Book as gifts, good idea?

Or GREAT idea?

For people who love books, sure, no brainer. But what about other people? What are your thoughts about giving books as gifts to people who aren't avid readers?

On the one hand, they seem like a safe bet. You don't have to worry about figuring out sizes or colors. No allergies to contend with. There are a billion types of books, so there's going to be something out there they'll likely enjoy. And books are great, so what's the problem?

Then again, I like books, so I think getting books is great. I like having books and I like reading books. But it seems a bit selfish for me to give someone a gift because I like it. Even if I mean well and I think they'll really enjoy it. It can still be a bit like I gave them a bowling ball with my name engraved on it.*

What if the person sees getting a book like getting homework? Or they have a super minimalistic home and having books laying around would ruin the aesthetic? Or if they just don't like reading? Because everyone is super busy and I want to spend downtime reading, but maybe you want to play video games or knit or watch TV or play piano or train for a marathon or any other million things people do with their downtime.

I've been going back and forth on this the holiday season (also, I'm clearly terrible and planning gift giving and just getting to this now) on books as gifts and I think I've landed that, unless the person is a big reader, maybe books aren't the right way to go. But what do you think?

In other news, I finally started listening to Hamilton and shit. You're all right. It's amazing. But why must tickets be so expensive (last time I looked, $800 for the crappy seats, $1600 for nice seats and it's sold out till the summer anyway. You know, in case I win the lotto or something.)

*Can we make the term "Homer ball" mean a gift you give to someone else, but you really mean it for yourself? Yes, we're all agreed on that? Excellent.

Reading format: How do you choose which to read when you choose what to read

I was looking through my reading stats the other day* and while I knew I'd been reading a lot of ebooks lately, I didn't realize how many. Turns out it's slightly more than half so far (54% to be exact) which surprised me. So then I was thinking about why I select any particular format to read and figured I'd write about it here cos it's my blog and isn't that the point?

#blogging

I hardly read hardback books for the reason that hardback books are heavier than other formats. This year I've only read 1 (Fat Girl Walking) and that was because it was a review copy sent to me and thus I took what was offered. I like what hardback books look like but the last hardback book I actually bought was probably Christopher Moore's Sacre Bleu, which I bought because I was at a book signing for the book which had just come out. (I actually bought Jenny Lawson's Let's Pretend This Never Happened the day before for the same reason [book signing]).

Audiobooks are rarer than other formats, mostly because I don't drive so I don't have the excuse to listen to them on my commute. I've listened to WWZ a few times while working, but it's more background since I know the story so well. If it's something I really want to pay attention to, trying to do it during work would be a bad idea.

That leaves paperback and ebooks, which by a large margin, make up the majority of my reading.

When it comes to ebooks, I usually select them for one of two main reasons: it's on sale OR  I'm at the airport/on vacation and suddenly realize I have no packed enough books.

It's on sale is the most common reason I read ebooks. Most of the ebooks I have I bought for under $5, usually thanks to Kindle Daily Deal emails or else Book Sliced alerts. I am cheap and easily swayed by deals.

It's not often I find myself at the airport without enough books to read, but that has far more to do with the fact that I'm not exactly a world traveler and definitely not because I'm excellent at planning ahead. I know a few books (Game of Thrones, The Martian) I bought because I was at the airport waiting for a flight and realized I was almost done with whatever my last book was and would need to get something before I was in the air and book-less. Even in those cases, I'll typically look through my TBR list and then buy whatever ebook is the cheapest.

There are a few other reasons I might go with an ebook. Most review copies are offered this way. When it came to the rest of the Game of Thrones books I decided that ebooks were probably the best way to deal with those chunksters.

That leaves paperback, which is my default when the other stuff above doesn't work out. I'm more likely to spend more on a paperback book than on an ebook and I will often deliberately wait on purchasing a newly released book until it's out in paperback. There are a couple books I own both in paperback and as an ebook (Shades of Grey) because one copy when on sale and I really love the book and wanted a copy of my shelves, but this is rare. Because it's hard to justify buying the same book twice and I'm also running out of bookshelf space.

