Weekly Geeks 2011 - 20: Tech & Reading – Same as or a change in output

I haven’t done a a Weekly Geek in forever but this weeks topic really caught my attention. It is all about technology and reading. Here are the criteria:

• Did you have a hard and fast mindset in regards to your reading a year ago? (paperback, ebooks etc) 
• Are  you still true to that format?
• If you have tried another format (ebook, audio) – Share your experience?
• What was it that made you tried something out of your comfort zone?
• If you have not tried another format – Why?
• Give a brief over view of where you are at with your reading now, eg, load of paperback lying round, or the out of sight out of mind e-reader putting your mind at each or life as you know it have toss you a curve ball and forced you to think outside of the box?
• How do you feel about different output method now?

In order to write this post I went over my spread sheet of last years reading to see what I had read how. I read a total of 72 books and only 2.5 of those were e-books (one was for school and I didn’t get the paperback copy in time so I bought it in e-format and read it on my computer). 7 were audiobooks. That means that a majority of the books I read in 2010 were either paperback or hardback. However, I didn’t have an e-reader at that point. I was reading my e-books on my laptop and that was not ideal. Therefore my non-reading of e-books was a practical one, not an ideological one. So far this year my reading looks like this:

As you can see my reading habits have changed dramatically in the last year. These % are based on 37 books read (one book is counted in two categories because I switched format half way through for practical reasons). The reason for this rather dramatic change can be attributed to this:

My much adored Kindle (a few weeks later it was joined by my equally adored iPhone although that is more of an emergency reading device). It didn’t arrive until February and the numbers then start to add up. In March and April I read far more e-books (5 and 7 respectively) than traditional “paper” books (0 and 2 respectively) (I also managed one audiobook each month). One major reason was the Kindle. Without the Kindle I don’t think I would have read anywhere near as many books as I was also suffering from severe pain in my hands at this time. The Kindle is both lighter than a normal paperback and easier to hold. A large part of my problem is actually holding a paperback open.

The past two months however I have read far more paperback books (In May I only read half an e-book). So I guess I’m somewhat changeable in my reading patterns.

This month I’m back to reading quite a bit on my e-reader, partially because of the wonder that is NetGalley. Although I am becoming bolder in my relationships with publishers, I still don’t get that many review copies from traditional publishers. NetGalley and the Kindle however have enabled me to request more titles that way, and feel comfortable reading them (I’ve currently got three different books on the go that way).

Part of the reason why I am also reading more paperbacks this month and last is that I’ve been home more in May and June. There have been several bank holidays, plus one job finished and I chose not to start my summer job until this week so I also had regular days off (still worked at one of my teaching jobs the first two weeks in June but that was only a total of 3 days ). Being home meant that I could read more paperbacks. I’ve always been the kind of girl who has a paperback in her bag, but the past 6 months I’ve had to curtail that because of shoulder pain (linked to the hand pain). Again the Kindle and its light weight has enabled me to read without the pain. This means that rather than throw a paperback in my bag, I threw my e-reader in it, thus more e-reading.

Another advantage of e-books (and for me audiobooks) is the immediacy of purchase-reading. I currently don’t live very close to a bookstore or library (that will change in September, YAY!) so I buy a lot of my books online. And since I buy most of those books from BookDepository.co.uk it can take up to two weeks for me to get a book once I bought it (I rather famously got a package from them earlier this year and couldn’t for the life of me figure out what book it was ). E-books allow me to have the book on my reader within minutes of clicking that (dangerous) purchase button. Or as in the case with One Was a Soldier by Julia Spencer-Fleming rather frenetically pushing the refresh button on my iPhone waiting for my pre-order to load . Now I can have a book when I want to read it. I love that.

I’m hoping to create a balance between my e-reading and my paperback/hardback reading. What has changed in the past year or so is the way I consider my paperback book purchasing. I am now more likely to purchase a particular edition/print of a book. Where I had previously purchased the cheapest copy. Now I’m more likely to buy a more expensive, higher quality copy in order to display it. Books that I do not wish to display, or where a good quality copy does not necessarily exist, are more likely to be purchased in e-format. I also read a lot of the free classics on my reader. In addition I’ve actually purchased books I already own in paperback on my e-reader. These are books that I know I will be reading time and again (the Clare Fergusson/Russ Van Alstyne books are examples of this) and that I know that I will read to pieces. By buying them for the Kindle I will be able to read them without them breaking apart.

