Reading Habits | Book Chatter

On most days, you can find me blasting my iPod in the car. I have a bit of a commute to get to work and back so music makes the time in the car tolerable. Lately though, my focus has been all over the place and the frantic beat has been a bit of a distraction.

So…

I decided to listen to the literature podcasts that I had subscribed to. The thing is, those podcasts, for whatever reason never updated with newer ones so when Jennifer Schuessler mentioned that The Lost Symbol was #1 on the bestseller list, I glanced down only to discover that what I was listening to was from this time, last year!

Literature Podcasts

At first, I was irritated. I cursed my iPod. After I got it all out though, I was sort of charmed by the mention of these books. For the most part, these books escaped my radar or I actually made the effort to add them to Goodreads and then promptly forgot about them. I do that all the time.

It occurred to me how much changes in a year’s time. I don’t know how publishers deal with the never-ending cycle of books and then add to that the trends we’ve experienced with e-readers. How many e-readers are out there now? Several and more than one version of each. One of the podcasts I listened to discussed Vook. Do you remember when vooks came out? Do you use them?

If I think back to my reading tastes from last year, they are quite different than what I enjoy now. True, I still learn towards literary fiction but I’ve been loving dystopian fiction too and years ago, it was not a genre I would have given a second thought to. Coincidentally, it’s not a genre that was discussed in any of those podcasts from a year ago either.

It’s been discussed before but I’ve never been clear on what drives trends when it comes to reading. Do publishers push certain genres or do readers, through their purchasing habits, dictate what appears on the shelves? I imagine it’s probably a bit of both.

Listening to these dated podcasts has been refreshing though. I mean, if the book was great back then, why wouldn’t it be now? Needless to say, I will be adding a few more books to my TBR list.

Oh, and if you have any literature podcasts that you’d like to recommend, please let me know. Currently, I subscribe to the ones noted above, plus Nancy Pearl and the Seattle Public Library.

Do you have any reading quirks?

I do.

Mine doesn’t really have anything to do with the environment. I can read in noisy places without any issues and I have been known to read with very little lighting. No, for me the quirkiness comes from the story itself and if the author has done his or her job, then the characters speak to me and I will typically have something to say in reply.

Yep. I talk to the characters when they are really well drawn. I am usually not aware that I am doing it but my kids and sometimes The Hub (when not taken hostage by the TV) have been known to bring it to my attention.

This happened recently with Labor Day by Joyce Maynard. The story revolves around a questionable character and all throughout the book, I kept hearing him say, “Hey Ti, I’m a good guy.” His actions spoke volumes. Another blogger mentioned to me that she didn’t care for the book because of its creep factor. I get what she is saying. In a normal situation I’d feel the same way, but that character was so well written (in my opinion) that he spoke to me. And everything that out of his mouth was good.

I think there are probably a lot of readers that do this while reading a book. Am I right? But do you do it afterward too? I finished the book a couple of days ago and I am still talking to Frank. The same can be said for King’s The Stand. I’ve been talking to Trashcan Man quite a bit lately and I’m sure I’ll talk to him a bit once I’m done.

Does the ability to hear a character automatically equal success? No. Lots of things have to come together for me to love a book, but I am always amused by the idea of a character coming to life on the page.

I’m sort of like that kid from the movie The Sixth Sense, only he sees dead people and I see (and talk) to people who don’t exist in real life. Could be worse. Heck, I could even call it a “talent” if I stretch the imagination a bit.

What’s your reading quirk?

Chatting with friends about books and life…