Monday, June 28, 2010

Climbing Mt. Readme, one book at a time...

MickStills92
In my continued quest for more consistent blogging, (not to mention my penchant for snappy titles) I'm dipping my toe into a new theme. Not exactly reviews, but more of an overview of what I'm reading and how I do that.

Summer and reading seem to go hand in hand for some. While some people shop for the right beach read, my quest is more for an air conditioned room read. I am pale and prone to heat exhaustion, and after the time I had full on heat stroke and did not have a book with me (thus spending four hours in an amusement park's infirmary with nothing to read, oh the horror) I am smart about things like this. Purse always contains the current purse read, usually at least one magazine, my general purpose notebook (I like these with the kraft cover) and possibly one of my dedicated story notebooks or legal pads. Also pens. My favorite by far is the Micron, good for writing and doodling, so it multitasks. Sticky notes are a must for me as well, and I prefer the 3in x 4in size, and color or pattern must be other than yellow. My absolute favorite sticky notes are promotional items snagged at conferences.

Magazines are usually one of the following: Romantic Times Book Review; some member of the Somerset Studio family or Romance Writers Report, which is part of the RWA membership.

Then there's books. I am known for multitasking and my all time total of books read at one time is (brace yourself) ten. If I'm doing this right, you'll be able to see my Shelfari bookshelf on the side here :makes vague wavy gesture toward sidebar: If I somehow managed to launch missiles at Norway, as Dave Barry would say, link is here. Current purse book is Joanna Bourne's The Spymaster's Lady, though my copy is the original mass market edition, not the lovely new trade size. I did get this book when it first came out, but as I am anal about reading in story order (a whole post in itself) I wanted to wait until the prequel, The Forbidden Rose, came out. Which I devoured in record time and am now able to proceed through this intriguing world of the French Revolution. After that, refer to my previous post on my TBR shelf.

Interestingly enough, though I have four titles in electronic release, I do not own an e-reader. I do read some e-books, but on my laptop, which goes pretty much everywhere with me. That's working well so far, but I would consider a dedicated reader in the future. Jury is still out on which model would best suit my needs. Laptop is where I do a lot of my writing, and also critiquing of friends' manuscripts.

Periods of non-reading are rare and extremely frustrating, though they do happen. Last summer, I combatted that by setting myself the default of reading through Mary Jo Putney's Fallen Angels books. No default set yet for this summer, but might be a good idea to get one in place in case I need one.

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

Very good idea to always have a book on hand! Also a good idea to stay out of the heat. My goodness! Four hours? Definitely qualifies as a horror in my book.

I just set aside one of Balogh's as, well, it disappointed after "More than a Mistress" and am indulging in a paranormal by Rebecca York. Pretty entertaining thus far.

Btw - how big is your purse?

Anna Carrasco Bowling said...

Oh no, a disappointing Balogh? Which one?

My purse is a hobo bag (ahem, no, not the kind on the end of a stick) with a strap long enough to go across the body rather than over the shoulder. Should take picture when I get the camera batteries changed. It holds a lot. :)