Image credit

As you can see from my writing above I don’t just read books on my Kindle or in paperback form but I also listen to books (although not as much as I would like). I’ve written extensively on this topic under the tag “audiobooks”.

Overall e-books and audiobooks have given me an opportunity to enjoy books where and when I otherwise wouldn’t have been able to either because of time and/or space or because of physical limitations. However, I don’t think either of them will ever completely replace the feeling of a physical copy of the book on my shelf. An e-book doesn’t allow you to wander around a bookstore with a coffee cup in hand, picking up books that strike you as interesting. They don’t allow you to fall in love with a book because you saw a stranger reading it on the subway and the congruity between the reader and book made you pick it up (link in Swedish, use Google translate, it is a great story). An e-book will never replace the joy I feel at finding that hard to get book at the used bookstore (I really must write a post about my beloved used bookstore). An e-book will however make reading easier for me as I highly doubt this will be the only winter where holding a book will bring tears to my eyes. It makes reading while travelling easier since I will no longer have to contort myself to get to that other book in my bag or have to lug a tonne of books with me on holiday (more room for shopping ).

As with everything, balance is key.

Copyright ©2011 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

TSS and Weekly Geeks: Challenges

I’m going to start this Sunday Salon post (as I have before) with an apology. I haven’t been around much lately. I haven’t been reading or thinking about book other than my thesis books. I am once again deeply buried in thesis land and it isn’t pretty. Add to that the holiday season and job hunting (since I graduate in January) and I have been super busy. I have an interview for a job that would be great on Tuesday and I have been offered a job that is good but not perfect so I will definitely be working in the spring. The thesis is finally back on a track of sorts, so I am hoping to get my reading back on track in the next week or so (this week is going to be super busy).

I have slowly started planning my reading for the next year though and thus also the challenges I plan on taking part in. That makes this weeks Weekly Geeks topic perfect since it asks for our challenges for next year and why we do them!

First off there is my own challenge:

Nordic Challenge 2011 where you read authors from the Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden).

Then there are, in no particular order:

What’s in a Name 4 This challenge looks like fun both because you can choose any genre, you just need to try and fit in the books

Shakespeare Reading Challenge I’m (almost) an English teacher but to be honest I’ve not read that much Shakespeare. I do own the complete works of Shakespeare so I have really no excuse. I have decided to aim for quite a low level and only read 4 plays, but you know, baby steps (most of the Shakespeare plays I have read I’ve read more than once).

GLBT Challenge 2011 I did this challenge this year and I want to continue with it as I’ve enjoyed it. This challenge doesn’t have any levels instead we set our own. I haven’t quite decided what my levels are going to be.

South Asian Author Challenge Again this is a repeat challenge for me but one that I enjoyed and one where I already know most of the books I want to read.

Mystery and Suspense Challenge This one was a no brainer for me, I read a lot of mystery books so this one fits perfectly with my current reading patterns.

All of these challenges allow you to use a book for more than one challenge and that is important to me. I have some books who fit into 3 or 4 challenges.

I will also (as I’ve said before) be taking part in the Year of Feminist Classics. I don’t know if I will be reading all the books but my aim is to read a fair chunk of them.

I take part in challenges because they challenge me to read books I would otherwise not consider, and this goes for challenges which genres I normally read as well. Plus I love making lists . I’ve also joined some challenges that shine a light on issues that I find important such as the GLBT Challenge and the Year of Feminist Classics. These challenges, with their focus allow me to consider aspects of the books that I might otherwise not have thought about.

I am also pretty sure I’ve signed up for a couple of Read A-Longs (Carin are we still doing that?) Plus I am reading War and Peace at a pace of a chapter a day.

Look out for my lists for my reading challenges over the next few days as well as my round-up posts for completed challenges this year!

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Weekly Geeks: 2010-28 (or is it actually 2009-35: What’s The Plan?)

This weeks Weekly Geeks asks us to revisit a favorite past Weekly Geek topic or one that you've haven't done before. I chose Week 2009-35 to check in on the progress of my challenges.

I entered 12 challenges this year, my first full year of blogging and so far I have done pretty well.

I have officially finished two (as in I’ve written wrap-up posts):

Childhood Favourites Challenge

Thriller and Suspense Challenge 2010

I have actually finished four more but not written wrap-ups because I either want to see if I can “level up” or because, well I just haven’t :D or because they are such great challenges that I just want to keep adding to the archives.

