Reading update
According to my Shelfari, which I keep up pretty well, in 2013 I read 29 books, and so far this year I'm up to 25. Hooray for more reading time/energy!
I had a conversation with soniag over on her blog recently about listening to YA books in audio form and the quality of British or not readers. It's made me pay attention more to what I like or what annoys me in audio books. I listened to The Great Gatsby read by Tim Robbins, who I thought he would be a good reader, but it was too much performance. Especially when listening in the car, I missed half of Daisy's lines because the voice was so soft, and then about burst my eardrums with Tom Buchanan shouting. Volume was up down up down up down. Very annoying. The story did keep my interest, despite that, and despite the fact that rich-people-ennui is not my favorite genre.
Now I'm listening to Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. I liked the (non-British) reader at first, until he tried to do female characters. Especially Miss Peregrine, whom I see (so far) as a Dumbledore-ish character, is read in a whiny and nasal voice. Argh! I couldn't quite articulate before what it is in most YA books that makes me impatient in audio (where you can't just skip along). The example here is that we're told that a particular thing will happen on a particular day, and when we get to the day, the thing is described in quite obvious detail, but the protag goes on and on describing it, until finally, he gets that it's the thing, with lots of expressed amazement. Since I had understood it was the thing 2 pages ago, I was annoyed with all that.
Anyway, my favorite book I have read lately is The World's Strongest Librarian by Josh Hanagrene. I've been following Josh's blog for several years now, and been trying to read his memoir since it came out a year ago. Josh is a librarian, and into lifting weights and stuff (which is why I started following the blog), but he also has Tourette's and is a Mormon, which makes his life really interesting. I blew through the book in 36 hours (I was at church camp and had time to read, but still...). Part of his story is heartbreaking, part of it hilarious, mostly there's a lot of struggle - with Tourette's, with his faith (which I found really fascinating, not knowing a lot about Mormonism), and just with normal growing up and finding your place in the world stuff. And he has funny library anecdotes, which are always a win for me! Most of all, he writes very true, if you know what I mean. I recommend it as a change of pace for all you fiction-readers out there.
I recently read another memoir, All Over But the Shoutin' by Pulitzer Prize winner Rick Bragg, and although I was interested in his story and appreciated his polished writing and southern flair, it didn't resonate with me like Josh's book. I also read this year's Newbery winner Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo (her 2nd win). It was good, but I wasn't crazy about it. I still like Because of Winn-Dixie (Newbery Honor) better then either of her Newbery winners. But, then again, I'm not a kid, so what do I know? I'm also still reading the Cal Leandros series by Rob Thurman, a SPN-style series that I'm really enjoying, but breaking up with other types of books just because.
I also finished reading the Golden Compass series for the first time a bit ago, if anyone wants to discuss. Pullman is a good storyteller, but I had some problems with it, especially the last book.
So, what are you all reading lately?
I had a conversation with soniag over on her blog recently about listening to YA books in audio form and the quality of British or not readers. It's made me pay attention more to what I like or what annoys me in audio books. I listened to The Great Gatsby read by Tim Robbins, who I thought he would be a good reader, but it was too much performance. Especially when listening in the car, I missed half of Daisy's lines because the voice was so soft, and then about burst my eardrums with Tom Buchanan shouting. Volume was up down up down up down. Very annoying. The story did keep my interest, despite that, and despite the fact that rich-people-ennui is not my favorite genre.
Now I'm listening to Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children. I liked the (non-British) reader at first, until he tried to do female characters. Especially Miss Peregrine, whom I see (so far) as a Dumbledore-ish character, is read in a whiny and nasal voice. Argh! I couldn't quite articulate before what it is in most YA books that makes me impatient in audio (where you can't just skip along). The example here is that we're told that a particular thing will happen on a particular day, and when we get to the day, the thing is described in quite obvious detail, but the protag goes on and on describing it, until finally, he gets that it's the thing, with lots of expressed amazement. Since I had understood it was the thing 2 pages ago, I was annoyed with all that.
Anyway, my favorite book I have read lately is The World's Strongest Librarian by Josh Hanagrene. I've been following Josh's blog for several years now, and been trying to read his memoir since it came out a year ago. Josh is a librarian, and into lifting weights and stuff (which is why I started following the blog), but he also has Tourette's and is a Mormon, which makes his life really interesting. I blew through the book in 36 hours (I was at church camp and had time to read, but still...). Part of his story is heartbreaking, part of it hilarious, mostly there's a lot of struggle - with Tourette's, with his faith (which I found really fascinating, not knowing a lot about Mormonism), and just with normal growing up and finding your place in the world stuff. And he has funny library anecdotes, which are always a win for me! Most of all, he writes very true, if you know what I mean. I recommend it as a change of pace for all you fiction-readers out there.
I recently read another memoir, All Over But the Shoutin' by Pulitzer Prize winner Rick Bragg, and although I was interested in his story and appreciated his polished writing and southern flair, it didn't resonate with me like Josh's book. I also read this year's Newbery winner Flora and Ulysses by Kate DiCamillo (her 2nd win). It was good, but I wasn't crazy about it. I still like Because of Winn-Dixie (Newbery Honor) better then either of her Newbery winners. But, then again, I'm not a kid, so what do I know? I'm also still reading the Cal Leandros series by Rob Thurman, a SPN-style series that I'm really enjoying, but breaking up with other types of books just because.
I also finished reading the Golden Compass series for the first time a bit ago, if anyone wants to discuss. Pullman is a good storyteller, but I had some problems with it, especially the last book.
So, what are you all reading lately?