How many BOOKS do you read?

[red stripe]

and what type??
I thought this was a good question to ask after seeing the responses to the post about books below.
plus.. do you use your public library, or do you buy them?

 

[Gayle V]

Hi Red, As you could tell, I like historical, adventure, romance, fiction. Sara Donati is another good author of that type.

I usually just buy the paper backs. I go to the library for most audio books. And only buy the hardbound when I've already read and loved a book. I read through Les' Miserables twice before I found myself a really nice used hardbound to keep.

(BTW, Les Mis does not not fall into the same catagory as my usual taste in books, but there is some cross over with the history and adventure part. But it's more an emotional and moral development story. I read it the first time, just beacuse I wanted to know the jist of the story, so I could enjoy the musical. Read it again to really enjoy it.)

 

[herb]

I read about 1 book per year :

JoAnn on the other hand reads approx. 2 books per week. Since she works at the library she gets first dibs on new releases

Buying books?? Only if it's not available at the library and it is a MUST READ, Travel Guides, and out of print books.

 

[korinalacount]

I read 4-5 books a week! I am a speed reader and love to read,I love mystery thrillers ect,but will read about anything son who is also a avid reader has me hooked on archeological books right now. Dont use the library,I would forget to return,I like to reread books,so I am in a book club,and I buy paperbacks at those gently used book stores as well,just call me a bookworm,though I think Maw reads more books a week than I do,lol!

 

[Gayle V]

Oh gee, while were talking books, I want to through-in a recommendation. Read: The Time Traveler's Wife. Great book, and a very quick read. I just read it again. If you take it on the plane, be sure to pack a box of kleenex in your carryon.

 

[maw]

I read by spells. I am also a speed reader for do read some books faster than others. I kind of mix it up-pccasionaly a soupy romance, soemtimes a history , mystery thrillers are one of my fvorites reading a good one now. The Enemy by Leo Childs , Have a Robert Ludlum book started but I couldn't keep mind on it to pay attention to detail which you need in his boods. So will go back to it when we get back. I haven't been to library ecently I had exhausted our small Library many yeasrs ago but they have reorganized and think there are bigger choices now. I buy books and exchange with Brenda and Penny, I am now exchanging with the girls at exercise seems every day someone has a book to share. Some of them only are interested in specfic books other just anything readable.

I asked my grandmother what worst period of her life was and her reply when she had nothing to read. Her mother always got 3 books a week for the 3 of them to read she was still doing this well into her 90's.

 

[iluvcruzin]

uh... maybe 1 a year? I'm more of an Internet/magazine type of person. I get Time and Newsweek as well as some business professional ones. I like Travel ones too. I just don't have the time - or really the attention span - to sit and read through a long novel.

 

[Rubysky]

Depends on how well I am sleeping or how thick the books are. Some are less than 300 pages, others are over 1000. 1 - 3 books a week. My mind wanders too much to listen to them on tape.
I get most at the library, their "catalog search" feature is used on line and I often put a hold on books that the library is acquiring. The other day I put "cruise" or "ship" in the search and came up with a new Clive Cussler book. I also put a hold on one by Elizabeth Peters.
Other sources for me is a thrift shop or the book exchange at Curves.

 

[nieciez]

I used to read 3 or 4 books a week but now I only read about a dozen a year. I am into romance, historical, modern and mystery actually most fiction except fantasy.

Edited to add:

Gayle, did you see where that has been made into a movie with a Christmas release: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0452694/

 

[reggae]

I admit, I just don't take the time for reading...last good book I read was "The Thornbirds"

Now my MIL loves reading, but doesn't drive so I usually pick up books for her. I usually get the books at garage sales or the Thrift Store, but it's difficult because I don't know the authors, etc. (She tells me to buy anything, she'll read the phone book if she gets desperate). Her family all came from England, and she loves anything from that area most.

I've been taking notes of all the books that have been mentioned in the posts here, and I'll be looking for those, now.

Here's what I do for her sometimes....I go to the Thrift Store and take a picture of the book shelves (they have hundreds). Then I email her the picture and she picks out the ones she wants. Then DH takes them up to her when he goes up there.

The Thrift Store charges 50 cents per book, so not too bad....

Also, DH loves reading, like his mom. He likes the action-packed, mystery stuff. Most nights, he turns off the TV and reads.

 

[Gayle V]

Hi Denise, Good to know they finally made it. I'll be looking forward to seeing it.

