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Sunday, July 6, 2025

How do you read?


I've enjoyed the responses to yesterday's post.  If you read Brian Dean's comment, he writes, " I tend to have several tomes on the go at once, which I dip into and read over a long period, rather than "Wham bam thank you ma'am, my quota sorted for the week!" and then gives a long list of books. (Alissa Nutting one of the authors he mentions, used to live in Cleveland, and talked to my book club about Tampa shortly after it came out. It's the only book of hers I've read.) 

I wasn't clear on how many books Brian will read at the same time, but it sounds like a lot.

I typically have 3-4 books going at the same time, although I typically concentrate on finishing one. I just finished Inventing the Renaissance by Ada Palmer (it's due today and the library won't let me renew it, so I had to get it done.) I am currently reading Platinum Pohl by Frederik Pohl (essentially a selected stories) and Sell More Books! Book Marketing and Publishing for Low Profile and Debut Authors: Rethinking Book Publicity after the Digital Revolutions by J. Steve Miller. Also the two online reading group works, Vineland by Thomas Pynchon and the Testament comic book series. 

I'm pretty sure Mark Brown usually has several books going and in fact keeps them in separate rooms of the house. I am mostly sitting in my favorite chair in the living room, though I will sometimes read in the bedroom, on a plane, etc. I go back and forth from paper books to Kindle. I have also been known to read entire books on the phone; that's what I had to do with Tampa, mentioned above, it was the only way I could read it on short notice before my book club meeting. 

While I have a library of paper books at home, I have tended to whittle it down to the essentials. I have hundreds of Kindle ebooks, mostly bought on sale. 

I am on Goodreads as "Tomj." 




2 comments:

Brian Dean said...

Tom: my reading habits have changed a lot. Back when I had a 9-5 job, I'd immerse myself in one book at the weekend, and attempt to read it all the way through - I didn't have time during the work-week. That was before easy internet availability of books (and Kindles). I no longer have a 9-5 job, and if I see a book going cheap, say, I can get it instantly or in a few days. An accumulation soon results, faster than I can read them!

And reading depends on the book. I read 'Firepower' all "in one go". A "page-turning thriller" (same ballpark as Jack Reacher, actually, but it's by John Shirley, writing under the pen name John Cutter, which sparked my curiosity). On the other hand, I've been progressing slowly through 'The Linguistics Wars', even though the subject matter is of great interest to me. Why slowly? Well, there's a lot Chomsky's linguistics in it - this will tend to slow a person down!

Eric Wagner said...

I tend to read a lot of books at the same time. By the way, I saw Fred Pohl win the Hugo for "Gateway" at the 1978 WorldCon.