How to Keep A Library Of (Physical) Books

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Risa:

All the reasons why “physical” books beat ebooks any day. Most of the points this writer lists out are so valid…they might be sentimental or sensual but they all are a part of creating a lovely reading experience. I couldn’t help but nod my head in agreement to his list, and there were, indeed, so “ah-ha” moments!

Originally posted on Thought Catalog:

The hardest part of my most recent move: figuring how to transport nearly 1,500 books. All the rest of our stuff–in the age of IKEA–turned out to be easier to sell on Craigslist or throw away than to move. But the books? Something had to be done.

My library Sept 2013. Austin, Texas

My library Sept 2013. Austin, Texas

They are my life and my livelihood.

Ultimately, I ended up hiring 1-800-Pack-Rat to send a portable storage unit to my house– a pod 8 feet by 8 feet by 8 feet– which I filled up and then shipped off to the new house. Nearly 30 full boxes of books were loaded in (plenty of space left if I’d had more). I used movers on TaskRabbit and didn’t have to pick up a single one. The books arrived right outside my door about ten days later. It was amazing. I wish I’d thought of it before.

See…

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Another book haul and “a whale of a read-along”!

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Books. Why are they so irresistible?!
 
I was out whole day today with my best friend. We did some shopping and eating and of course, book buying. Somehow our outings together are never complete until we've picked up something from a book store. This evening I came home with these:
I picked them up from a second hand book store.
  • Villette by Charlotte Brontë – A few months ago I had a poll regarding which C. Brontë book to read after Jane Eyre, and most folks suggested Villette. So, here I am, finally, with my own copy. When I'm going to read it is another matter all together!
  • The Mabinogion translated by Gwyn Jones and Thomas Jones – This one is a collection of “eleven Welsh stories which are among the finest flowering a of the Celtic genius and, taken together, a masterpiece of medieval European literature.” I this is a lovely find and look forward to reading it.
  • The Devil's Cub by Georgette Heyer – The last time I read this one was many years ago. It's the sequel to These Old Shades and I'm glad to add it to my Heyer collection. ^^
  • Cry, the Beloved Country by Alan Paton – A classic. It's African. I have read hardly anything from that side of the world. I'm curious.
  • The Baby and Toddler Treasury - Oh! This one is a gem of a find, I think! I love the illustrations and the fact that it has all the nursery rhymes that I grew up singing. I already sing a few of them to my sons. I hope to brush on the other rhymes I have forgotten so that I might share them with the boys. :D Here' s a sneak peek at the book:
 

And then there's THIS:
Ever since I read the first nine chapters of this book online, I have been meaning to get myself a copy to finish it. I find I like Melville's writing style and I was drawn into the story from “Call me Ishmael.” Adam's call for others to join him in a group read of Moby Dick inspired me to buy this book the moment I saw it at the store today. I am really excited about reading this with others, and I look forward to what the book discussions might bring. :)
 
 

Bout of Books: sign-up, goals, updates and conclusion!

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This post was originally posted on May 8th, 2014. It has been re-posted with updates to conclude my participation in the read-a-thon.

Bout of Books

SIGNING UP:
I’m saying nothing except I’m joining the Bout of Books read-a-thon which begins on May 12th and ends on the 18th. Here’s what the hosts have to say about their event:

The Bout of Books read-a-thon is organized by Amanda @ On a Book Bender and Kelly @ Reading the Paranormal. It is a week long read-a-thon that begins 12:01am Monday, May 12th and runs through Sunday, May 18th in whatever time zone you are in. Bout of Books is low-pressure, and the only reading competition is between you and your usual number of books read in a week. There are challenges, giveaways, and a grand prize, but all of these are completely optional. For all Bout of Books 10 information and updates, be sure to visit the Bout of Books blog. - From the Bout of Books team


MY GOALS: (I’m trying to give myself something reachable without being too ambitious. Don’t laugh!)

  •  to read 400 pages by the end of the week
  • to complete at least 1 book


UPDATES:
Monday, 12th
Number of pages read today: 36
What I read today: The first 3 chapters of Never Let Me Go
Total number of pages read to date: 36/400
Challenges I took part in: 1. If you like X, then try Y…
Remarks: Since my aim is to read 400 pages by the end of this week, I was hoping to average about 57 pages a day. I wasn’t able to meet that yesterday since it was an incredibly busy day, but I’m glad I got this much done! I hope to catch up with yesterday’s missed pages and complete today’s quota by the end of the day. Also, if you’re curious about the recommendations I gave in the challenge I took part in, and are too lazy to click the link ( :D ) then here they are: a) If you like Gone with the Wind, I would suggest you try Shadow of the Moon by M. M. Kaye (<– link leads to Goodreads synopsis); b) If you like faerie folklore, I would suggest you read Susanna Clarke’s Ladies of Grace Adieu (<– link leads to my review).   


