The Duck's Meow
Monday, June 9, 2014
Book Genres
Book Series: How I Feel
As you may know, book series are a way for authors to continue their characters' story and a strategy to sell more books. Chances are, readers will want to continue reading books about a character that they know and love than about a character they do not know. Also, a series gives the author the ability to end one book so it leads into another.
I have a love-hate relationship with series. The love part of it is because I like to read about characters I know. For example, I love two crime series because I love the main character in both. The first series is Lee Child's Reacher series where Jack Reacher is the main character. I have read three or four of these Reacher books. Another series is Robert Crais' Joe Pike books. I have also read three or four of these books. I do read single books but I more often read books out of a series. Another reason I like series is it makes it easy for me to find a new book when I am looking for one. My favorite series are a go-to pick when I'm looking for a book to read.
The hate side of my relationship with series is because I closes my eyes to other possible reads. Since my favorite series are a go-to, I tend to not want to try new books or new series that I don't know much about. I don't want to spend the time reading a book that I might not like.
I have a love-hate relationship with series. The love part of it is because I like to read about characters I know. For example, I love two crime series because I love the main character in both. The first series is Lee Child's Reacher series where Jack Reacher is the main character. I have read three or four of these Reacher books. Another series is Robert Crais' Joe Pike books. I have also read three or four of these books. I do read single books but I more often read books out of a series. Another reason I like series is it makes it easy for me to find a new book when I am looking for one. My favorite series are a go-to pick when I'm looking for a book to read.
The hate side of my relationship with series is because I closes my eyes to other possible reads. Since my favorite series are a go-to, I tend to not want to try new books or new series that I don't know much about. I don't want to spend the time reading a book that I might not like.
Friday, June 6, 2014
Books vs eBooks
I guess I'm not a steriotypical twenty-first century teenager in that I don't like the whole move to technology. Although I know how to use the current tech and I have plenty of items that I use on a regular basis, I don't entirely enjoy it and the way it runs some people's lives. My feelings on the technology movement also apply to the discussion of books vs ebooks. Unlike many people, I prefer tangible, paper books over ebooks. Why? Well, for various reasons.
First is that I enjoy having a book in-hand when I am reading. It gives me more satisfaction so see my progress physically by the pages I've turned rather than a digital number. I also like the way books look. I don't read often, but the books I read and enjoy I like to keep in a small shelf on my bookshelf. I like being able to see all the spines of the books lined up right in front of me.
Another reason for me is that I don't read often. I can understand those people who read a book or two a week wanting to have all their books consolodated in one place (ebook reader). I, on the other hand, do not read often. If I'm lucky I'll read a couple of books I want to read every year. So for me, the cost of those few books and the space they take up is not really significant. I am a proponent for those people who read very frequently to get an eReader and download their books there (if they want to buy them).
Another reason for me (and this is very specific for me) is that I enjoy the act of buying a book at the bookstore. Theres something about going there and searching through all the thousands of books just to find the one book that I want. I guess since I don't do it much it is still a fun thing to do for me. I also enjoy the feeling of a new book. The perfect lines of the pages and the uncreased spine are something that I really enjoy. Weird, right? I am a collector at heart (I'll collect pretty much anything) so I like having a little collection of books. I especially like reading and having all the books in a series.
For me, having paper books is just as practical (and more enjoyable) than using an eReader. I'm not saying others should follow in my path. I think you should do whats most practical for you and what you enjoy most.
First is that I enjoy having a book in-hand when I am reading. It gives me more satisfaction so see my progress physically by the pages I've turned rather than a digital number. I also like the way books look. I don't read often, but the books I read and enjoy I like to keep in a small shelf on my bookshelf. I like being able to see all the spines of the books lined up right in front of me.
Another reason for me (and this is very specific for me) is that I enjoy the act of buying a book at the bookstore. Theres something about going there and searching through all the thousands of books just to find the one book that I want. I guess since I don't do it much it is still a fun thing to do for me. I also enjoy the feeling of a new book. The perfect lines of the pages and the uncreased spine are something that I really enjoy. Weird, right? I am a collector at heart (I'll collect pretty much anything) so I like having a little collection of books. I especially like reading and having all the books in a series.