I'm on the road to this

Though Just the Right Book did just send me a paperback copy of Landline which I own as an ebook and I debated keeping the new copy. Until Tom sputtered "What? You're not keeping a book YOU ALREADY HAVE AND READ. They'll send you a new book." and sent them back Landline which they replaced with Black Chalk.

What's your preference? How do you choose which type to go with?

*Thanks to my handy-dandy tracking sheet.

My current book selection process

I recently started reading The Engagements (which so far is excellent!) and I started thinking about my recent reading selection process. Which has been:

• Read a review about a book
• Think "Hey, that sounds swell" and put it on my Goodreads list
• Forget about book
• Sporadically remember the awesomeness of Booksliced and set up some alerts
• Forget about alerts
• 6 months go by and I get an alert for this book that I don't remember at all but, hey!, at some point I decided it would be good and it's super cheap now so I should probably buy it

Most of the time I just have to trust that past-me makes good choices. 

Lately I'd been reading more and more on my Kindle because of the whole moving thing and the whole trying-not-to-acquire-more-books-I'll-have-to-move thing. But now we're all moved in and I already got my next Just The Right Book so perhaps I'll be switching over to physical books soon. I'm also pretty sure have some other unread books sitting around, but I might have to wait for that whole book organization thing to happen before I figure out where those ended up.

I've never been good about planning my reading out. I always just go with whatever I feel like reading at the moment, but lately I've been doing far more reading-trust-falls, where I can't hardly remember what the book is about but I just sort of dive in. Sometimes it works (as I said, The Engagements is thus far a success)... 

and sometimes not so much (Men Explain Things To Me you were...not quite what I expected). 

More often than not things work out. I add books to that Goodreads list only if I think they're actually ones I'll read and that a trusted reviewer recommended. But really, how else do you select what book to read next?

Giveaways & Booktours - What do you think?

Question for you book bloggers out there: do you do giveaways and booktours. Why or why not? Please show your work.

I'm thinking this has something to do with the new year, but I've been getting more-than-usual book review requests, though nothing that has really struck my fancy. A couple of them have been requests for a giveaway as well. Which on the surface makes sense and seems like a good thing. I get to offer my readers something free! They get their book out there. Win-win. But you know, what if I don't like your book?

If I didn't like the book, I don't want to give it away on my blog. And really, how successful of a giveaway would it be if I wrote a very lackluster review and then was like "YEAH so if you want a copy of this, jump through whatever hoops are required and a free copy of this book I couldn't stand COULD BE YOURS!" That'd be awkward.

Same deal with a booktour. I guess there are probably (though I haven't done one so could be totally wrong the details) a set list of questions the author answers, so maybe not as awkward. I mean, for the author that is. But again, wouldn't that suck if I ended up not liking their book and now they gotta answer questions and pretend I said nice things about their book.

I'm not saying I would definitely hate the book. I go into books assuming I am going to like them. Because really, why would waste my time on a book I assumed I was going to hate? But I won't know until I've read the book.

Now that said, if an author I already like reached out about a booktour or giveaway, I'll go with it. It's already been shown I'll probably like them so the opportunity for awkwardness is less. Or at least the awkwardness will show up in new ways I haven't figured out yet.

Have any of your dealt with this? What'd you do if you didn't like the book but now were committed to a giveaway or booktour?

What star ratings mean to me

Book Riot recently had a post titled "The Convoluted Calculus of Rating Books" that I connected with because I feel like rating books this way is confusing and in general a mess, at least whenever I attempt it. And yet I like star ratings. They're a quick way to see overall what people think of a book and also gives you a good idea of what sort of review you're about to read.

