How Was Your Summer Reading?

Summer is officially over in the Northern Hemisphere, and I have mixed feelings about that. On one hand, it means more time indoors curled up with books.

On the other hand, winter is coming.

But let's not focus on that just yet. Let's talk books.

I did not gobble them up like a glutton, as I have in years past. Instead, I read in fits and starts, trying out (and rejecting) title after title until I found one that fit. More often than not, I found YA novels helped smooth out the snags, and I was able to read steadily for a while before I floundered around for another book.

I am a firm believer in jettisoning books that don't work for the reader. Nothing against the book: my friend Carole has read books I have been unable to get into — but I'll try again. (And thank heavens for that, or I would have missed The Dinner and Less.)

So, without further ado, here is what I read during the 2018 summer reading program from May 25 to September 23:

1. The Public Library📖
2. The Book With No Pictures 📖
3. The Useful Book 📲
4. China Rich Girlfriend 📖
5. Standard Deviation 📲
6. The Plant Paradox 📲
7. How a Mouse Saved the Royal Cat 📲
8. Robert Kennedy Jr.’s American Heroes: Robert Smalls, the Boat Thief 📖
9. Seven Miles to Freedom 📖
10. Thunderstorm 📖
11. An American Marriage 📖
12. A Man Named Ove 📖
13. Dear First Lady 📖
14. What if Everybody Said That? 📲
15. Quilt of States 📖
16. Crazy Rich Asians 📖
17. Frogs Are Funny! 📖
18. Thrall 📖
19. Dear Evan Hansen 🎧 📲
20. The Devil’s Arithmetic  📲
21. The Sun is Also a Star  📲
22. Less  📲
23. The Ideals Guide to Literary Places in the US 📖
24. Cat Haiku 📖
25. Differently Morphus 🎧
26. The Emerald Circus 📖
27. Pen & Ink Tattoos & the stories behind them 📖
28. How to Relax  📲
29. Marcelo in the Real World  📲

Upon reflection, I am surprised by the number of print books on my list. I felt like I spent more time on my Kindle than on the page.

I am pleased that 17 out of 29 listed above were library books. Oh, I didn't slow down on the number of books I purchased, but upped my library game. (Go Library!)

Some books I had in both print and E, but read in E because it was more convenient. Honestly, I liked having the option to highlight on the page and share the highlights in Goodreads — but holding a book in my hands feels great.

I have not finished an entire audiobook in months, but not because of the books I have chosen. Audiobooks are my gym companions, and they compete with podcasts and my need to unwind with Fluff 'n Trash™. (Pop Culture Happy Hour, I'm looking at you.) Plus, despite my treasure trove of audiobooks, most of the ones I listen to are library loans, and the loan expires before I finish the book. I may have to adjust my Audible membership to accommodate my TBR-Audio list, or spend more time at the gym. (Hey, do it for the books!)

Full disclosure: I did not finish one of these books. I found The Plant Paradox unreadable and mostly unintelligible. I feel about this book the same way I felt about The Case Against Sugar: it could have been an essay, or a series of magazine articles, rather than a full-blown book.

How did your summer reading fare? Tell us in the comments below, or email me. Check back next week for Intrepid Reader Karen's summer reading list!

And a special shout-out to the artists of this year's Summer Reading graphic: Beth Wilson and her DoodleCats!

Book Fast: Is it Possible? (Well, for Me, Anyway!)

I love books. I adore cheap books. Free books make me giddy.

This summarizes my 2016 buying frenzy. With more than a little help from online vendors, I found dozens of inexpensive e-books and low-cost audiobooks to load on my Kindle.

And that's just my electronics. We won't go into detail about the treasure trove of print books that is Goodwill and other second-hand bookstores, and various new-book bookstores.

I subscribe to three different email services advertising cheap e-books. (Maybe four. Possibly five.) Book Bub and I are close friends. I haunt Amazon's Kindle e-book Web pages. Goodreads and I correspond regularly. Riffle? Book Riot, with and without Liberty Hardy? Electric Literature? I am so hardcore, I've started following Pinterest and Instagram accounts of various book resources.

To top it all off, I just discovered a website that calls its service the "Rotten Tomatoes of books." (Book Marks, I shall hold you to your word.)

My Kindle is so full, I don't know where to begin. (I'd tell you how many books are on there, but I don't want to count that high, then subtract expired library books. Lazy? Nah, man: survival.)

So, without further ado, let me say: Hi, my name is Chris and I am a book, ahem, collector.

Don't get me wrong: I am thrilled, for the most part, by the e-books I have purchased. Some of them duplicate print books in my library. A few free ones may not be my exact cuppa, but don't mind a (cheap or free) gamble: how else would I have discovered my surprising attraction of murder mysteries? I also have lots of books to share with friends, as Kindle permits.

However, I have a literal library (a 10 x12 bookshelf-lined room of print books), and now my Kindle is equally loaded. Some days, the weight of these unread books is too heavy to carry.

So I have made a decision: I am stemming the flow of purchased books into the house for the next three months.

I have done this before with great success. After a book purchase fast, I have emerged reinvigorated and focused on choosing the right book, rather than a book.

I have been testing the waters for the past month, reserving at my library the books I want to read. I can spend hours "shopping" Overdrive's e-book and audiobook inventory. Oh, I also can "shop" my brick and mortar library, and even stop by various nearby branches for additional options. Books purchased for a buck or two at a "friends of the library" sale are easy to hand over to the next reader, stranger or friend.

Earlier this week, before I clicked "purchase" on a writing "prompt" book, I paused. I reviewed the table of contents and didn't get as excited as I thought I would — so I made a decision: rather than pay to play, I opened my public library's catalogue. There it was, the exact same book, this time in print. I promptly reserved the book and closed the Amazon browser tab.

Oh, Amazon has nothing to worry about: I also signed up for Kindle Daily Deals email. One would think that might be dangerous, but I assure you: receiving the list of sale books allows me to consider purchasing a finite number of books, rather than tempting me with suggestions, recommendations, and access to my wish list. I did this with Audible, and my impulse purchases have decreased to a trickle.

I will continue to use Amazon, Audible, Goodreads, Book Riot, Book Bub, Lit Hub, and other resources to discover what's on the shelves, and to find out what my fellow readers are consuming. Fewer choices can make me a better consumer.

How do you control your purchases? More importantly, does it work?

Coda: I have not been purchase-free since making this pledge. In my defense, the library would not have had The Hillbilly Elegy in time for my book club discussion, and it was on sale at the bookstore. Plus, I had to go get a weekly calendar booklet anyway. 

How's that for rationalization?