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How do you choose the book you'll read next ?
- Thread starter Marie
- Start date
ions
New Member
I'm gonna rip off a post I wrote in a thread similar to this:
I use a variety of methods in choosing my next read. Serendipity, planning, season, outside influence.
Serendipity: Sometimes you stumble across a good deal or a book is loaned to you and the time is right to start something new.
Planning: I do have a rough outline of what I plan to read. I try and base this on providing myself with some variety. Not reading the same author consecutively, changing genres, choosing books of varying length. Or when something is released. I know what I'll be reading starting July 16th. Planning is also based on what I own and have not read. I always have the next book to read in that pile selected but sometimes due to the other factors other books get chosen.
Season: During certain times of the year certain books don't work for me. During the colder months I prefer the classics. During the warmer months I prefer something lighter.
Outside Influence: A good example of how this works is The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. About a month before the movie was released I decided I had to read the series before the movie was released. A book club or reading the same book as a friend partner so you can discuss also fall under this category for me.
After saying all that it can still be difficult to pick a book when it's time to start a new one. I think quite a bit about what is to be next and I'll feel a tinge of guilt if one of the above circumstances chages the book that's supposed to be up next.
I use a variety of methods in choosing my next read. Serendipity, planning, season, outside influence.
Serendipity: Sometimes you stumble across a good deal or a book is loaned to you and the time is right to start something new.
Planning: I do have a rough outline of what I plan to read. I try and base this on providing myself with some variety. Not reading the same author consecutively, changing genres, choosing books of varying length. Or when something is released. I know what I'll be reading starting July 16th. Planning is also based on what I own and have not read. I always have the next book to read in that pile selected but sometimes due to the other factors other books get chosen.
Season: During certain times of the year certain books don't work for me. During the colder months I prefer the classics. During the warmer months I prefer something lighter.
Outside Influence: A good example of how this works is The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy. About a month before the movie was released I decided I had to read the series before the movie was released. A book club or reading the same book as a friend partner so you can discuss also fall under this category for me.
After saying all that it can still be difficult to pick a book when it's time to start a new one. I think quite a bit about what is to be next and I'll feel a tinge of guilt if one of the above circumstances chages the book that's supposed to be up next.
I too have trouble transitioning from one book to another, especially if I really liked the book just completed. If it's by an author I didn't know before, or one who has other books that I haven't read yet, I usually go right out and find another book by the same writer while I'm still in the mood. If that's not the case, then I usually just wait for the book to find me. Someone will lend me one, or I'll read an interesting review, or something will catch my eye at the library. It never seems to take long, which is good because I feel unsettled without something to read.
I liked "Broca's Brain", though it's been a long time. Carl Sagan writes about tough concepts with wonderful clarity, and I always feel like I learned something. I liked his "The Demon-Haunted World" better, but "Broca's Brain" is well worth the effort.
"The English Patient" is one that I've read 2 or 3 times. I love Michael Ondaatje's prose, it's so elegant. Have you ever read any of his poetry? Try "The Cinnamon Peeler" if you're interested; it's a lovely book. Here's a nice one, now that summer is nearly upon us. It's called "Inner Tube":
On the warm July river
head back
upside down river
for a roof
slowly paddling
towards an estuary between trees
there's a dog
learning to swim near me
friends on shore
my head
dips
back to the eyebrow
I'm the prow
on an ancient vessel,
this afternoon
I'm going down to Peru
soul between my teeth
a blue heron
with its awkward
broken backed flap
upside down
one of us is wrong
he
his blue grey thud
thinking he knows
the blue way
out of here
or me
I liked "Broca's Brain", though it's been a long time. Carl Sagan writes about tough concepts with wonderful clarity, and I always feel like I learned something. I liked his "The Demon-Haunted World" better, but "Broca's Brain" is well worth the effort.
