Jun 24, 2016

What Kind Of A Reader Are You?

Book group- always fascinating, entertaining and, of course, alcoholic! It's interesting to people-watch and glean insight into my friends' reading behaviour.

There are some who take months to read one book, who devour every word and commit it all to memory and spend ages talking about what worked and what didn't. Who analyse everything and notice things I completely missed.

There are some who take months to read a book because they fall asleep after the first paragraph (my hand's up here on occasion!).

My book group reading haul for this month
People who race through, wanting dialogue and action and to find out what happens...(dare I admit--- I often read the end first, too!)

There are some who read three books at once depending on their mood.

Some who take eight books home to read, knowing they will never get through them all in a month, but just wanting to have them anyway. (Guilty as charged!)

One who won't read anything sad.

One who won't read any historicals.

Some who never read a book at all, but come for the company. (Which is absolutely fine too!)

Some who read so many they have to bring notes on each one!

Then there are the bookmark-ers and (the horror!!!) corner benders. (NO!!!!)

I love my book group with a passion- we always have fun, catch up on the gossip and share our love of great books.

Are you part of a book group? Any other reading types you've seen? What kind of a reader are you?

14 comments:

  1. Hi Louisa

    I don't belong to a book club I think there is one held at the local library once a month but really I have so many books to read to fit any more for the book club would stress me out LOL.

    I pretty much read a book from start to finish and every word I would say I am a average reader and I do read around 10 books a month and love it I would read more if there were more hours in the day :)

    Have Fun
    Helen

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    1. You're the monogamous reader, Helen! One book. Every word until the end. Love it!!!
      And yes, I imagine you enough books to keep you busy for quite a while ;-))))

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  2. I've always fancied being in a book group, Louisa. But book snobs drive me nuts and I suspect there'd be a few in every group and what with the wine I'm bound to consume I might be a little too honest to play nice.
    I'm probably safer to stay away from book groups :-)






    Am backing out the room now as I admit to being a corner bender....

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    1. I... just....can't.... corner bender????? Oh, AA :-(
      Book snobs drive me mad too, but we don't have any of that these days in our group, thank goodness!

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    2. Does this mean you dont love me anymore? ;-)

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  3. Oh, Amy, you make me smile. That's the trouble with wine, it loosens the tongue. I've often thought a book group would be good to force me to read books I wouldn't usually select and broaden my horizons. But I don't have much taste for sad sagas which seem to be popular with groups at the moment so I might not last the distance. As for types of readers, anyone who bothers to pick up a book and give it a try sounds good to me. Isn't it wonderful when you find a book and author you find just stunning and then go on to discover a whole backlist?

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    1. Oh yes, Annie, I just had that same experience with Liane Moriarty- started one of hers and then read pretty much her whole backlist. I 'met' her through book group, and The Rosie Project. I think the only saga we've had so far is The Tea Rose trilogy, and I loved those books. I do love it when I take a chance on a new author in a different genre and really enjoy the stories.

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    2. I agree, Annie. It would be good to force me to broaden my literary horizons!

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  4. I'm a member of a book group. Amy, the secret is in creating the book group yourself, and being an absolute autocrat and saying "Nope, not going to read that book." ;-) Okay, well maybe not an absolute autocrat, I suppose, but... ;-)

    Louisa, these days I'm a one-book at a time reader (though I might have a non-fiction book on the go as well)...and if the book doesn't grab me by a third of the way through (actually, it's probably less than that), it gets set aside and never picked up again. Life's too short. :-)

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    1. Michelle, I have to say that I've stopped reading more books recently if they don't resonate with me. Is it age and wisdom, or is it that there are just too many books out there tomato myself read a bad one? I remember when I would force myself to finish a book...not sure why? Just to show perseverance??? Oh, how we take time for granted when we're young!

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  5. I'm not in a book group, but am addicted to reading. Depends on my mood as to what I feed my addiction with. Sometimes nothing short of a good murder will do, other days, romance. I'm sure I'm a psychiatrist's dream. Love Australian, UK, NZ, Scandanavian authors.

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  6. Hi Louisa, I was in an informal book group but it fell apart as everyone seemed to be too busy to actually read the book and it became more of a social chit chat. I found that knowing I *had* to read the book made it seem like a bit of a chore, like a study assignment. Maybe the others felt the same!
    I'm a voracious reader across a number of genres. Like you and Michelle, these days I find myself not persevering with a book if it doesn't grab me within a few chapters, my reading time is too precious.

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  7. I love my bookclub, Louisa. We mostly read great books and have great discussions and sometimes great debate - e.g. that Tiger Mother book!!

    I'm a one book at a time gal and never read the end first. But I am guilty of bending corners (only on my own books of course!!)

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  8. I'm in an online bookclub which I find beneficial because if I can't get to a book or finish before discussion time, then I can go back to the discussion/comments later. I can also skip the titles that don't fit with what I'm comfortable reading.

    I'm mainly a one book at a time reader... however sometimes a title will end up on the currently reading but going nowhere list as I'm just not connecting or had to return it to the library. The other time that my one book gets breached is when I have books I want to read at the same time as needing to read books that I've committed to reading for specific reasons. It's not the review titles that cause this.
    I cringe at the concept of bending corners on my books these days... although bizarrely I didn't blink an eye at doing so when I was younger. I am squeamish at writing on pages in books - like the actual contents (not the pages where messages authors write in them are left), but occasionally there are books I've borrowed from the library that I purchased because they were a type of book that I had to highlight and write on.

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