Re-reading: what do you think?

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"If one cannot enjoy reading a book over and over again, there is no use in reading it at all."

~Oscar Wilde

I read the above quote a few weeks ago and I'm not sure what I think. I have two qualifications for what earns a place on my at-home bookshelves. 

• Will I read it again?
• Would I loan it out to someone else?

Obviously that means there are books I consider worth a re-read, but with so many, many books on my to-read list, I wonder if it's a waste of time to re-read something I've already taken time for once. 

There are exceptions. I've read Keep a Quiet Heart3 times because it has such depth. I'm currently reading  Jacob Have I Loved because I haven't read it since childhood and it takes place in the county where I currently live and mentions places I recognize. I've also read two of my favorite modern novels twice each (Some Wildflower In My Heart and Not a Sparrow Falls).

I'm sure there are others, too.  One of my favorite tricks to accomplish a little re-reading is to read aloud to my kids a book I enjoyed in childhood.

So, how do you feel about re-reading books? Do you do it? Any favorites?

 For other posts in my Book Talk series, click here.

Have You Gone Modern?

When eReaders and eBooks first came on the scene, I declared that I would never turn my back on traditional paper books.   

How can I cozy up with a hard thin piece of plastic?  I said.

Books on a screen are not nearly as appealing as books on a shelf, I said.

That was before my husband gave me a Kindle as a gift a little over a year ago.  It took me all of 5 seconds to get hooked on this new-to-me technology and decide that it had it merits. 

• It travels in my purse everywhere I go so I always a book (or two or three) at the ready when I find myself in need.  (Yes, I do sometimes need a book!) 
  
  
• When I finish a paper book unexpectedly and don't have time to run out to the library, I can check out an eBook from the library via my home computer...or I can peruse the books I've already downloaded to my Kindle library. 
  
  
• There is a little feature at the bottom of the screen that tells me  (based on my reading speed) how many minutes are left in my chapter and how many minutes are left in my book.  For someone with an obsessive personality (like me), that is an awesome perk. 

Sure, an eReader still has its drawbacks. I'm an intensely visual learner. When I'm reading a book and want to re-check something I've read, I can usually picture the side of the page and the placement on the page to find what I need quickly.  It doesn't work that easily with an eBook. And it really isn't as cozy to read with an electronic device as it is to hold and smell a paper book.  I'm content to see-saw between the two options and enjoy the best of both worlds. 

So, how about you? Have you gone modern?  Do you read from an eReader or do prefer traditional methods? 

: :: :: :: :: :: :: :

Want to catch up on what began as one reading question and has turned into an unofficial series? 

We've talked about our reading quirks. We discussed how we choose the books we read aloud to our kids.  We've talked about whether we quit books we hate or soldier on ,  whether we prefer fiction or non-fiction, and what specific genres are our favorites. We also discussed whether we prefer to borrow or buy our books and our criteria for keeping the books we do buy (versus donating them).

After the Book is Done

My unofficial blog series on reading is turning into an "official" series, I think.  We've talked about our reading quirks and how we choose the books we read aloud to our kids.  We've talked about whether we quit books we hate or soldier on , whether we prefer fiction or non-fiction, and what specific genres are our favorites. We also discussed whether we prefer to borrow or buy our books. 

So today I'm wondering...

If you decide to buy a book, what do you do with it after you finish reading it?  Does it automatically go on your bookshelf?  What about if you didn't like it? 

After I read a book, I ask myself 2 questions:

• Will I read this again?
• Will I recommend this to someone? 

If I can answer yes to either question, I give it a home on the bookshelf.  If not, out it goes!

It's trickier with kids' books because I have a few hoarders among my children (and it drives their very un-hoarder-ish mother crazy!).  If I pick up a book that we've never read and I'm not sure if I'll love enough to keep, I'll put it with the borrowed books in our library basket.  That way, I can read it once and if I don't like it or can't imagine myself reading it over and over, I "return" it to the library as a donation and the kids are none the wiser. 

Borrow or Buy?

{This post, like most of my posts that discuss books, contains affiliate links.}

Today I'm returning to my unofficial blog series on reading.  I love conversations about books and I love hearing your answers to my questions. We've  talked about our reading quirks and how we choose the books we read aloud to our kids.  We've talked about whether we quit books we hate or soldier on  and whether we prefer fiction or non-fiction and what specific genres are our favorites. 

Now let's delve into the nitty gritty:  Do you buy or borrow your books?

The library is my best friend.  Probably 90% of the books I read are borrowed from the library.  It's free, it's easy, and if I hate the book, I return it without another thought.

Occasionally, I'll borrow a book from a friend.  The first time I read Call the Midwife (before there was a TV series or any hype surrounding the book), I borrowed it from my friend, Ginger, who is my go-to person all things reading.  I'm nervous about borrowing from friends, though, because I feel responsible to return the book in the pristine condition in which I received it and I'm sometimes a careless reader.  (I'm not "allowed" to read Brian's books because I tend to curl the pages and bend the covers.)

I buy numerous used books which is why all the bookshelves in our house are full, but it's hard for me to commit to paying full price for a book I might not like. I do it occasionally, but not without sweaty palms.  (I'm frugal to a fault.)  I literally waited 10 months after I got my Kindle to purchase the translations of the BibleI wanted.  It only cost $2.99, but I made do with a free version until I got the nerve. 

So what about you?  Are you a buyer or a borrower?