For me, having paper books is just as practical (and more enjoyable) than using an eReader. I'm not saying others should follow in my path. I think you should do whats most practical for you and what you enjoy most.
Sunday, May 4, 2014
The Books of My Life
Most notably, my favorite childhood book, Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, is one of those books. I will always remember my mom reading this book over and over to me when I was a kid. I always liked the story and how the "wild things" appeared to be scary monsters but in reality danced around and acted silly. I also always liked how the kid's room turned into a jungle before his eyes. This nonsensical type of novel fueled my movement to the Dr. Seuss books which I enjoyed just as much.
Just recently in school I read Brave New World by Aldous Huxley which I would consider my favorite book read for school. Typically, since we are in high school, we read coming of age stories which are probably my least favorite type of novels. We moved away from that trend this year when we read Brave New World, a dystopian-style book taking place in an alternate society where people are manufactured and brainwashed to conform. I loved this novel because it was such a departure from the typical "school books". It provides a story that follows the personal struggles of specific characters but also the struggles of society. I liked all of the concepts that at the time of publishing made the book a banned book.
Although I did not read this book on the beach when I read it for the first time, I think it would be a good book to read on the beach because of its topic. The book I'm referring to is Pirate Hunters by Mack Maloney. Just by the cover, it may not seem like a typical influential book but for me it was. It was one of the first books that drove my interest in the crime genre. Although its not a typical crime novel since it does not feature a detective or any officer of the law, it exhibits the features of a crime novel in its own way. The "pirate hunters" are a group of retired US soldiers working a private job for a shipping company in Somalia. Their mission used to be protect the people of the United States, but now it is to stop pirate operations off the coast of Somalia. The way the book goes into detail about all of the action scenes is what I was really interested in. The whole book was action-packed and kept me reading the whole way through. I would consider it a beach read because being on a beach would allow you to visualize some of the action scenes more vividly.
The book I would currently place on the top of my "must read" list would probably be Killing Floor by Lee Child. I have always had a deep appreciation for Child's Reacher series but this book gave me even greater appreciation for his writing. Killing Floor is Child's first Reacher book, which initially I thought might leave me wanting more. I have read three or four other Reacher books and always enjoyed how Child wrote but I knew that all authors had to start somewhere and I assumed that any flaws that he has since worked out would be present in his first book. After reading Killing Floor I found that I was mistaken. The writing was just as smooth as all his other books. This really impressed me and spawned a greater appreciation for Child's writing. I would regard this book as a must read because it has everything that I love about mysteries and is a start to a series of novels that continue that legacy. I now want to read the rest of the series to continue viewing Reacher's endeavors and Child's excellent writing.
Although we would like all books to be "favorite-worthy" it just doesn't always work out that way. Case in point, probably my least favorite books I've ever read were Shakespeare plays. They seem to be very polarizing books in that you either love them or you hate them. I was one of the people that hated them for a couple of reasons. First, I find it hard to get interested in books that take place as far in the past a Shakespeare plays. The edge of my interest in old books lies in Sherlock Holmes and that was late 17th century. The lifestyles of the people in really old books is so different from ours that it becomes a difficulty to imagine. I also don't appreciate the wordiness that Shakespeare plays are written in. I like stories that are lain out directly and require little thinking to decipher. When I read the few Shakespeare plays that I've read, I found myself getting lost because I didn't see the little details hidden in each line.
Wednesday, March 19, 2014
Me as a Reader
While I enjoy reading, I do not do it much. I find myself choosing other activities over reading because of time and effort involved with it. When I do read something I usually enjoy it (provided ther isn't much other work associated). When reading I typically enjoy to read mystery novels. I don't like reading any book that is overly wordy. I find them very boring and unecessary.
On this blog I will discuss books that I enjoy which are typically mysteries. If anyone enjoys reading mysteries, they may be interested in my blog (maybe). I'll probably have very few new insights on the books that I read because I usually don't think past the apparent meaning of the book. If I do have new insights, they will usually come from my experience with reading mystery novels.
On this blog I will discuss books that I enjoy which are typically mysteries. If anyone enjoys reading mysteries, they may be interested in my blog (maybe). I'll probably have very few new insights on the books that I read because I usually don't think past the apparent meaning of the book. If I do have new insights, they will usually come from my experience with reading mystery novels.
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