Tuesday, 13th
Number of pages read today: 26
What I read today: Never Let Me Go
Total number of pages read to date: 62/400
Challenges I took part in: None
Remarks: It’s going more slowly than I would like it to, but something or the other always turns up and I hardly get any time to read. My rare bathroom breaks are pretty profitable, though! The books itself is really good. I’m enjoying the writing and am wondering if I would be able to review it…I suspect reviewing it will be tough without giving away the quirky mysteries of the story…

Thursday, 15th
Number of pages read today: 10 + 9 =19
What I read today: Never Let Me Go and A Skeptic’s Guide to Faith
Total number of pages read to date: 81/400
Challenges I took part in: None
Remarks: I couldn’t get any reading done on Wednesday, and managed only these many pages today. The book by Philip Yancey was not planned. The Ishiguro was not around when I felt like reading a few pages and this book was at hand so I picked it up. I hope to continue with it sometime next week.

Friday, 16th
Number of pages read today: 210
What I read today: Never Let Me Go
Total number of pages read to date: 291/400
Books completed: 1
Challenges I took part in: 1. Rainbow of Books Challenge. Here’s a photo of my entry: https://twitter.com/breadcrumbreads/status/467368719136464896
Remarks: I wasn’t keeping too well today, so the hubby stepped in to keep an eye on the kids in the middle of work, while I rested. I managed to get a wee bit of reading done during that time, but the trend continued through the rest of the day as I managed to stay off the computer. Am very happy I’m done with Never Let Me Go. I have rather mixed feelings about the book, though the writing was great. Will, of course, have more to see about it in my review later next week.

Sunday, 18th
Number of pages read today: 24
What I read today: A Skeptic’s Guide to Faith
Total number of pages read to date: 315/400
Books completed: 1
Remarks: I didn’t read a single page on Saturday, and yesterday I was just too tired to do more than 20-odd pages. I think I spent most of my free time, yesterday, staring blankly at the computer!!

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WRAP-UP
Though the numbers hardly seem like much, I am really quite happy with what I have managed to achieve this past week. I made myself two goals – to complete 400 pages and to finish at least 1 book. I managed the latter, when I began and completed Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro last week. I wish I was able to reach the 400 page mark as well…I know could have easily done so with some of the spare time I ended up wasting…but 315 pages isn’t too bad, right?

I had hope to finish a short story for the Deal Me In challenge as well, but I ended up forgetting about it completely. Yikes! Anyway…so this was it. For the first time I participated in a couple of challenges as well, which was quite a bit of fun. And I managed to tweet a bit as well. I must admit to having done almost close to no blog-hopping at all. But the again, I was in this to read. :D

What I came home with today.

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I had a lovely afternoon out with my family. We treated mom to lunch for Mother's Day and then went to the mall for a short while. I couldn't resist walking into the book store and finally came out with these.
I've read Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day, and loved it. So, I picked up Never Let Me Go and When We Were Orphans. The premise of both books sounded interesting and pleasing, and a glance at Ishiguro's writing reminded me of why I'd enjoyed reading him. So, I'm really looking forward to these!

Then there's Three Men on the Bummel. I enjoyed Three Men in a Boat a couple of years ago, and had since then, decided to read this one as well.

The last one is the Folger Shakespeare Library version of As You Like It. I suspect I might have to teach it this year. I'm not sure as yet though…
 

“The Wizard’s Coming”

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eight-of-diamondsI drew eight of diamonds for Week 19 of the Deal Me In challenge. This meant I got to begin this short story annual challenge with a fantasy short called “The Wizard’s Coming” by Juliet E. McKenna.

I was quite thrilled about starting this challenge out with a fantasy short story, but it turned to be a huge disappointment. The story centres around a little fiefdom that is under threat by the Corsairs. It’s a case of “your money or your life”. But the lord of the fiefdom is determined to pay no ‘tribute’ to these heartless raiders and has sought the help of a magician. Now, in this universe the mages do not get involved in the lives of other people. They spend their time in scholarly pursuits seeking to better themselves at their gifts. However, a wizard comes to the rescue of the fiefdom, and there is a confrontation with the Corsairs.

That’s the gist of the story. About 44 pages long, this shorts wasn’t really able to hold my attention. It took me three days to complete it. To begin with, it is chalk-full of characters. Secondly, every single character has a name. Now, in my book, if you’re going to be naming characters, especially in a short story, each character should be at least a wee bit developed, right? “The Wizard’s Coming” has a countless number of names with very flat characters. The beginning was so confusing because there were at least ten men in the scene (there might have been more), and each of them was named even if they got just one line to say or a look to give, and never ever appeared again in the story! I couldn’t care for a single character mentioned and the death left me completely unmoved. And speaking of deaths, this short is littered with them. Mckenna mentions a character in a line or two and then kills him off in the following lines. There are dead men falling like flies on the pages and it was all I could do to not give in to sheer boredom and keep on reading.

I wouldn’t recommend this short. It is too shallow and superficial. It tries to be epic with a form of prose one can’t get epic with, without possessing great skill. I also suspect it might be a part of a bigger work as the end of the short is not really an end, but seems to demand a sequel.

Anyway, that is one short down and fifty-one more to go!