It's been a long time in coming. The rights to make it were originally bought buy Brad Pitt and Jennifer Aniston. Their breakup put that on hold for a long time. Glad that someone else finally got the rights to do it. It's the kind of book that would easily make into a good movie.

Although I'm afraid a lot of people will think that they stole the idea from last season's TV show, "Journeyman" when actually it was the other way around. Besides the book was a much better story, despite a similiar idea.


Denise, just one more little warning about Outlander. There is a little bit of fantasy in there too, (the time travel and all) but nothing line the actual fantasy genre books.

 

[nieciez]

We really enjoyed the TV series Journeyman though he could "change" events. We are disappointed that the show was cancelled

 

[BarbaraK]

None! Seriously I hate to read because I don't have the concentration, how I ever studied !
I even hate reading magazine articles more than 10 lines long!
We both like books but audio books, we have lots of those on CD's, we listen to them when we are travelling
We mainly enjoy murder mystery or crime type books, like Sue Grafton, Janet Evanovich and Mary Higgins Clarke.
Our favourite was the Harry Potter US series read by Jim Dale ( It was read by Stephen Frye for the UK editon which was very good also) Jim Dale did a wonderful job, it was like listening to an old radio show. He had as many as 75 character voices in a couple of the books, he also won an award for his narration of the series.

 

[Beryl]

I used to be an avid reader and always had a stack of library books on the go. In recent years though my interest seems to have waned. I still read a couple of books a month but certainly nothing like I used to. My favourite place to read now is "in the bathtub" so no library books near there and that means paperbacks from the used book store. Fortunately we have a very good used book store here. Favourite reads now are mysteries (particularly those written in the old British style....I love a detective) and biographies. I also love to read travel books to find out about the places I am going to be visiting. A good romance is very satisfactory once in a long while and adventure books...never (not even the old classics like Kidnapped!) A good historical novel I enjoy from time to time....particularly those written as family sagas. (Gayle, the reason I did not like Outlander was because of the "time travel" motif....I had heard so many good things about this series that I was disappointed in myself that I didn't like it.)

When we are on long car trips we like to take along audio books. We've listened to a lot of good books that I likely would never have picked up at the library or bookstore to read on my own. My opinion of movies made from books....the reading of the book has always been more satisfactory than watching the movie!

 

[red stripe]

Reggea...

(She tells me to buy anything, she'll read the phone book if she gets desperate). Her family all came from England, and she loves anything from that area most.

I love that.. as my aunt always said about me that I would read the toilet paper :lol

not so strange as that sounds, as the old English shiny paper used to have some print down one side :grin
I envy you that can really speed read. I was going to a college in Florida, and as I could not drive, I shared a ride. she had one more class than me, So I saw they had speed reading, so I signed up for it.
I started off OK, as they test you and see how fast you read naturally.. I think it is about 250 words per min. I read at over 700. They started me out with the class, but I went ahead of them real fast. heck.. I started ahead of them :grin so I ended up in a class by myself. I would check in, go to the room, the clock would start, and the screen would scroll through a book at a predesignated speed. When the time was up, I took the written test. No book to sneak a peek at. You had to have over 85% comprehension before you went on to the next speed...
The only trouble was that they had limited capabilities.. so I only learned to read at the 1400 words per min. And then I had maxed them out.. ( I often wondered what speed I may have achieved with good equipment.

But depending on the week, I can read up to about 8 or 9 books before it starts to interfere with my housework, board time and the never ending projects :grin
My dream has always been to live next to the public library..

for the mystery lovers out there.. here are a few of my favorite authors of this genre



Simon Brett… ......Corporate bodies, A nice class of corpse
P.D. James… ..... and her series about Scotland Yard detective Adam Dalgliesh
Dorothy Sayers.... Peter Whimsey series…..and some great anthologies…
Nicholas Blake… The Corpse in the snowman, Head of a traveler..He also wrote as Ceicil day lewis..but that was mostly poetry
Reginald Hill… ..I loved his Dalzie and Pascoe series
Ruth Rendell.. with Inspecter Wexford…and novels like.. “talking to a strange manâ€Â
Agatha Christie.. so many good books. Poirot.. Miss Marples..
Ten little Indians, and on and on…

Wilkie Collins… ....The Moonstone, Woman in white
Robert Barnard.… death of an old goat, death in the high “C’s†The last post…..
Michael Innes… ...The weight of evidence…

Colin dexter........... and the Inspector Morse books..
Donald E Westlake.. and his funny ones, like “the busy body†which can still make me laugh
Martha grimes .........and the Richard jury series..