I'm not planning on adding a rating system to my blog at any point, but pretty much every book tracking website out there asks for a star rating. And by every I mean Goodreads and Shelfari, but those are the two I use so yeah, every. I realize everyone has a slightly different definition for what the different star ratings mean, hence the Book Riot post. Following their lead/blatantly copying them, here's how the ratings break out in my world:

5 Stars

OMG I LOVE THIS BOOK! You are going to hear me going on about this book A LOT. And for years, because this is a book I'm going to re-read and you'll have to go through another round of my evangelizing.
Examples:
Lamb by Christopher Moore
Kindred by Octavia Butler
Where'd You Go Bernadette by Maria Semple
World War Z by Max Brooks
NOS4A2 by Joe Hill

4 Stars

Yes! I very much enjoyed this book. Sure, it's not perfect, but I can forgive any faults it may have. I'll recommend it to people, I just won't shove it down people's throats like I do with 5-star books. (I DO IT WITH LOVE!) Most books I read fall into this category, which is pretty lucky for me.
Examples:
Lexicon by Max Barry
True Grit by Charles Portis
Orange is the New Black by Piper Kerman
Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

3 Stars

Eh, this book is fine. It has faults but it's not terrible. I liked it well enough while reading it but it's unlikely to be a book that really sticks with me.
Examples:
The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield
Zone One by Colson Whitehead
In The Woods by Tana French
Under the Dome by Stephen King

2 Stars

Ugh, this book. I couldn't get into it. Maybe it had a stupid plot, maybe the characters were boring. Maybe I could see what the author was trying to do and there were brief moments where they succeeded but overall, no thank you to this one.
Examples:
The Flight of Gemma Hardy by Margot Livesey
American Gods by Neil Gaiman
Emma by Jane Austen

1 Star

No. No, book. I hated you. Haaaaaaated you. Was angry during the time I spent reading you or just didn't finish. Luckily there aren't many of these. Unlucky for the few that do fall here though.
The Last Girlfriend on Earth by Simon Rich
My Mother She Killed Me, My Father He Ate Me edited by Kate Bernheimer

So there you go. Here's how the star rating breaks out for me. I can re-rate books overtime. Maybe a book I loved immediately after reading it has sort of faded. Maybe a book I wasn't crazy about at the time suddenly hits me.

What do book ratings mean to you?

Confessions of a reader who has to sometimes force herself to read

The readathon this past weekend got me thinking about my own reading habits. And also about how sitting around and reading all day is not really how I'd choose to spend my time. Which I feel is a sort of blasphemy for a bookish person.

I get the feeling the point of the readathon is to give ourselves the excuse to spend the whole day reading. The idea is almost that this is what we'd like to do anyway, but real life gets in the way. So this day is more to tell other people to leave us readers be more than it is a challenge for us to spend the day just reading. You know, for most participants anyway.

I was talking to a friend last Friday and I told her my weekend plans included doing a readathon. She paused and said "Huh. I don't think I could do that. I'd get too restless." My first instinct was to defend it. But then I thought about it and honestly, I don't do that much reading just sitting around at home, not unless I have something to compel me to read: a story I'm especially sucked into (this doesn't happen all that often, even when I do enjoy a book), I have to read to meet a deadline (like for a readalong), a readathon. Otherwise if I'm just hanging out at home I'm messing around online or playing Plants vs Zombies 2, or watching TV. Or honestly, a mix of those 3 things. On the one hand, reading requires too much focus, so I can't do it while doing other things. On the other hand, reading is always immersive enough. I can start reading, but I can also get easily distracted by pretty much everything around me.

But it can't just be things around me are distracting. I do the majority of my reading on the LIRR and subway, which are not exactly bastions of peacefulness. But the distractions on public transportation are the sort I'm actively trying to ignore (the weird smell of the guy next to me, the fact that this lady and I are currently sharing 2sq feet of personal space, the crazy man screaming that he's not short even though no one told him he's short and he is really of average height) while the things at home are vying for my attention in a positive way (I need to kill more zombies so I can get more keys and get better plants to kill more zombies). OK, maybe not positive. But just "things I'd like to ignore" and "things I like to pay attention to, even if maybe I should do less of it".

