Booking Through Thursday – Unread (April 16)

This week Booking Through Thursday poses the following question:

What proportion of the books you own are unread?

Between my physical books and e-books I probably own at least 1,700 books. Keeping this figure in mind, there are probably about half of them that I haven’t fully read. There are some that may never get read from cover to cover, but those are ones that I have for reference, such as commentaries, dictionaries, encyclopedias, etc. For some of my favourite authors or writers I like to buy everything they have written, with the hope that some day I may get round to reading them. I read in excess of 80 books a year, but I also buy a fair number, so there are some books that I may never get around to reading. I’m okay with that, but I’m not sure how my wife feels about it! As far as I’m concerned, there are worse things I could be spending money on 🙂

Booking Through Thursday – Recommended (April 9)

This week Booking Through Thursday poses the following question:

Do you read books recommended by friends? Or do you prefer to find your own books to read.

The easiest answer to this is a bit of both. I mostly enjoy finding my own books, but I also like it when I receive recommendations from others.

If a friend recommends a book to me I try my best to check it out. I often recommend books to my friends, so the least I can do is listen to what they suggest as well. Most of my reading friends know my taste in books anyway, so it’s not very often that the recommended book is a dud.

Very occasionally there will be a book recommended to me that I can’t finish, but that’s a rare occurrence. Also, there have been times when I’ve dreaded reading a recommendation only to discover that it was a really good read. Following through on others’ recommendations also helps me to tackle books that I may never have thought of reading.

Booking Through Thursday – Weeding (Jan 8)

This week Booking Through Thursday poses the following questions:

Do you ever weed out unwanted books from your library? And if so, what do you do with them?

At least twice a year I critically examine my bookshelves to see if there are any books I no longer want or require. Sometimes they are books that I no longer require, perhaps old textbooks I’ll never reference again, or maybe a book I bought on a whim and discovered it wasn’t the book I thought it was.

I’ll do one of two things with the books I weed out. I’ll box them up for either the SA Thrift Store or to take to Bearly Used Books in Parry Sound for credit. On a rare occasion, I may give the book away to someone I know who likes the writer. I’m not that keen on getting rid of books, but sometimes I’ll find a few that I just don’t want to have around any more.

Booking Through Thursday – 2014 (Jan 1)

This week Booking Through Thursday poses the following questions:

What was your favorite book (or books) for 2014? What reading really caught your attention? Sparked your interest? Changed your world? Made you laugh?

These are great questions to start the new year with. I read 80 books last year and enjoyed most of them, althouh there were some that I enjoyed more than others.

My favourite read would probably have to be The Girl Who Saved the King of Sweden by Jonas Jonasson. It was well written and moved along well, with believable characters. It was also very funny and not predictable. I’m waiting in anticipation of his next book, but I have no idea when it will be coming out.

I also read a number of books on spiritual formation and prayer, most of which I found to be very helpful. The ones I enjoyed the most were In the Name of Jesus by Henri J.M. Nouwen and Opening to God: Lectio Divina and Life as Prayer by David G. Benner.

Quite a number of the books I read were on the recommendation of family, friends and acquaintances. If I can I will usually try something that is recommended to me, although I don’t always have the time. There were also a copuple of books that were recommended to me that I just could not finish, no matter how hard I tried.

All in all, 2014 was a good reading year for me. I would have liked to have read a few more books, but I was still pretty happy to get through 80 in the end.

Booking Through Thursday – For a Friend (Oct 23)

This week Booking Through Thursday poses the following questions:

If someone you know has just published a book—do you feel obliged to buy a copy? Even if it’s not the kind of book you’d normally read?

I have had a few friends and acquaintances who have had their books published. Knowing the love, sweat, and tears that they have put into their work, I usually try to support them by buying a copy of their book. If I really enjoy it I will let them know and will also tell as many people that I know that it is worth buying. There have been a few that have been the kind of book I would not normally read, but I have seen them as the opportunity to try something different, which is not always a bad thing.

I think it’s good to encourage people I know in this way, because every great writer had to start somewhere. I usually get them to sign their book as well, because if they become famous I’ll have a signed first edition 🙂

Booking Through Thursday – Shakespeare (Sept 25)

This week Booking Through Thursday poses the following questions:

Okay, show of hands … who has read Shakespeare OUTSIDE of school required reading? Do you watch the plays? How about movies? Do you love him? Think he’s overrated?

I haven’t read very much Shakespeare outside of what I read at school, although I do have the obligatory one volume Complete Works of Shakespeare on my bookshelf. I have never seen any of the plays live, although I would like to take the opportunity at some time. I have watched and enjoyed some of the movies and have a couple of them in my collection. I don’t think he is over-rated, but I can’t say that reading him is high up on my list of priorities right now, either. I have been enjoying the recent series of William Shakespeare’s Star Wars books, but that probably doesn’t really count 🙂

Booking Through Thursday – Family (Sept 18)

This week Booking Through Thursday poses the following question:

Do other people in your family also like to  read? Or are you in this on your own?

Everyone in our household likes to read. We cancelled our TV over four years ago and spend a lot of our spare time now reading, sometimes the four of us in the same room, all sitting quietly reading different books. Some of our tastes are the same, but not always. My wife is a big Diana Gabaldon fan; our daughter reads a lot of dystopian stuff, but she reads lots of other stuff as well; our son enjoys reading Doctor Who, but also has a mixture of stuff on his bookshelves. When on holiday we are always on the lookout for different bookstores and birthdays and Christmas are always times of great book giving.