I am scratching the surface here….
share your lists.. I want to see who are avid readers here.

 

[conniecat]

Ahhh, books. If I let myself read as much as I wanted, I could not keep myself in books. So, I limit myself to bathtub books. ususally get them at the used book stores, or lately, online since I can't walk into bookstores. Most of the have too samll aisles for the scooter. . Abebooks has a free shipping section. I buy hardback or paperback, whichever I can get cheap. My BF works part time in a used book store, and she spends her whole paycheck buying books, she brings me my favorites.

I enjoy anything lighthearted. Mysteries, romance, science fiction, I just do not like tearjerkers. I usually don't like action, but I do have most of the Tom Clancy books.

This is who I have multiples of:

Lillian Jackson Braun (cat who)
Janet Evanovich (ANYTHING she writes)
Elizabeth Peters (all of hers, too) She also writes as Barbara Michaels, but those are usually involve the occult, which I don't read.
Sue Grafton
Nora Roberts
J D Robb
John Grisham
Donna Andrews (her books are hysterical)
Doreen Tovey
Peter O'Donnell/Madeline Brent
Patricia Veryan
Donald Westlake
Can't remember the author's name, wrote the "Burglar Who" books

And I do love historical fiction, but I hate the no plot- just-an-excuse-for-sex-scenes books.

I usually pick up a book, turn to an inside page and read it. If it sparks my interest, I will buy it.

 

[uppitycats]

Time Traveler's Wife...I read that awhile ago, a LOVELY story.

I'll read the back of a cereal box if it's standing there! I have owned several thousand books in the past, but have been slowly selling them off or giving them away (downsizing). I still read 2-3 books a week. Amazon.com and I are intimate friends.. I can't get to the library regularly, so don't borrow stuff, but now that a new neighbor has moved in and they go almost weekly, I may be able to get them to either take me, or borrow for me...that'll be fun!

About the only genres I won't spend time with are science fiction (Time Traveler an obvious exception!) -- I mean more the Star Trek or "little green men invading earth" types; romance novels, westerns. Otherwise I'll get into "streaks" -- this year it seems all political, moral, ethics; last year a lot of poetry and spiritual/religion. Always intermixed with mystery, detective -- Jonathan Kellerman is a favorite, and Sue Grafton, and Sara Peretsky, Nevada Barr....

I was a librarian too -- also an acquisitions librarian, meaning all the new stuff would get to my desk first. Took a long time for some of it to get out into general circulation! :lol

 

[Mbandy]

Like Maw, I kind of read in "spells". If I see a book that interests me I'll buy it. I like biography type books. The most recent ones were "It's Good to be the King; The Seriously Funny Life of Mel Brooks" and "A Pirate Looks at Fifty" by Jimmy Buffett. Both were great. Jimmy buffett is actually a very good author.

 

[Krazy Kruizers]

We don't have a public library near us -- but Barnes and Noble is near us -- so we buy our books.

We do read a lot!! Anything and everything. DH reads way more than I do.

 

[Beryl]

Okey dokey....some of my favourite authors..in no particular order (except for genre)

Mystery: Agatha Christie (what a pity she's gone and there are no new ones!)
P.D. James
Ruth Rendell
Colin Dexter
Anne Perry
Rita Mae Brown (Cyndi got me started with her on the Emerald Cruise. Thanks Cyndi!)
Sue Grafton...though I haven't read any for awhile...they started to seem "churned out".
Patricia Cornwell
R.D. Wingfield (and his curmudgeon hero Detective Inspector Frost)
Caroline Graham (Midsommer Murders......and basis for the PBS television series)
Harry Kemelman creator of Rabbi David Small
Dan Brown

Series type books:
R.F. Delderfield...Swann family saga (these are really old books and lovely reads)
John Jakes
Shelagh Kelley
Barbara Taylor Bradford
Jan Karon
Lucy Maud Montgomery (since childhood the Anne books have been one of my perennial favourites)
Belva Plain
Rosamunde Pilcher
Adriana Trigiani....and her Big Stone Gap series

Some of my all time favourite books:
Jame's Michner's Hawaii
Colleen McCollough's Thorn Birds
Susan Howatch's Penmarrick
My University "History of English Literature" textbook. It is 1379 pages long and always offers something interesting!
Maeve Binchy's The Glass Lake
Peter Mayle's A Year in Provence

....and so many more!!