Tag: readers

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Four (more) alternatives to a traditional book club

So many book clubs I’ve participated in might have survived if we'd had an alternative to reading a single book, especially when we didn’t share the same taste in books or the same goals for our book discussions.

Many book clubs I’ve participated in might've succeeded if we'd had an alternative to reading the same book, especially when we didn't share taste in books.A few months ago, I wrote about three ways to shake up your book club with new approaches, inspired by my numerous and varied failed book club attempts.

My current book club operates on the traditional “let’s all read the same book” principle. Still, I can think of many groups I’ve participated in that might have survived if we hadn’t put that particular pressure on ourselves. This is especially true when we didn’t share the same taste in books or the same goals for our book discussions.

I love talking about books and hearing what everyone is reading. In the spirit of creating community (and social events!) around books and reading, here are four more suggestions. They’re tailor-made for readers looking for a social night out and some casual book chatting but without the restrictions of reading a single book.  Continue reading “Four (more) alternatives to a traditional book club”

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Fun Wednesday meme: Three WWWs

Wednesday reading roundup

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that a book lover in possessions of three current reads and 500+ of her own damn books* must be in want of more books.Happy hump day reading! Taking on a World of Words is hosting this fun meme, which I first discovered at Coffee and Cats. It asks three simple but ever alluring questions: What are you currently reading? What did you recently finish reading? What do you think you’ll read next?

They’re alluring questions because … because … oh well, I can’t help myself:

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that a book lover in possessions of three current reads and 500+ of her own damn books* must be in want of more book suggestions. Or something.

Now that’s out of the way… Continue reading “Fun Wednesday meme: Three WWWs”

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Reading pet peeve #2: The phrase guilty pleasure

I could live the rest of my life quite happily without ever, ever again hearing the phrase “guilty pleasure” applied to one’s reading choices.

I could live the rest of my life quite happily without ever, ever again hearing the phrase “guilty pleasure” applied to one’s reading choices. I could live the rest of my life quite happily without ever, ever again hearing the phrase guilty pleasure applied to one’s reading choices.

What bothers me is, it constructs false binaries: pleasure or enrichment, entertainment or education, fun or value.

As an academic, I’ve seen how these binaries can taint the idea of pleasure, as if feeling happy or good is somehow unworthy or lacking in value. If we’re not suffering, we’re probably not being challenged enough, or working hard enough, or smart enough to understand that we don’t understand.

No.

We can enjoy books and still be smart about them. We can enjoy books and still be rigorous with them. Now I think about it, don’t we enjoy books because we find value in them? Continue reading “Reading pet peeve #2: The phrase guilty pleasure”

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The unabridged list of books I read in April

Another eclectic collection of books I added to my "read" pile in April

April readAm I really already talking about the books I read in April? Yes, the same incredulity that possessed me at the beginning of last month. This year is flying by at the speed of sound (or is it light?).

This month saw my highest “read” tally all year, thanks in large part to Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathon. My titles included the usual mix of middle-grade and adult fiction and memoir. I also read a classic I’ve been meaning to read for a few months (or years…whatever) and finished a book that has been languishing on my “currently reading” list for a few weeks.

Books I read:

Reading Challenge-wise, I’m not doing too badly: 60 percent of the books I read this month were books I already owned. Although … When I look at it that way, I’m barely passing. I will have to keep working on this!

* Indicates a #ReadMyOwnDamnBooks title Continue reading “The unabridged list of books I read in April”

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Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathon Gameplan

It’s beautiful to see and be part of a group of people joining together to experience and celebrate a shared love. The rallying point is our consensus that reading books is awesome, whatever books those may be.

The Readathon concept isn’t entirely new to me. It’s what I call “therapy time,” or “Saturday” (ha).

It’s beautiful to see and be part of a group of people joining together to experience and celebrate a shared love. The rallying point is our consensus that reading books is awesome, whatever books those may be.This is to say, submersing myself into a long uninterrupted reading stretch is how I relax, unwind, de-stress, refresh. Books are my personal decompression chambers. However, what I’ve not done before is participate in a Readathon as a social activity.

I have no idea why. But that omission is about to be corrected: I signed up to participate in the Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathon on Saturday. As I live on the East Coast, my starting time is an eminently reasonable 8 a.m. Not that I have a problem sacrificing sleep to read. Continue reading “Dewey’s 24-Hour Readathon Gameplan”