In this case a readathon, be it the Dewey 24 hour one or Tika's mini-readathon, gives me the push to do something I enjoy doing but don't usually do if I'm just hanging around the house. Even then I have to remind myself, "No! Do not go online. Stop that. Sit down and read." I'm not hating my time reading. But I do have to work to stay focused on reading instead of doing anything else.

My readathon wrap up, in GIF form

Am I alone in this? OK, I don't actually believe I'm alone in this, but I guess how many other people have to make themselves read, even when it's something they want to be doing, and that they enjoy doing?

How many books do you read at once?

How many books do you read a time?

I usually only do one book at a time. I am not the best at keeping stories straight so I try to stick to one story, finish it and then move on. But right now I'm reading not one, not two, but THREE books. This has the potential to go very badly.

First up, I'm reading The Grapes of Wrath for Laura's readalong. Now because for a readalong we're suppose to read up to a certain point. And to make sure I don't confuse myself with my posts, I make sure to only read the assigned chapters before writing my stuff. So I NEED another book to read.

Next, I'm reading Ad Nomad by Eric Jay Sonnenschien. It's a book I agreed to read and review. And it's long. And I'm just over halfway through but I need a break from it. I will hold any other comments about it until my review, when I've finished it, but I was reading it the other day and decided I needed something else for awhile.

So finally, I'm reading The Sisters Brothers by Patrick deWitt. I've wanted to read this for awhile. Pretty much since Meg, Alice, and Laura went on and on about the AMAZINGNESS of this one. So when Amazon had it on sale for Kindle at $2.99 I HAD to buy it. So, yeah.

I just realized I'm lacking in scary reads for the month. I will need to get some Stephen King or something on my to read list. Which means I need to get it together and put together a list of how I rate the King I have read, so Laura can make a recommendation for me, which she so kindly offered to do. And which I WILL get to. Soon. Soonish.

Anyway, I'm hoping I don't go mixing up plots and characters from these three books. Although so far I think it'd be funny if there was any sort of cross over. Or at least if any of the Joads or Charlie and Eli showed up in Ad Nomad. I'm sure that would end up with wacky shenanigans. Or violence and depression. Either way.

On a slightly related note, Zombie by Joyce Carol Oates is also currently on sale for the Kindle. I've never read any JCO before. Brenna said this isn't a favorite Oates for her so I'm wondering if maybe I skip it until I try one of her other books first. Or maybe I just start with this one cos a) SALE and b) it's called Zombie and I know, it's not about a zombie in the typical sense but still. Horror-y so good for the season. Thoughts?

Book shopping or I'm fickle

This post was going to be a review about Full Dark, No Stars by Stephen King. But there's a Chopped marathon on right now so I can't concentrate enough to write a review. Instead I want to talk about shopping.

Probably because I'm currently reading Jane Austen's Emma which as you (should) know is the inspiration for Clueless. Which means the whole time I'm reading this I'm going "OH so this is like after the "Rolling with my Homies" party scene. And Sir George Knightly is Josh, aka Paul Rudd. Got it." I also maaaay have bought a DVD combo pack of Clueless and Mean Girls, because my copy of Clueless was on VHS. How '90s.

Now since this is a book blog, the shopping will focus on book shopping. Where do you get your books?

I know a lot of my fellow bloggers have crazy TBR piles. There are several TBR challenges. I don't do this. I have a TBR list. It's my Goodreads list. But I usually buy a book, read it, repeat. It's probably why I re-read so much. At least one of the reasons. I'm not great at planning my reading. It's why challenges intimidate me so. I have to commit to reading stuff? What happens when the time comes and I don't feel like reading that? WHAT THEN? So normally when I buy a book, I read it right away. Which means I can go into a bookstore and find a bunch of books that are on my Goodreads TBR list, but unless I'm in the mood to read it right then, it will stay in the bookstore.