"The English Patient" is one that I've read 2 or 3 times. I love Michael Ondaatje's prose, it's so elegant. Have you ever read any of his poetry? Try "The Cinnamon Peeler" if you're interested; it's a lovely book. Here's a nice one, now that summer is nearly upon us. It's called "Inner Tube":
On the warm July river
head back
upside down river
for a roof
slowly paddling
towards an estuary between trees
there's a dog
learning to swim near me
friends on shore
my head
dips
back to the eyebrow
I'm the prow
on an ancient vessel,
this afternoon
I'm going down to Peru
soul between my teeth
a blue heron
with its awkward
broken backed flap
upside down
one of us is wrong
he
his blue grey thud
thinking he knows
the blue way
out of here
or me
I like to read so many different genres of books so what I do is i go to either the library or my fav bookstore and go the the new release section. I pick out a couple and take them home. If i like them, i like them. If i dont then, hey ive just made my collection of books even larger. I especially like books that catch my attention by their colorful covers.
wilderness
New Member
Hey
I read the preview section in the Australian Age newspaper and read about books and find ones i like the sound of.
I go to the internet page of publishing agencies I like and rad about the authors and their books.
I go to a book store and look at book titles and front covers and blurbs
I read the authors my favourite writers recommend
lani
I read the preview section in the Australian Age newspaper and read about books and find ones i like the sound of.
I go to the internet page of publishing agencies I like and rad about the authors and their books.
I go to a book store and look at book titles and front covers and blurbs
I read the authors my favourite writers recommend
lani
Umbrella
New Member
I actually don't have any problems choosing which book I wish to read. It's like I have this inner radar or something, but in libraries I hardly ever find anything unless I know what I'm looking for.
I was going on a short trip a couple of days ago and I had to take a book with me (of course), right then I was reading Scar Tissue, Anthony Kiedis' biography, but the book was too big for my handbag so I took another book with a more appropriate size and began to read that one instead.
I was going on a short trip a couple of days ago and I had to take a book with me (of course), right then I was reading Scar Tissue, Anthony Kiedis' biography, but the book was too big for my handbag so I took another book with a more appropriate size and began to read that one instead.
Jenem
kickbox
i usually buy a few books at a time, so i have a small pile of "to be read" to choose from. i tend to stay within the same genre for awhile, then after about 4 of the same genre, i need to switch. sometimes i'll buy something spur of the moment and read it right off the bat. but those are hits and misses. my last hit was fantastic
. The limit drives me up the wall.
SFG75
Well-Known Member
Marie said:
I start out by selecting the genre that I want. Usually it's a rotation of history, religious studies, new age, non-fiction of various kinds, and then philosophy. After that, I allow reviews that I've read to take over and be a deciding factor as to which book I'll get.
WoundedThorns
New Member
its easier when i come across a book i've wanted to read for a long time. i'm all excited about it and start to read it right away
its harder when i come home from the library. sometimes i'll just pick a book up randomly and my attention can be captivated long enough to finish. unfortunatly i ended up reading about 7 books over the summer this way =P
sometimes i'm in the mood for a specfic book. i've been in a "stephen king" mood after reading Carrie. i was going to read Green Mile, but picked up Fight Club instead since it was thinner =P yeh, sometimes my decisions are that random
its harder when i come home from the library. sometimes i'll just pick a book up randomly and my attention can be captivated long enough to finish. unfortunatly i ended up reading about 7 books over the summer this way =P
sometimes i'm in the mood for a specfic book. i've been in a "stephen king" mood after reading Carrie. i was going to read Green Mile, but picked up Fight Club instead since it was thinner =P yeh, sometimes my decisions are that random
CattiGuen
New Member
I am a very indecisive person when it comes to which book I want to read next. I've been buying so many books lately, I'm practically buying them faster than I'm reading them. But, sometimes my choice is also random. Maybe someone recommends a book, or the premise just seems too weird (I'm a weird book-a-holic) and I have to read it right away. Other times, I feel the need for a good scare or the need to fulfill my "classics" requirement I have put on myself. Its really weird with me, to put it shortly.
WoundedThorns
New Member
sometimes i get some sort of urge where i just HAVE to get that book, i HAVE to read it.. its rather annoying when i can't get my hands on a copy