Note: the image for the eight of diamonds card is from HERE. As a kid I loved Fushigi Yuugi, so I was quite excited to find these! :D

Deal me in!

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I haven’t joined any reading challenges this year seeing as I wasn’t certain how I would be able to delegate myself reading time, and I didn’t want to be bogged down my a goal-to-achieve. I wanted to be able to choose whatever I wanted to read, whenever I wanted to read it. I wanted to be able to pick up a book even a month or two after the previous one. No hassles. I’ve been enjoying things this way. Keeping it sane. Even avoiding classic spins! (Which I was sorely tempted to join in this time except that I didn’t want to pick out 20 classics, but any 20 books off my shelf that I felt I would like to read now!) I’ve been reading a variety albeit not much.

However, I’ve decided to join in one challenge. It’s a short story reading challenge called Deal Me In. It’s hosted by Jay at Bibliophilopolis. I’ve been following Jay’s blog since my Short Story on Wednesday days. He’s been following, for the past three or four years, a rather interesting method of reading short stories. He takes a pack of cards, assigns a short story to each card before the start of a new year. Then, each week he picks a card and reads the assigned short story. That way he reads, at least, 52 short stories a year! This year, 2014, he decided to make it a challenge for others who would like to join him. I’ve only just discovered that he’s opened it up, and I’ve decided to take part.

I have about four or five short story books. Two fantasy anthologies, and one each by Murakami, Poe and Joyce. I’ve been having a tough time finishing these books since every time I pick one up I feel like I have to finish them at one go, and feeling the pressure I just shelve them for a novel. Following Jay’s method should, not only get me through most of it, but also be a fun way to read them without it all getting monotonous. So, here’s what I have for the year. I’m 18 weeks late, already, but I think I might be able to catch up. I will complete none of these books with this list. However, I will be done with most of these short stories, and should Jay do this again next year, I will definitely be able to complete all of this and more!!

What’s in the deck for Deal Me In, 2014.

Hearts – Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Haruki Murakami
A  “Aeroplane: Or, How He Talked to Himself as If Reflecting
2   “Poetry”
3   “The Mirror”
4   “A Folklore for My Generation: A Prehistory of Late-Stage Capitalism
5   “Hunting Knife”
6   “A Perfect Day for Kangaroos”
7   “Dabchick”
8   “Man-Eating Cats”
9   “A ‘Poor Aunt’ Story”
10 “Nausea”
J   “The Seventh Man”
Q  “The Year of Spaghetti”
K  “Tony Takitani”

Spades – Selected Tales by Edgar Allan Poe 
A  “Ligeia”
2   “How to Write a Blackwood Article”
3   “The Fall of the House of Usher”
4   “William Wilson”
5   “The Murders in the Rue Morgue”
6   “A Descent into the Maelstrom”
7   “The Island of the Fay”
8   “The Colloquy of Monos and Una
9   “The Oval Portrait”
10 “The Masque of the Red Death”
J   “The Mystery of Marie Roget”
Q  “The Pit and the Pendulum”
K  “The Gold-Bug”

Diamonds – The Solaris Book of New Fantasy ed. by George Mann
A  “Reins of Destiny” – Janny Wurts
2   “Tornado of Sparks” – James Maxey
3   “Grander than the Sea” – T.A. Pratt
4   “The Prince of End Times” – Hal Duncan
5   “King Tales” – Jeff VanderMeer
6   “In Between Dreams” – Christopher Barzak
7   “And Such Small Deer” – Chris Roberson
8   “The Wizard’s Coming” – Juliet E. McKenna
9   “Shell Game” – Mike Resnick
10 “The Song Her Heart Sang” – Steven Savile
J    “A Man Falls” – Jay Lake
Q   ” O Caritas” – Conrad Williams
K   “Lt. Privet’s Love Song” – Scott Thomas

Clubs – Dubliners by James Joyce
A  “The Sisters”
2   “An Encounter”
3   “Araby”
4   “Eveline”
5   “After the Race”
6   “Two Gallants”
7   “The Boarding House”
8   “A Little Cloud”
9   “Counterparts”
10 “Clay”
J   “A Painful Case”
Q  “Ivy Day in the Committee Room”
K  “A Mother”

This is it. Wish me luck! :D

On my blogs this week.

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This last one week has been a pretty good week for me in terms of reading and writing. While I haven’t read as much as could be considered even a decent amount, I have been reading for pleasure without forcing myself to complete a set goal. Hence, I’m feeling relaxed and quite confident that I will be finishing my current book at my own pace no matter the fact that I didn’t complete my goals for the read-a-thon.

I’m also especially pleased that I got into the mood for some writing this week (mostly the reason why my reading took a back seat these last three days). I’ve discovered some interesting writing challenge blogs and some interesting writers….mostly poets. I’ve been having fun, fun, FUN! :D

So, then….this is what I’ve posted this week.

At Breadcrumb Reads:

At Vignette:

I’ve also written my first draft to a short story. I hope to do a thorough editing of it tonight and hope to have it up by tomorrow morning. Will have to see if I have the time.

So, that’s been my blogging week!

How’s yours been? :)