Booking Through Thursday: Sports

This weeks BTT asks:

1. Do you read books about sports?
2. How about AT sporting events? (Kid’s soccer practice?)

While I am a fan of some sports, primarily soccer, football, NASCAR and hockey, I don’t generally read books about those or any other sports. That’s not to say that I wouldn’t read a book about them if it caught my eye, but to this point I haven’t found anything that has really caught my interest. I have read books with characters who are athletes, but those weren’t really about the sports.

As far as reading at sporting events, that’s something I haven’t done either. When I go to the races or hockey games, etc I’m generally there for that event and I’m not likely to break out a book while I’m there – not to mention it would be so loud and crazy that it would be tough to focus on a book. However, were I to say, take my brother to his sports practice, yeah I’d probably break out a book. Other than that, the only time I’ll read during a sporting event is if I’m watching it at home. Then I can read during commercials and such and if I miss anything… well I can rewind and watch it. Oh the joys of technology, lol!

What’s your take on sports books and reading while observing them?

Booking Through Thursday: Rating Books

This weeks BTT question is:

Movies have a rating system to help guide the consumer weed out adult/violent/inappropriate knds of films. Video games do, too. Do you think BOOKS should have a ratings system?

This is a really great question and one I feel pretty strongly about in some ways. In my personal opinion, I think the idea of rating stuff is kind of pointless. When it comes down to whether or not I decide to watch or read something, I’m not looking to ratings, I’m looking at what the story is about. That’s the deciding factor for me. Whether something is going to be gory, or intense, or have sex in it isn’t really what I care about.

As far as ratings for parents deciding if their kids can read or watch something, same goes. I mean, every kid is going to be at a different level than the next kid and their parents are going to know what they can or cannot handle. In those situations, regardless of the material, rating, or warning, that parent is going to decide if their child can handle something and hopefully, be there to discuss it with them afterwards if necessary. Maybe that’s presumptuous of me to say since I’m not a parent, but I do have brothers who are much younger than me and I’ve caught myself having to do this with them when they want to watch something on Netflix and that’s the attitude I intend to go into parenting with down the road.

How about you guys? Ratings for books? Yay or nay?

Booking Through Thursday: Moody Reading

It’s Thursday which means… BTT time!

Does your current mood affect your reading? Affect your choices? I know there are plenty of books I enjoy, but only if I’m in a particular kind of mood–or books that can lift me out of a bad mood without fail. Surely I’m not alone?

My simple answer to this one is… absolutely. My mood can  totally affect what I read (or don’t read as the case may be).

Generally, if I’ve had a rough day I’ll fall back on an old favorite. I might not even read the entire book, but just enough of it to get me out of my funk and that’s okay for me because it works. I also happen to be one of those readers where I was totally interested in starting one book, but a day or three later I might not be feeling that book at all and I’ll just put it down to pick up something else that fits with my mood at the time. That actually used to bother me, but now I just own it, lol. Overall though, I wouldn’t say that there I books I can only read in one frame of mind, but I do have books that I look at as comfort reads and sometimes, those just trump everything else.

Do you have any moody-esque reading habits?

Booking Through Thursday: Time Changes

Today’s BTT question:

Clocks change this weekend here in the US, which means one less hour to read … does anybody else begrudge that hour like I do? Wish the Powers That Be would just pick a time-frame and stick to it instead of inflicting clock-driven jet lag on an innocent public twice a year?

(Yeah, so not a question so much about reading … except, of course, you do need to use your electric light to be able to read, so the hour it gets dark IS relevant!)

I didn’t even remember Daylight Savings was coming up until I read today’s question, lol.

Anywho… for me personally, Daylight Savings is more annoying than anything. The whole lose an hour, gain an hour thing is old and I don’t understand why we bother (not that I’ve expended the effort to learn why). Other than that, and the monotonous process of changing the clocks that don’t reset themselves, I could care less about it though. It doesn’t really throw me off too much or anything.

How about you guys? Does the changing of the clocks bother you? Are you one of the lucky ones who doesn’t have to put up with it?

Booking Through Thursday: Current Reads

It’s BTT time! This weeks question asks:

One of those quick, easy questions that I ask periodically because the answer is always changing:

What are you reading right now? (And, is it good? Would you recommend it? How did you choose it?)

I’m actually in the middle of a few books right now, but I’ve been focusing on one more than any others…

I’ve been on a bit of a military kick the last week or so since watching the documentary Restrepo (which was absolutely FANTASTIC for anyone curious). When this book caught my eye the other day I kinda shook my head that I hadn’t read it yet and decided it was time to dig in.

I’ve only just started part two of the book which starts off with the immediate aftermath of 9/11, but what I’ve read thus far, I’ve loved. It’s very well written and interesting and I can’t wait to finish it. Based on what I’ve read so far, I definitely recommend this one to anybody who’s interested in War memoirs.

