Comments on: The OTHER Reading Slump

By: Connie

Connie — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 17:53:41 +0000

I see I’m not alone I need a 12 step program for book buying and my Kindle has only been feeling my habit. I have 63 books now showing on my Kindle. I am a book horder saving things I really want to read ‘for later’. I am presently reading the first book of The Lymond Chronicles (read years ago), The biography SEAL TEAM SIX; MEMOIRS OF AN ELITE NAVY SNIPER, Mary Kay Andrews SUMMER RENTAL and A Courtesan’s Guide to Getting Your Man which I really am not enjoying and I usually love Celeste Bradley. My ‘save for later’ books are Kiss of Snow and a Donna Leon Commissario Guido Brunetti Mystery…………Leigh, I loved the first two Masie Dodds but gave up on the series! I also get a lot of recs from the reviews and the boards.

By: barbie

barbie — Mon, 13 Jun 2011 14:53:07 +0000

Wow so many people like me ! I have issues when I cant decide on which audio book to listen to . Some times I have to read a review or read a theme that i like to get over it. Question do any of you start reading the 1st pages then stop and go to a different book ? I hate when i catch myself doing that . I will stop one book and start another b/c the set up didnt appeal to me. I need to stop doing that .

By: CindyS

CindyS — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 07:08:25 +0000

Phew – another group of peeps like me! I finally figured out I had too much choice but that’s not going to change cause I already have a room of TBR books.

When things are dire I pull about 20 books out of the pile that I have been meaning forever to read. I then will only pick books from the 20 until I’m at least on a roll again. After a while, even the 16 you have left aren’t looking to great and you move back to the giant pile.

Cindys

By: Sharon

Sharon — Sun, 12 Jun 2011 07:08:15 +0000

I’m almost embarrassed to write this here as it shows how hyper-organized I am about everything, including my leisure time. But I have found a satisfactory solution for myself to choosing and reading books, of which I have many in abundance. For me I divide my reading selections in categories: such as new releasese, older classics I’ve never gotten around to, gloms, TOP 100 list, recent contemporaries I’ve missed, etc.. Then each month I review my lists of books from each category (yes, I keep a list for each category), and choose at least one from each list. That way I make progress through each of my TBR lists and feel satisfied with my reading chooses. That way too I don’t allow myself just to read new releases because I would be ignoring older books I want to read and vice versa. Some months, such as upcoming in July, I’ll break my pattern a little and will probably read at least two or three new releases, but usually I stay with my method and feel satisfied.

By: willaful

willaful — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 04:17:13 +0000

Usually I’m driven by some priority or other — have to return the book, have to write a review because I won it, it’s for a buddy read, etc. I spend so much time doing that my mind will rebel and say, “I want to read this right now and I don’t give a damn that it’s not a library book!” I usually really enjoy that book!

I have also done the random method. I have my print TBR organized by genre, so it’s not completely random.

By: Diane

Diane — Sat, 11 Jun 2011 00:16:10 +0000

I start them all then decide which appeals the most!

By: Tee

Tee — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 23:12:37 +0000

I’m with the few of you who don’t have a TBR pile. The most I’ll have a time waiting are when two or more come in from my reserve list at the library at the same time. I will always choose to read the book I think I’ll like best. Never know what the morrow brings, so I may as well enjoy the best first.

By: Carrie

Carrie — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 22:00:55 +0000

The words “maximizers” and “satisficers” are part of our family vocabulary now. On pages 77-78: “If you seek and accept only the best, you are a maximizer…The alternative to maximizing is to be a satisficer. To satisfice is to settle for something that is good enough and not worry about the possibility that there might be something better.” Maximizers tend to never be really happy with what they acquire because they feel they might have found something better if they’d taken just a little more time, etc. Satisficers set their requirements and then are happy when they find what they’re looking for.

When we have too many choices, we tend to freeze up, unable to make a decision because of fear we might not choose “the best.” With books, we all know our time is limited and we have to choose; the more choices we have often the more paralyzed we can become. Instead of being “maximizers” we can try to be “satisficers.” Set up a minimal criteria: I’m in the mood for humor; or contemporary, or something short, or historical, or PNR, etc. Then, just grab one from that category (or categories, like short contemporary, or humorous historical).

I never know for sure what I’ll be in the mood for until I finish the book I’m reading. My choices have to do with how the present book effects me and what’s going on in my life. When I decide what I’m in the mood for, I just grab one. It helps that I’m doing several reading challenges this year. It’s made me haul out books I’ve been meaning to read but putting off.

By: Joanna Chambers (Tumperkin)

Joanna Chambers (Tumperkin) — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 21:12:22 +0000

I actually find it hardest after reading a book I’ve loved. I tend to get very stumped then as to what to read next because I know it’s unlikely to be at the same level.

By: Barb in Maryland

Barb in Maryland — Fri, 10 Jun 2011 21:10:37 +0000

Hey Leigh–
Now there are at least three of us! I just nodded while reading your original comment–’she’s talking about me’ I thought. I got 6 books from the library today–that’s my TBR stack. Unlike Victoria, I don’t ship my books off to my sister(as she lives in Texas!). I usually put the unread books in the UBS bag or try to sell them on half.com.
I know Maisie Dobbs has some fans, but I was not one of them. I read the first two and found her to be too cold. But it is an interesting time(post WWI).