Come back Monday for the launch of my FREE eBook:

Summer Reading Guide For Families! 

What is Your Genre?

{This post, like most of my posts that discuss books, contains affiliate links.}

We talked about our reading quirks and how we choose the books we read aloud to our kids.  We've talked about whether we quit books we hate or soldier on  and whether we prefer fiction or non-fiction.  Today let's talk about the types of books we read -- not simply fiction or non-- but our favorite specific genres.  

I admitted last week that I am not a fan of historical fiction.  On further reflection, though, I'm afraid that's not true.  The best book I've read so far this year was historical fiction.  The Secret Keeper was set primarily during The Blitz in England during World War II, but it was also so much more than historical fiction.  It included intrigue, suspense, and drama.  One of my all-time favorite authors, Lynn Austin, writes historical fiction.  She covers a wide range of time periods, from the Biblical kings of Judahto the Civil Warto the Great Depression, but I love her writing because of the strong characters and the can't-put-down plots.  I guess I read more historical fiction than I think, but it needs to be more than history to captivate me. 

So what is my favorite genre?

When I'm reading fiction, I like
            medical drama (think A Heartbeat Away),
                      a good  suspense story (think The Thirteenth Tale or Deeper Water),
                                  or modern character-driven drama (think Watch Over Me or The Shape of Mercy).

With non-fiction, I gravitate towards
                      memoirs (think Midwife's Here! or I Still Believeor The Year of Learning Dangerously).

   

I hit a dry spot with classics recently.  Unless Sherlock Holmes is considered a classic (is it?), I had not read a classic I enjoyed for a couple of years.  At the end of the week, I'm going to share what classic book finally broke the dam. 

What you tend to navigate to one particular genre or all you a well-rounded reader? 

Are You a Quitter?

{This post, like most of my posts that discuss books, contains affiliate links.}


We've been doing a bit of discussing our book habits here lately.  We talked about our reading quirks and whether we prefer fiction or non-fiction and how we choose the books we read aloud to our kids.  Today I have another question:

Do you feel compelled to finish every book you start or do you quit if you are not enjoying a book? 

I tend to be picky about what I pick up to begin with.  I read authors I know or books that come highly recommended from people I trust. That ensures that I'll mostly love... or at least like...what I pick up to read. 

That being said, I've quit two books so far this year.  

The first was The Great Gatsby.  I'd been feeling guilty that I don't read enough of the classics.  Since this is short and there is a movie version coming out this year, I thought it would be a good one to start with. I got two pages in and decided there were many other books I'd rather read so I quit.  (I'm reading The Wizard of Oz to the kids now to get my classics fix.) 


The second was Signs of Life: A Memoir by Natalie Taylor. It was written by a young woman in her 20s who lost her husband while pregnant with their first child.  It had the potential to be a heartrending and inspirational story, but instead the narrative came across as angry and bitter, and as the author spouted off numerous "f" words in the first chapter, I quit. 

Have you quit any books recently? 

How to Catch Up on What You Never Read as a Kid

Last week, I asked whether your pleasure reading consists of more fiction or non-fiction and Allyson commented,

"My fiction reading now consists of mostly children's novels that I read to the kids."

Reading to my kids is my favorite way to read the books I never got around to reading when I was young! It's also my way to share with my kids my favorite books growing up and to have an excuse to revisit them myself.


I vividly remember reading my very first chapter book in the summer between kindergarten and first grade.  It was Ramona Quimby, Age 8 by Beverly Cleary and that's one of the main reasons I decided to read the whole 8-book series of Ramona books to my kids a few summers ago.  Owen has asked to read them again this summer because he loved them so much. 

Another book I loved as a child was Pippi Longstocking by Astrid Lindgren.  I think I was particularly fond of Pippi because we both have red hair. My kids loved Pippi, too.  Maddie, Owen, and Ben "play" Pippi now and take turns being the various characters from Pippi to Annika to Mr. Nilsson, the monkey! A few weeks after we completed the chapter book, we found a picture book at the library called Do You Know Pippi Longstocking? that appealed to all the kids, right on down to Alaine. 

I haven't had as much success with new material lately.  I thought Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle by Betty MacDonald looked cute and we all did enjoy the first book, but when we moved on to Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Magic, I could barely get through it. 

The first book had short chapters.  Each one presented a child with a problem that needed curing, and Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle provided the solution.  When one child picked at his food and took too long to eat his dinner, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle told his mother to serve his food on tiny dishes until he got hungry.  When a group of siblings complained of bedtime, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle told their parents to let them stay up all night and have them realize they were too tired to play the next day.  It was witty and clever.  The second book was much longer. The chapters were tedious and contained excessive detail, plus the cures consisted of magic powders and the like.  The magic element was lighthearted and not offensive, but it zapped the cures of their cleverness. 

When we finished, we again found a fun  picture book at the library, Mrs. Piggle-Wiggle's Won't-Pick-Up-Toys Cure.

We're currently reading The Borrowers by Mary Norton, and I'm counting the pages until we finish.  It's not a bad book, but it's leans a little too far into the fantasy genre which is not my style.  I think the only one of us who is enjoying it is Maddie who would happily listen to me read the dictionary if I asked. 

Next up is a beautifully illustrated but unabridged version of  The Wizard of Oz by Frank L. Baum.  I really want to enjoy our read aloud time again and I hope this is the key!  

How do you choose books to read to your kids?  Do you share favorites from your childhood or do you look for new material?