Booking Through Thursday: Going to the Library

This weeks BTT question is:

How often do you visit a library? Do you go to borrow books? Do research? Check out the multi-media center? Hang out with the friendly and knowledgeable staff? Are you there out of love or out of need?

I’m definitely a loyal patron of my town’s public libraries. I don’t go as often as I could, but when I do go, I’m generally taking out 8-12 books at once, so there’s no doubt I have plenty of reading material at any one time. I actually don’t use the library for anything other than finding books to read. I do use my school’s library for research, but most of it is done using the online databases, so that doesn’t really count. Also, I could borrow movies and music, but between netflix and the like, I just generally don’t take advantage of that part of the libraries offerings.

All in all, I just love to go to the library to check out books. I can spend hours browsing the shelves and commonly do.

How about you guys… Do you visit your local library? What for?

Booking Through Thursday: Influences

It’s Thursday which means… it’s BTT time!

Do other people influence what you choose to read? When a family member recommends something, or a friend says they hated a book you were planning to read … does it affect your reading choices?

In some ways I’m definitely influenced in what I read. There are tons of books that I’ve heard people rave about and just had to go read. Especially with friends of mine. We get together chat a bit, talk about what we’ve read recently, and almost always end up exchanging books.

At the same time, I’m less influenced to not read a book. If a friend reads something, but doesn’t like it I won’t automatically say no. I’m more likely to read a little bit about the book and decide if I want to give it a go.

Of course, neither of those things are absolutes because I can admit that I’ve long since lost count of the number of people I’ve heard talking about loving The Hunger Games series and I still haven’t drummed up the interest to pick them up.

How about you guys? Is your reading influenced at all?

Booking Through Thursday: Loans

I’m back to blogging with my first Booking Through Thursday in a long, long time! This week’s question is:

Do you lend your books? Are any out on loan right now? Do you have any that have been loaned to you? Do you put a time limit on these? Do you think people should make an effort to read the loaned book quickly?

Ahh, book lending. As a matter of fact I do lend out books, but generally only to people I know and trust… and know will actually read the book! That’s all just personal preference though. I do have a few books lent out right now. One to a friend for an English class she’s taking and others to friends who just wanted to read a book or try out an author. When I lend out books I definitely don’t put a time limit on them, but that’s mainly because of trust. Ideally, I think we would all like to read books we borrow quickly and have others do the same when we’re lending, but honestly, everyone reads at their own pace and that’s also something that should be respected. In light of that, I believe reading it soon and not putting a lent book at the bottom of the TBR pile is important, but there’s no reason to demand return of a book two days later.

As for having books lent to me, I do have a few right now. I have a few books that a friend lent to me a while ago actually, and will return them when we manage to get together for our return and exchange the next batch of books meeting. I also have a friends box set of the Chronicles of Narnia as well. I received a pretty thorough beating from her when I told her I hadn’t read the entire set yet so she’s on me to get those read.

What’re your lending habits? Similar, totally different? Feel free to share.

Booking Through Thursday: Dog Days

This weeks BTT asks:

Since my dog is turning 10 today … what animal-related books have you read? Which do you love? Do you have a favorite literary dog? (Snoopy, anyone?)

In all honesty, regardless of the fact that I am an animal lover, I don’t read many books with animals in them. However, I have read some.

The first book I can remember reading that had dogs in the forefront was Where the Red Fern Grows by Wilson Rawls.

The book is about a boy and his two Coonhounds. I absolutely loved the book, all the way until the end, where I cried, and cried, and cried. Then I cried some more.

This is one of those books that has always stuck with me, and the one that stands out the most when it comes to dogs.

For anyone who is curious… Here are my own two pupsters Jack (bottom) and Jill (top).

Booking Through Thursday: Size Matters

This weeks BTT is all about the size of our personal libraries…

What’s the largest your personal library has ever been? What’s the greatest number of books you’ve ever owned at one time? (Estimates are fine.)

Is your collection NOW the biggest it’s ever been? Or have you down-sized?

What’s the fewest number of books you’ve ever owned (not counting your pre-reading years)?

Unsurprisingly, my library is currently the largest its ever been. When one considers the type of book buyer I am, especially when it comes to used book stores (see this post for an idea) it’s a no-brainer that my collection continues to grow.

As for how many books I own, if you asked me a few weeks ago I would have said roughly 800. Then I did some spring cleaning, and I discovered I actually own over 900 books. If you count all of the textbooks and such, I’m walking the line of about 1000… and those are just hard copies. If I were to include all of my ebooks, well I have a lot, and so the total is over 3000 books that I own.

I would say I owned the fewest books in high school. I was a reader then, but I wasn’t reading as much as I do now. I’d say I probably kept my book total at about 150 books during my high school years.