Tag Archives: Bookish Chatter

Chatter about books, reading and anything related to either one.

Best of 2015: My Favorites

Book Chatter's Best of 2015

The new year is just around the corner so it’s time to wrap-up 2015. Here are my top eight books read this year.

I had a hard time coming up with books because I liked many of them but there were a few that really stuck with me in some way.

Here’s my list in no particular order:

West of Sunset by Stewart O’Nan
The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber
A Little Life by Hanya Yanagahira
The Last Pilot by Benjamin Johncock
Kitchens of the Great Midwest by J. Ryan Stradal
Summerlong by Dean Bakapoulos
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand
Norwegian by Night by Derek B. Miller

I hope you all have a safe and wonderful New Year’s Eve!

Happy New Year 2016

Bookish Habits

Bookish Habits

We all have them, don’t we? We like to read a specific way with specific things around us and although I can read anywhere, and have been seen reading in some odd places (like the labor and delivery room), I tend to like things a certain way.

Here are a few of my bookish habits. Feel free to add yours in comments!

  1. I prefer to read while lying on my stomach.
  2. Couch reading requires a soft throw, even when it’s hot out.
  3. I. Cannot. Bend. A. Page.
  4. My Kindle font is so large people across the room can read the darn thing.
  5. My TBR (to be read) shelf is arranged in the order I plan to read.
  6. I have four library cards to different systems so I am never without the book I need. Well, rarely.
  7. The only time I eat and read is while at work.
  8. People think I read 24-7 but I only read about an hour a day.
  9. I can read the most gruesome horror and not bat an eye but child molestation, rape and sometimes terminal illness does me in every time.  I avoid these subjects.
  10. After accidentally wiping out my entire Kindle library, I never turn it off for fear of doing it again.
  11. I keep a Goodreads list, a Library Thing list and a Google Docs list of books I’ve read/reviewed. I think I am afraid of losing that data even though it’s published content on the blog.
  12. I do not need silence to read in but I prefer it.
  13. I prefer to tackle challenging books with other people.
  14. I prefer chunksters over shorter books.
  15. I do not own many books. I only keep books that are special to me. The rest are given away or donated.
  16. I can read on my Kindle with e-ink technology but I cannot read on a tablet without getting a splitting headache.
  17. If someone is reading a book in public, I go out of my way to see what they are reading. I’ve mastered the over-the-shoulder-glance.
  18. I like to re-read my favorite books from time to time.
  19. I’ve been known to transport my books around in a zip lock bag to keep them nice.  Put in bag, toss in purse.
  20. In the past, I’ve used tape flags in my books but I hardly ever go back to what I’ve highlighted so now I snap pics of passages to keep them handy.

Now it’s your turn. What bookish habit can you share with us?