Women Unbound

Flashback Challenge

GLBT Challenge

Memorable Memoirs

I am very close to completing two challenges (I have one book left for each)

South Asian Author Challenge

Terry Pratchett Challenge

And I am nearing completion in two (5 books out of 20 in one and 3-8 out of 10-15 in the other)

2010 Challenge

POC challenge

One challenge will keep going since I didn’t sign up for a particular level, and even if it isn’t a challenge next year I will continue to read in the genre because I have amassed quite a list.

World Religion Challenge

I have already failed one challenge and that makes me very sad.

Social Justice Challenge

I found it hard to finish books on time and I kept forgetting about the steps. I feel like a bad person. :(

Back late last year I made up a master schedule of which books to read when. At the start of the year I followed it pretty well. Then around May it all fell apart when I got a bad case of shiny book syndrome :D Despite that I am well on track to finish all my challenges. I substituted quite a few books, especially in the Thriller and Suspense Challenge and I am really glad I did, it has allowed me to discover some great new-to-me authors, Julia Spencer-Fleming and Dorothy L. Sayers primarily and to take part in both the Classic Circuit and the Spotlight Series. I think taking part in challenges has been great for my reading habits. I am normally a reader of habit. I keep reading the same authors and books over and over again. The challenges have in the main forced me to find new authors and new genres. I will definitely be taking part in several challenges next year as well.

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Weekly Geeks: 2010-27: Covers

This weeks Weekly Geeks is concerned with covers: Comparing covers of different editions, prettiest covers, ugliest covers, changing of covers over time. You get the idea. I’ve decided to comment on the covers of one of my favourite series: J.D. Robb’s In Death series. This comparison will include changing covers over time and across borders.

 

 

These are the covers for Naked in Death. The first one is the oldest cover. The third one is the UK cover. They are my favourite covers. of the bunch. I really prefer the series of UK covers that this one includes. I loved the one image on the black background, but the last few books have had a different graphic design.

Probably to avoid the comparisons with the Twilight phenomena.

I am always curious about the decision to change cover concepts in the middle of a series.

 

 

 

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

TSS: Weekly Geeks 2010-25 Author Picture Quiz and Giveaway

I am going to use my TSS post this week for my Weekly Geek post and my first ever giveaway :D

Weekly Geeks this week is doing an Author Picture Quiz which was one of Dewey’s original ideas. Here is my picture:

A few hints:

• It is an author whose book I have reviewed here on the blog in the last 12 months.
• He is one of my favourite authors.

Prize for the giveaway:

A book valued at €10 or less from BookDepository.co.uk

Rules for the giveaway:

• Open to any location that BookDepository ships to (check here to make sure your country is on the list)
• Comment in the comment section with your answer.
• Only one answer per person (multiple answers by the same person will disqualify ALL your answers)
• Only correct answers will be included in the draw.
• Entries must be in by July 31st 2010 11:59pm CET
• I will use random.org to choose a winner.
• Winner will be announced on August 1st 2010
• Please include a way for me to contact you in your entry

The catch:

The winner must submit a guest post stating which book they have chosen to receive and why they chose it (nothing long).

ETA: The incredibly helpful Leeswamme pointed out a problem with the comments and entries on this giveaway so currently I have comment moderation on so that you can’t see previous posters comments, just to make it a bit harder :D To those who already entered, don’t worry, I have your comments saved. Thank you all for bearing with me while I learn to navigate the world of giveaways.

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.

Weekly Geeks 2010-23: Book Trailers

This week the Weekly Geek question is about book trailers: do you watch them and if so what do you think about them.

To be honest, I don’t watch book trailers. I don’t read that many new releases so I don’t go seeking them out on the net and they aren’t really being shown on this side of the pond. In addition to this I’m not sure I want to see them but in order to write this post I decided to go and have a look at some of the ones posted on the Moby award site. I have to say it did not make me want to watch any more. I purposely chose books I would not want to read to see if they could convince me to read them. They did not. I really don’t want images put in my head before I read a book. Sometimes I even don’t want to look at the covers because I want my own ideas of what things look like, how names are pronounced etc. I don’t want some advertiser to tell me that. I think I will stick to avoiding them in the future.

I do want to say that although book trailers are not for me I am not against their existence. If they bring more people into reading then hey they are a good thing!

Copyright ©2010 Zee from Notes from the North. This post was originally posted by Zee from Notes from the North. It should not be reproduced without express written permission.