What's your book behaviour?

Discussion in 'NON PRATCHETT BOOK DISCUSSIONS' started by Gypsy, Jul 15, 2008.

  1. Gypsy New Member

    Do you suffer from genre paralysis? Or are you free and easy?

    Sometimes I find that I am very reluctant to switch genres or authors. It's a periodic occurrence, (possibly in sync with the phases of the moon?) and I swing between two extremes.

    One extreme is reading and re-reading one book or that author's series, to the exclusion of all else (like eating, sleeping...).

    This often happens in that blurry sci-fi fantasy genre, where I get hooked on a series, or a writing style, and will re-read a book/series 3 times before even looking at another author (i know, faithful aren't i?) but then if I do look for an author it will generally be one in the same genre. Or if not that, then the crime/mystery genre, where you come to be familiar with the behaviour of the main protagonist, and are reluctant to learn about someone else all over again. Fear of the unknown? Staying in a safe and suitable relationship, rather than discovering a new one?

    The other extreme is acting like a bookhopper (or book wh*re :redface:), leaping from literary genius to pop fiction drivel to travel narrative, and back again, reading more than one book at the same time, devouring all in sight.

    They kind of balance each other out i guess...but they both seem like obsessive behaviours. I either devote myself to an author/genre, or completely avoid making any kind of attachment to them.

    What's your book behaviour?
  2. Maljonic Administrator

    Totally free and easy for me. I often have three or more books going at the same time, reading them at different times of day, and all completely different genres. At the moment I'm a reading an historical docu-novel, a non-fiction book about transportation to Australia, a story about the plight of women in Afghanistan and The Railway Children (a throughly spiffing tale by E Nesbit).

    I usually have a magazine on the go too, Imagine FX, .Net or Web Designer...
  3. Gypsy New Member

    I like that...how do you ever manage to get any work done? :D
  4. Maljonic Administrator

    I always read in the same time slots. For instance I only read my magazines while I'm waiting for the next map to load on Battlefield 2. :)
  5. Hsing Moderator

    I'm somewhere in the middle of all of that, I suppose. I prefer reading one book at the time, because I don't want to loose the feeling for it in the middle of the story. When I read stuff for university it's different of course, that oftem means cross reading a douzen books, but I'm discussing private reading behaviour here. (You're not even expected to finish books for uni papers after all, just find the tidbits you need and manage to not rip them of their context...)

    I like change from book to book, though, like; fantasy, pulp fiction, a documentation, Greek myths, a thriller, a classic hard-to-chew-on-piece of German literature, fantasy again... I think my main problem is that I always feel like I am missing out on all the other genres when I stick to one for more than two books.
  6. Gypsy New Member

    That sounds like healthy way to read....quite balanced. The problem (though it isn't really a problem), is that there is just so much out there, we're missing out no matter what we read.

    Remember those 1001 Books you must read/movies you must see compendiums that came out? If you read a book a week, it would take 19 years and 3 months to read them all....and in that time, there will be other noteworthy books printed to read as well. (I used a week thinking of work, uni, friends, family, all of those trivial things that get between you and the story).

    I do find that if i've been reading too many 'literary fiction' books, I have to stay away from them for as while, and usually go to the other end of the spectrum and read some trashy romance (yes, I had that phase too) or popular fiction. Balance the deep and meaningful books with a bubblegum book or 2.

    I love reading travel narrative but it always makes me want to buy a plane ticket. That could turn out to be a really expensive way to read.
  7. Katcal I Aten't French !

    I'd say I'm a bit of a book whore with a few regular and time consuming clients... I do read the same old books over and over, Pratchett, Tolkien, the Harry Potters, Stephen King, but I also dip into bits and pieces from time to time...
  8. Arrowcat New Member

    I pretty much a sci fi/fantasy person. I dabble a bit in romance, and adventure, even the historical. I do find that I get hooked on certain authors. I will work at read through all their books and then if they've written any joined books I tend to move onto them. I planning on working on the other author for Good omens soon for example. Once in awhile I'll read a books someone recommends or one I just see that looks good.
  9. Hsing Moderator

    I just finished a few books that weren't to bad, but I could have lived without them, either. I understand a bit better than I used to, why many people with limited free time stick to their favourite authors - nothing non-human can be more dissapointing than the wrong book... (Especially if it has been hyped by friends.)
  10. Twilightpacer New Member

    I'm free and easy. I can read and switch between 3 books and
    still keep track of the individual plots in them. Not sure how i do
    it, i just do it. :lol:

    I have my fav genres and authors but i'm never hesitant to
    look for/try other authors and/or genres. If the author is good
    and the book interests me i read more books by that author,
    if not i'll just move on.
  11. Werewolf New Member

    I like to read one book at a time and i get a craving for certain genres from time to time. For example i'm a huge fan of 16th Century historical biographies, horror and fantasy. I've just finished one on Anne Boleyn and now and going to read another Discworld one as i still haven't read them all. But i do tend to want to re-read the same books over and over again. As a youngster i had a terrible habit of scan reading a book first and then re-reading it straight afterwards! Thankfully i no longer do that but it did come in quite handy when trying to find the right passages in the massive books we had to work through for uni!

Share This Page