something different. I'll see how I feel & I'll pick out a new book to read tomorrow.

How do you choose which book to read next? Do you write lists or go with the flow?
Also, does have more options make it harder or easier to choose your next book?
It makes it harder for me because I want to read them all & I have to choose just 1 or 2 at the time.