Unless of course, the book is on one of those remainder tables. If a book is on sale I feel less inclined to have to read it right then. Because what if later when I do really want to read the book, it's not on sale anymore?? I'm cheap, so I still don't go too crazy, but I can't leave a bookstore if I see something on one of these tables that I sorta maybe want to read. Remainder tables for the win!

Now I said I'm cheap, which is part of the reason I don't buy ALL the books when I'm at a bookstore. You'd think this would mean I used the library a lot cos hey, free is the best. I do not. I should. I know I should. And I'm pretty sure there's a library around the corner from me. And definitely one not too far from our local indie bookstore. But  I don't want to borrow the book. I want the book to be mine. I want to be able to reread it whenever I choose or be able to pick it up and look for a passage. I want to display it on a shelf and go "Oh yeah, I read that" even if I'm only saying it to myself. I'm vain that way.

I do buy books from Amazon, at least for my Kindle. I don't typically order physical books online but not because of "grr Amazon." I am very impatient. If I want to read a book, I want to read it right then. I don't want to wait for it to come in the mail. This is also why Netflix* never worked for me. We'd pick out movies to rent but the few days later, when they actually showed up, I didn't care about watching them anymore. Why yes, I am annoyingly fickle. This is also why I love downloading books because I can be anywhere and get a book. I've done this on my commute when I finished the book I brought with me, but I still had train time. Of course I can't display these on my shelf, so my vanity and my impatience have to battle it out

What do you do? Do you have crazy TBR piles? Do you pick your reads in the moment?

*For those that might go off topic and ask why I don't just do Netflix Streaming, we did. And you know what's on Netflix streaming? Not much. Every time I went to look for a movie, it said "Oh nope, not available. But don't you want to watch Ninja Bimbos Part III?" After watching all of the Archer and Party Down episodes available, we cancelled our account.

Twenty Questions

I've been skipping the weekly Top Ten Tuesdays because I haven't been able to think of anything for the latest topics. Less than usual, considering I've participated when I could only come up with 3 items before. Laura over at Devouring Texts was also at a loss for this week's topic (sequels you're looking forward to) and instead posted answers to twenty questions. Because I'm all about talking about myself I thought I'd steal her post (don't worry, I asked her about it first) and give my own answers. So here we go

1. Which book has been on your shelf the longest?
I have a copy of T. H. White's The Once and Future King from the early '50s I took from my grandparents house. I think that fulfills the category both in oldest book as well as book I've carried around with me (thus been on my shelf for awhile) but still have yet to read.

2. What is your current read, your last read and your next read?
I'm currently re-reading Tracks by Louis Erdrich, my last read was Gone, Baby, Gone by Dennis Lehane and my next (tentative) read is The Help by Kathryn Stockett. Although I'm no good at sticking to a reading plan so we'll see what my next book actually ends up being.

3. What book did everyone like and you hated?
The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. Everyone it seems loved this one and couldn't put it or the sequels down. I struggled to make it through this one for book club and never bothered to read the others.

4. Which book do you keep telling yourself you'll read, but you probably won't?
I don't want to say I probably won't because I like lying to myself, but I have Franzen's The Corrections staring at me, just daring me to read it for almost a year now. I bought it last October coming back from a friend's wedding and I made a promise to myself that I would read it before the end of the calendar year. We'll see if that happens.

5. Which book are you saving for your "retirement"?
That would require a level of planning that is beyond me. I usually pick out my next read on the fly.

6. Last page: read it first or save it for the end?
I do not understand reading the last page. I would never read the book if I did this. My mom does this, and I am impressed that she can still enjoy the story even if she knows how it goes. She's this way with everything, which is awesome for me because I never have to worry about spoilers when talking to her about movies.

7. Author acknowledgements: waste of ink and space or an interesting aside?
I usually just skip over reading them, but sometimes I'll skim them to see if they say anything interesting. I used to read the liner notes on CDs to see what bands were thanked and used that to find new music. Authors need to do this in their own acknowledgements section.

8. Which book character would you switch places with?
Thursday Next from Jasper Fforde's Thursday Next series. She's a literary badass and I would love to visit Book World.

