One big pet peeve I have as a reader: I have a strong aversion to ending reading sessions mid-chapter. If I start a chapter, I want to be able to finish it. If I’m feeling pressed for time and doubt I’ll be able to read a whole chapter, I veer toward not beginning that chapter at all.
I began today feeling exceedingly overwhelmed by my own damn books.
This weekend, I inhaled The Last Anniversary by Liane Moriarty. As with so many books in my Nook library, it’s there because I found it offered for $1.99.
It’s difficult to resist e-books offered for $2.99 or under. Why, that’s less than a large iced coffee at Dunkin’ Donuts! I’ll think to myself as I gleefully click “Purchase” on a book that was never on my radar. Even if I don’t fall in love with it, surely I’ll read it at some point? Continue reading “#ReadMyOwnDamnBooks Update: Overwhelmed, and not”
Picture me scratching my head and trying to figure out where the heck March went. April? Already?
But I digress. I had a solid reading month, and eclectic! A time travel novel, two memoirs in verse, two audiobooks, four of my own damn books, and the fewest book buys of any month this year! And here we go… Continue reading “The unabridged list of what I read in March”
I’m afraid I traumatized the first group of students to whom I told, “There are no new ideas.” Actually, I meant it to be comforting. But here in the US, we are in a committed relationship with the idea of originality, which is perhaps a by-product of having a short history. Continue reading “5 quotes on reading and empathy”
Last month, I worried a mild reading slump had me in its clutches. Holding on by its fingertips, but still. It’s not a desirable state. Even a “mild” cold inconveniences. Continue reading “Making time for reading in the age of distraction”
My journey to embrace audiobooks has been a rousing success so far this year. Granted, we’re not quite three months in, but I’m hopeful.
I’ve been thinking about the degree to which this may be a case of necessity being the mother of invention: My committed desire to really, really find an audiobook I could stick with created the favorable conditions for that to happen. Continue reading “Do some books make better listens than reads?”
Everyone is Irish on St. Patrick’s Day, the saying goes. I love this sentiment and its idea of open-heartedly sharing each other’s celebrations. Since parades aren’t really my thing, I do believe my bookish self will mark the holiday by reading Irish (and Irish-born) authors … and I might just help myself to some bangers and mash.
If you’re of a mind to honor the day in a similar fashion (perhaps with a group of like minded readers?), here are seven Irish-born authors from whom to choose. And for nourishing the body as you nourish the mind, St. Patrick’s Day style, enjoy a link to a yummy bangers and mash recipe.
Continue reading “7 Irish authors to read on St. Patrick’s Day”
Saturday, March 14 is Pi Day, set aside to celebrate 3.14 (see what they did there?), also known as ‘pi’, also known as everyone’s favorite irrational, transcendental number, which has absorbed mathematicians and us regular folks going back at least to the third century BC. Continue reading “Happy Pi Day Reading (and Eating)”
Earlier this week, I wrote about a big book that I doubt I will ever read cover to cover, in the process arguing, essentially, so what? Since I don’t want to give the impressive that I believe it’s always okay to abandon or only partially read big books, today, I want to argue for reading them all the way through. Continue reading “What I learned from reading a big book”
Barnes and Noble made an alarming announcement on Tuesday: They’re closing all versions of their online Nook bookstore in the UK, according to the BBC. This news comes on the heels of a February report that e-book sales have fallen for all five of the UK’s largest publishers. Continue reading “Ode to my Barnes and Noble Nook GlowLight Plus”
