The Next Few Books

[latepaul]

This might end up as a bit of a ramble, if so I apologise in advance.

I was thinking today about what I'm reading, what I'll read next and what to read after that. I have these kinds of deliberations a lot and wanted to talk about them. So the precise books are for illustrative purposes only, but notice the pattern:

I'm currently re-reading Station Eleven for an online book group. Actually I read it in March but I enjoyed so thought I'd re-read to refresh my memory. However discussions have begun and I am able to take part. I mention that because I'm tempted to drop it to pick up another book.

The other day I bought a book on a whim because it looked fun. It's short-ish and by an author I've not read before. Space Captain Smith by Toby Frost. It appears to be trying to do Flashman in space.

Then there's To Set a Watchman by Harper Lee which I'd been aware of but am now very aware will appear in a few days. I read part of the first chapter online last night and it appeals to me. Which of course sets me to thinking about re-reading Mockingbird. Hmm can I do that in time for the release of Watchman? Maybe if I abandon Station Eleven. Maybe I don't need to do that but I'll almost certainly shunt Space Captain Smith - which means it'll probably fall into the black hole that is my TBR - because it was a whim purchase, which means I felt in the mood for it, which I may not do by the time I clear the other two (three?) books ahead of it in the queue.

Also Watchman was written before Mockingbird so I could read them in published order instead?

Realistically, though it varies, by the time I've read 2 or 3 novels it'll be the end of July, early August and my book groups will have another book to read (I don't always read along).

Anyway, this is all stuff going through my head, and occupying my time when I could be reading!

Is it only me that worries on this stuff?

[barryem]

I have a few long-established rules about my next book. I sometimes break them but only with good reason and not very often.

First, and this one I rarely break, I read one book at a time. I found out years ago that if I try reading a second book I feel like I'm cheating. As though I'm married to the first book. I'm not fond of that feeling so I don't do it.

My next book will be by a different author than my current book. I almost never read an author twice within a couple of months. I think the most recent exception to that was when I read the 2 sequels to "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". That was when they were first published so you can see it's been a while. Probably that was the first time I'd done that in years.

If my current book is a particularly long one I'll usually read a short book next. This is probably the rule I break most but usually this is how I do it. If the current book is a short one the next one can be short or long. It doesn't matter.

The last rule, and the most rigidly enforced, is that I don't decide what my next book will be until I'm finished with my current book. That feels like cheating again. I'll keep looking for a next book while I'm reading this one but no decisions are made. I might have a strong preference but, in fact, I usually end up picking something else.

Okay, that wasn't the last rule. When I'm done with this book I'll sample or taste or browse a number of other books from different sources before I make up my mind. I'll look through my Amazon wish list, my Kindle with it's collection of likely next books, read a few reviews, look through lists of authors related to once I enjoy and look for a few new to me authors.

Sometimes I pick one to read from all that. More often than not I'll find myself absorbed by something I'm sampling and just not want to stop. That's the preferred way to start a next book. And just every now and then I'll decide to wait another day or two before I start one. Sometimes that's nice, too.

I'm not sure whether I prefer the time I spend reading or the time I spend deciding what to read but both are so fun that I'm not likely to ever figure it out.

Barry