9. Do you have a book that reminds you of something specific in your life? (a person, a place, a time?)
I'm sure there are other books that fit this question and I'm sure I'll think of them after I've already hit "publish" but Dan Brown's The Da Vinci Code makes me think of my friend's aunt's house in Ireland. I spent just under a month out there with her and her family, and I had brought this book with me. In between seeing the countryside and visiting various bars I remember hanging out in the sitting room reading this book. I think I remember the location better than I remember the book itself. Maybe not the worst thing. 

10. Name a book you acquired in some interesting way.
The Phantom Tollbooth by Norton Juster. I kinda sorta stole it from my English class when I was in the sixth grade. I'd say "accidentally" stole, but that's not really true. I switched classes mid-year and the class I switched into had just begin reading The Phantom Tollbooth, so I had to catch up a bit. Which meant when I was given a copy of the book I apparently didn't put my name on whatever roster everyone else did. At some point the book got caught in my locker and the back cover ripped off. I was upset the book was ripped plus I knew I was going to have to pay for it. But they never asked for my copy of the book back and I never offered it up. Having to pay to replace an $8 book seemed way more dire when I was 11 than it does in retrospect.

11. Have you ever given away a book to a special person for a special reason?
I wish I had some cute story here, but nope. Update! My (awesome) friend Paul reminded me I gave him an (awesome) Bryson book being being a super (awesome) nerd.

12. Which book has been with you to the most places?
I guess I'd have to say Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone, though not because it's a particular favorite of mine. I brought it with me to Italy when I studied there, and then before coming back to the States I spent a month in Ireland (separate trip from the one above, though with the same friend) so it came there as well. I then carried it with me throughout my various Boston moves and I re-read it at some point so had it with me on the subway. And now it's in Long Island with me.

13. Any "required reading" you hated in high school that wasn't so bad ten years later?
It's hard to say because the books that I really hated in high school I've yet to revisit. I probably should because that list include The Grapes of Wrath and 1984. Maybe I'll re-read those and then can answer this. The Scarlet Letter however, stays on my "no thank you" list. I re-read it in college and it was exactly how I remembered it.

14. What's the strangest item you've ever found in a book?
I suppose this isn't actually that strange but when I recently read Stephen King's Dreamcatcher an old birthday card from fell out, along with a newspaper clipping for the Broadway show Kiss Me, Kate, which I saw for my birthday that year. That's apparently when I had been given the book. And then I read it more than 10 years later. Not because I didn't want to it's just such a big book for subway reading.

15. Used or brand new?
I love new books. I like my books to look like they're in new condition. I know I should make use of a library and save myself some money, but I never do. 

16. Stephen King: literary genius or opiate to the masses?
This is very black and white. Can't he fall somewhere in the middle? If I have to pick I'd say literary genius, although that might be going a bit far. He's obviously a very popular author but I don't think he gets all the literary credit he deserves. 

17. Have you ever seen a movie you liked better than the book?
Yes, definitely. I love the Lord of the Rings movies (I have both the theatrical and the extended editions). It was a struggle to make it through the first 2 books and I really tried to make it through Return of the King before I gave up. It wasn't worth it. American Psycho is another movie I like more than the book. Because the movie doesn't make me physically gag.

18. Conversely, which book should NEVER have been introduced to celluloid?
Never say never. There are some stories that have had really unsuccessful movie adaptations (Pet Semetary) but that doesn't mean that there is no hope of the book working on the screen. However, I can't see how the Thursday Next series would ever work although if someone were to attempt it, I'd probably see it. All this being said, I have been avoiding the movie 1408, because I loved the short story so much I assume the movie cannot live up to it and I don't want the short story ruined for me. That's not to say it shouldn't have been put on the screen, and maybe it is a really good movie. I just don't want to find out that it's not and have images from the movie supersede what's in my head.

