Books #15 Reading Chats!

[Katykatykaty]

I haven’t read a single physical book since I got my kindle last year 🫣 never thought I’d use it as much as I do!

Same here. The only books I’ve got in the house that are mine are ones I got for the birthday and Christmas before I got my Kindle. Not touched them since.
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I also like the kindle cause I can read it with the lights off if my boyfriend wants to sleep

I’m the same. My husband falls asleep so much quicker than I do and I’d get no books read without a Kindle. I also spent between 1 and 3 hours on my son’s floor every night settling him back to sleep and I read so much with my Kindle under his bed.

 

[justonemorepage]

Finished The Housemaid today and now I've started The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo. I love how much I'm reading lately. It's so much nicer than mindlessly scrolling.

 

[arthur shandy]

Feels good to know I’m not alone in being slightly unmotivated to read at the moment! Not like me at all either. I’m basically unmotivated in everything right now, is there something in the air?! Anyway I’m so happy to have found this thread. Sorry I’ve not had chance to read through everything yet so might have been discussed already but has anyone done A Little Life? I finished it last month and I’m still devastated, I’ve not sobbed at a book like that before since Grief is the thing with feathers by Max Porter (still my favourite book I think). Last book I REALLY enjoyed was Watching Women and Girls by Danielle Pender. Has anyone read?

 

[twilightgarden]

@disneys It’s worth checking out Libby as well. It depends what your library uses. I think some use both Libby and Borrowbox. Mine only use Libby.
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Is anyone having a problem with NetGalley sharing reviews to GoodReads? Mine has been sharing the star rating but not copying the review over. Not the end of the world but a little irritating.

 

[PiesAndLattes]

I thought I’d chime in on the Kindle / Physical book chat. I was very much “physical books all the way”, I love the smell, browsing them at the shops, reading the back to see what it’s about and reading the first page or so etc but my partner surprised me with a Kindle for Christmas and I am a full convert. I have never read so much since getting the Kindle (for context I read 6 books last year and as of today I have read 18 since the beginning of Jan). I find it so easy if I have a few minutes before an appointment to read a few pages, read on my commute to work, my lunch break, at the beach, pub, pool whatever. I think the convenience has helped me read more (plus I love being able to read when my partner has gone to sleep but I still want to get a few more pages in).

 

[PiesAndLattes]

Ok I just finished The Inmate by Freida McFadden, 4 stars from me and some thoughts which I will have to put behind a spoiler as it would ruin the book.

Spoiler: The Inmate - Freida McFadden

Ok so this was not as good as The Housemaid, even though it kept me gripped, I could easily work out where it was going and was only mildly surprised it was Shane’s mum that was in on the murders. The only thing that slight made my draw drop was the kid in the epilogue revealing that he killed his father and it eluding to him “doing anything for his mother” so that he could go down the same path as his father. It was good but just a 4 star from me.

 

[lizziebrooks1235]

I didn’t quite expect to start a Kindle/physical book discourse I thought all the insights were interesting. Thankfully my mum has a copy of My Name is Lucy Barton, so I’m going to borrow it soon…once I’ve read some more books haha. What book/s does everyone have lined up to read next? I’m giving The Spinster Club trilogy by Holly Bourne a re-read since I haven’t read them since they were published and I really want to re-read them, so those are my next three books sorted. Then I might read Fangirls: Scenes from a Modern Music Culture by Hannah Ewens, Northanger Abbey by Jane Austin or maybe The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter. For some reason I’ve been reading a lot of women authors lately. No idea why, I’ve just happened to notice that all but one of the books I’ve read this year so far happen to be by women.

 

[justonemorepage]

I didn’t quite expect to start a Kindle/physical book discourse I thought all the insights were interesting. Thankfully my mum has a copy of My Name is Lucy Barton, so I’m going to borrow it soon…once I’ve read some more books haha. What book/s does everyone have lined up to read next? I’m giving The Spinster Club trilogy by Holly Bourne a re-read since I haven’t read them since they were published and I really want to re-read them, so those are my next three books sorted. Then I might read Fangirls: Scenes from a Modern Music Culture by Hannah Ewens, Northanger Abbey by Jane Austin or maybe The Bloody Chamber by Angela Carter. For some reason I’ve been reading a lot of women authors lately. No idea why, I’ve just happened to notice that all but one of the books I’ve read this year so far happen to be by women.

Funnily enough I mainly read female authors too. I've read 9 books so far this year and only two of them have been by men. I studied English Literature with Gender Studies in uni so the majority of books were female written so I think maybe that's why I'm drawn to female authors. Before uni I'd read mainly male authors, such as Ian Rankin, Stephen King and Dean Koontz so I'd never really thought about it before but it is interesting to see the impact my degree had on me

I'll put the next bit behind a spoiler because it's slightly OF (still book related) but it's something that was brought up recently that I found interesting also.

Spoiler: To Kill a Mockingbird - racism

So I follow someone on Instagram who has a younger sister studying To Kill a Mockingbird in a US school. She brought up issues with the way they were studying it, and the fact that it's written by a white woman (when I studied it I didn't consider this - 20+ years ago) so I think it's so good that this generation are more aware. Her main point is that some of the language used in the book would be offensive to black students having to study it and the fact that there are so many black authored books that also explain similar themes that are in TKAM. TKAM is one of my favourite books but this perspective did make me stop and think. I found the whole debate very interesting so thought I'd share.

 

[disneys]

@disneys It’s worth checking out Libby as well. It depends what your library uses. I think some use both Libby and Borrowbox. Mine only use Libby.
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Is anyone having a problem with NetGalley sharing reviews to GoodReads? Mine has been sharing the star rating but not copying the review over. Not the end of the world but a little irritating.