19. Have you ever read a book that made you hungry, excluding cookbooks?
Julie and Julia by Julie Powell. She's cooking a bunch of Julia Child recipes, which sound delicious and she's cursing throughout which made me smile.

20. Who is the person whose book advice you always take? 
Well I don't always listen to anyone because I'm stubborn like that, but there are a few book recommenders I listen to more often than not. My friends Paul and Matt always seem to recommend books that end up being favorites of mine. In the blogging world there are a number of recommendations I seriously consider. Here's a short list:
Ben from Dead End Follies
Brenna from Literary Musings
Jennifer from Soy Chai Bookshelf
Greg from The New Dork Review
Laura from Devouring Texts
Alice from Reading Rambo
Ellen from Fat Books & Thin Women
I could probably go on and on (and on) with this list but I'll stop here.

To the silver screen: is it worth the journey?

Get it? I crack me up

Yesterday the Tuesday Top Ten topic was books we'd like to see made into movies. As I hopped around people's posts I was surprised to see how many people hate to see books up on the screen. I understand sometimes books don't translate well to the screen or that particular adaptation wasn't right. Sometimes the movie is a failure, regardless of if the source material came from a book or not. And of course when you read the book you get to make all of the choices a director is now making, so no movie will be your vision of a book. But personally, that doesn't bother me so much. I know a movie won't be quite what I envision and often I like the book better, but I still love to hear that my favorite books are going to be made into a movie. Maybe I'm just optimistic.

Sure, there have been bad adaptations but to me anyway, some successful movies come to mind: The Lord of the Rings trilogy, High Fidelity, The Silence of the Lambs. Sure things were left out and altered and added. But you know what? That's OK. Sometimes things work in a book that won't work on the screen. Sometimes the pacing that works in a book isn't going to work on film. Plus Hollywood does not seem to have a problem rehashing a story over and over (and over) again so if one adaptation doesn't work, I'm never surprised to hear another one is somewhere on the horizon.

So I just want to ask those that hate film adaptations of books if there's something specific you hate? I'm not knocking your opinion on it. I just want to understand. Are there general aspects of book films you don't like? Were you burned by an awful adaptation? Is all of the fans a book gets only after they've seen the movie? Please let me know! What is it about books on film that really grinds your gears?

Do you review everything you read?

Greg over at The New Dork Review recently asked the question about if it was worthwhile or not to review an obscure book he didn't like which kind of lead to a discussion about if one should review every book they read, regardless of their opinion or how obscure the book may be. In an effort to put in my two cents worth, or like 5 dollars worth since I guess my 2 cents are over in his comments (I don't understand money), I thought I'd continue the conversation here.*

Do you feel obligated to review every book you read? Are there any types of books (crappy, obscure, boring) that you won't review?

Personally, I don't feel any obligation to write about any particular book or in any particular format. I started this blog as a means to get back into writing, since I'd mostly let that skill atrophy since college, and I picked book blogging because that was the topic I was most interested in and I figured I read enough I wouldn't run out of topics. I'm not being paid for any reviews so I certainly don't feel any responsibility to review everything I read. All the books are ones I'm reading for my own enjoyment.

Having said this, I do write about all of the books I read. I'm spending my time to read it so I figure I may as well write something, be it that I like the book, don't like the book or the book makes me think of some more interesting topic. Not having something to say has never stopped me from prattling on before, and I'm not letting it stop me now. But this is a personal choice and I admire the bloggers that are able to resist posting when they have nothing to say, even if that means skipping a review.

Going beyond what you do with your own reviews, what do you like to see from book blogs you follow? Do you want bloggers to review everything? Do you want them to only review the books they liked? Do you want them to avoid reviewing obscure titles?

*This is a nicer way of saying "I'm stealing the topic Greg already wrote about over at his blog, and if you want the original you could just go over there and see what he says."

Do you give up on books?

Remember how I said I was having trouble getting through Bate's Soul of the Age so my solution was to read an age, read a different book, come back for another age, repeat until I finished? And I even said in my last post about the book how things were looking up and getting more interesting? At least I'm consistent in my failing to keep up with promises to myself, because I've already failed. This is why I stay away from challenges.

I finished up the Lover age, read Christopher Moore's You Suck, and then I was all prepared to pick up Soul of the Age again. (This is going to seem like I'm just rambling, but I promise you, it does come back to books.)  Since I now work from home and live in the suburbs without a car, I spend a lot of my time hanging around the apartment and Saturday was so beautiful, I decided I needed to get out. Boyfriend had to work and they didn't have anyone to take pictures of the game, so I volunteered my services to be the photographer for the women's lacrosse game. I do this sometimes if they don't have someone else, and they let me because I work for free and have my own equipment. It's actually probably good they don't rely on me, since when we got to the university I realized the memory card was in my other camera. I could have gone back and gotten it, but they were fine without pictures, and I'm lazy. Instead I hung around campus for awhile and just watched the game. And by watched the game I mean I randomly looked up from my book to see why there was cheering.

This is the point I wanted to get to: I brought You Suck and my Kindle with me. Had I actually remembered my memory card, I would have had a lot less reading time, and therefore wouldn't have finished You Suck and wouldn't have needed another book. But that's not how things went, and I finished You Suck and needed something else. So I bought an ecopy and started reading Shades of Grey by Jasper Fforde, which I've wanted for awhile but was originally waiting for it to come out in paperback. Thank you Kindle, for allowing me to purchase things I'm too impatient to wait for.

I do plan on making it back to Soul of the Age but it seems like it's going to take longer and longer to complete that one. So I have a couple questions:
Do you ever stop a book in the middle? What makes you stop?
Do you have any books you stuck with and in the end you were happy you kept with it?
Do you have a book you finished despite your better judgement and regretted it?

Can a song prompt you to read a book?

This post has the possibility of becoming another so-tired-I'm-delirious post, so apologizes ahead of time.

I went to see Jimmy Eat World last night in NYC.  You may be asking yourself "But Alley, you live in Boston and they're coming to your town tonight.  No need to make the trip all the way to NYC" to which I respond "Not only are you correct but I originally had tickets for the show right here in Boston.  And chose to go to the NYC show instead."  Not to go into details but the decision was made based on work schedules for myself and Boyfriend as well as a healthy dose of insanity.  I only went down for the night and I actually checked into my return flight to Boston while I was still in Boston.  Fun how that works out. So my tiredness is due to not sleeping much last night after the show and having to get up bright and early today to make it back to Boston.  And probably some stress because for a good hour Boyfriend and I didn't think we'd make it to the show due to traffic.  As it was we missed the first 30-45 minutes and were almost ready to throw in the towel but A) that was a lot of travel and B) we already had the tickets.  Even one song is better than none.  And Boyfriend and I have seen Jimmy Eat World a stupid number of times so I already pretty much knew how things would go.  I've been a fan of the band since I was about 15 so I've had lots of time to see them perform.

This is a book blog however and as much as I do just want to gush about how much I like seeing these guys and go to stupid lengths to do so, I can keep this about books.  See, Jimmy Eat World has this song called "Goodbye Sky Harbor" off of their Clarity album and this song is based on the novel A Prayer for Owen Meany by John Irving.  Now I didn't know this when the album first came out.  I just knew this was the 16 minute song that closed off the album and that I used to fall asleep to.  It wasn't until years later when I met Boyfriend, also a Jimmy Eat World fan, that he got me the book as a gift before I went to Italy. He knew I wanted some English language books for while I was there and he knew I loved Jimmy Eat World so this seemed perfect. I enjoyed the book, although not enough that I plan on re-reading it anytime soon.

I know plenty of people (myself included) have read books based on movies or maybe even a TV show but I believe this is the first time I've read a book based on a song.  Have any of you ever read a book because of a song you've heard?  Would you read a book if you learned a song you liked was based on it? Are there other songs about books?  I know Zeppelin had some LotR referenced songs but are there any others?