Thanks ! I’m going to head to the library today I think after I’ve done the food shop and ask them there what they use for audio books . I know it may potentially be devisive but I really want to listen to Spare but I don’t overly want to pay for it

 

[lizziebrooks1235]

Funnily enough I mainly read female authors too. I've read 9 books so far this year and only two of them have been by men. I studied English Literature with Gender Studies in uni so the majority of books were female written so I think maybe that's why I'm drawn to female authors. Before uni I'd read mainly male authors, such as Ian Rankin, Stephen King and Dean Koontz so I'd never really thought about it before but it is interesting to see the impact my degree had on me

I'll put the next bit behind a spoiler because it's slightly OF (still book related) but it's something that was brought up recently that I found interesting also.

Spoiler: To Kill a Mockingbird - racism

So I follow someone on Instagram who has a younger sister studying To Kill a Mockingbird in a US school. She brought up issues with the way they were studying it, and the fact that it's written by a white woman (when I studied it I didn't consider this - 20+ years ago) so I think it's so good that this generation are more aware. Her main point is that some of the language used in the book would be offensive to black students having to study it and the fact that there are so many black authored books that also explain similar themes that are in TKAM. TKAM is one of my favourite books but this perspective did make me stop and think. I found the whole debate very interesting so thought I'd share.

Tbf, in 2020 I mostly read women authors, in 2021 I believe it was a mixture and last year it was mostly male authors. I’ve only read 3 books so far this year so I think it’s a bit early to say, but I think there’s so many good books by women, it’d be a shame not to read them. Also, the majority of Stephen King books I’ve loved. Although I haven’t read many of his books haha

 

[strawb]

i will always prefer an actual book but a year ago my bf bought me a kindle and i've been reading so much more it's so handy to carry around, i work as a tour guide and whenever/wherever i have a break i can just pull it out and read a chapter. also i agree with the light, my bf falls asleep but i can still read in bed in the dark

 

[Pinkii]

I love physical books, the smell, the feel, and the browsing book shops and buying of it, but lately (getting old) it really hurts my hands and neck when i try to read a physical book no matter what position i read in

Although with kindle i read so much more as I take it everywhere with me And whip it out so for that alone I love it.

 

[AllieBee]

I love physical books, the smell, the feel, and the browsing book shops and buying of it, but lately (getting old) it really hurts my hands and neck when i try to read a physical book no matter what position i read in

Although with kindle i read so much more as I take it everywhere with me And whip it out so for that alone I love it.

Have you tried a book holder or a book cushion. I haven't used them myself but they look ideal for people who struggle with their hands?

Agree. I might be weird but sometimes I just go into waterstones for a sniff! I love the smell of bookshops, no matter what bookshop you go in its always the same.

 

[Pinkii]

Have you tried a book holder or a book cushion. I haven't used them myself but they look ideal for people who struggle with their hands?

Agree. I might be weird but sometimes I just go into waterstones for a sniff! I love the smell of bookshops, no matter what bookshop you go in its always the same.

yes i do have the cushion, which helps with neck, but holding the book open is exhausting there are those things you can use to hold the pages open but i am a fast reader so can’t be bothered with the faff.

im making myself sound ancient i’m only 37!

 

[twilightgarden]

I love both physical books and my Kindle but I definitely read more on my Kindle. It’s so light and easy to hold, the backlight is great and I can pop it in my handbag and read when I have spare time.
I don’t have much space to store books at home so rarely keep them, hence I prefer my Kindle.

 

[OH.FFS]

Like others, I love physical books but really don’t have the space, or the health for them. In our old house, that was a huge five bedroomed home with only three people living in it; me, my husband, and our son, I had the biggest library of physical books (all educational, children’s, cookery, painting, fabric making, fact or poetry books (no longer bought physical novels, all novels on kindle). But since moving to a much smaller home seven years ago I’ve dwindled my collection to two book cases (mainly health books) and everything else has been re-purchased on kindle, if available or if something I would still use. There’s nothing I’d love more than a library. However, I still think I’d want copies of them all on my kindle too; I’m just greedy.

 

[nbt]

The kids have all had £2/£3 sat on National Book tokens for the last few months so they’ve treated me to The Perfect Wife by JP Delaney

(I do check with them beforehand if they’re happy for me just to use them up!)

 

[Carapop]

Now I’ve gone digital, I could never go back. I largely read on my iPad as I prefer the experience over the kindle, but I’ve been known to use the kindle app on my phone too. I think bookcases can make for beautiful decor and really display someone’s personality, but I find physical books just too expensive (although I might be less likely to accumulate 800 unread books on kindle if I had to fork out more than 99c for each one) and my need for clean means second hand books give me the ick.

 

[muncher]

Only bought a paperwhite this week for the first time, we have an apartment in Spain and I cant physically take enough books with me for 2 weeks as we only take a backpack, also I'm picky about what I want to read and the charity shops over there don't usually have what I like. So that's why I bought it but already I've got loads on unlimited and 99p deals and reading a lot more. I always used to buy physical books second hand on Amazon or in charity shops as they can be expensive.

 

[Elle]

yes i do have the cushion, which helps with neck, but holding the book open is exhausting there are those things you can use to hold the pages open but i am a fast reader so can’t be bothered with the faff.

im making myself sound ancient i’m only 37!

I, through sheer laziness might I say, have been using a kindle holder and kindle page turner.

Picture this, your anonymous friend Elle wrapped up in a blanket cocoon not having to either hold her kindle nor turn the pages.

I wouldn't have bought this for myself but I was gifted it but someone who knew i wanted it.

If you haven't seen such a thing, the page turner clips onto your kindle and manually clicks the page when you press the button of your special handhold device.