How many books have you currently started but not finished?

[wyndslash]

@seabook: good one xP i've tried suggesting a few titles to my library, but i don't know what will become of those. am i comforted by the fact that they bothered to purchase Twilight...? i don't want to answer that question xP

i guess they're obligated to buy titles that appeals to a broad audience, but how would other book lovers know of those good, rare titles if they don't seek them out? xP

sadly, none of the student governments i've witnessed in my years tackle books or the lack of reading in the university.

i recently brought my kindle to class one time and was reading while waiting for the prof. after my classmate carelessly examined my poor kindle, she asked me why i didn't just get an ipad. xP

[TGS]

Originally Posted by wyndslash

...or there is too much marathon sex going on.

Is that's what's known in the trade as an oxymoron?

[Sweetpea]

Right now, I'm at 8.

Two of those are fairy tale books, I'm reading Arthur by Lawhead on my PDA, The Count of Monte Christo (Penguin Classics) by Dumas on my Mini, Gai-Jin by Clavell on my Sony, Prelude to Foundation by Asimov, was reading that on my Sony, but put it aside for now, Warlock by Wilbur Smith has been on the backburner for a while now, and Dragonseye is the book I'm reading on my JE100.

[lestatar]

Originally Posted by wyndslash

...SNIPPED...after my classmate carelessly examined my poor kindle, she asked me why i didn't just get an ipad. xP

Ummm, maybe because you:
- have way better things to do with your hard earned money;
- enjoy reading outdoors in direct sunlight;
- plan to actually read rather than simply watch YouTube, play Angry Birds or endlessly and pointlessly update your Facebook Status;
- have no desire to be trapped in a gigantic, walled-garden software ecosystem;
- don't really care for black turtlenecks so much

Sorry, totally not an Apple/iPad hater, honestly...but the only other web forum I participate in is called AnythingButiPod - draw your own conclusions.



Sorry for the OT...

[rhadin]

Books that I have started but not finished are finished, by which I mean they will never be looked at again. I delete them from my Sony so they aren't taking up space and so I don't inadvertently start reading them again. The reason I stop is either the book is downright dull or so riddled with errors that the book would best serve everyone if it simply self-destructed or it is so badly written (e.g., meandering everywhere and getting nowhere) that self-destruction is actively prayed for.

There is one exception: Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years by Diarmaid MacCulloch, which I won in both hardcover and ebook form. Sadly the writing is dense, so I can only take a few pages at a time. I go back to it about once a week and read 20-30 pages. At that rate, it will take me 40+ weeks to finish the book (it's 1200 pages), but I'm interested in the subject matter and the approach is good, perhaps a bit more than I really want/need to know.

BTW, for those of you who like good nonfiction, I highly recommend Moral Combat: Good and Evil in World War II by Michael Burleigh. It is a fascinating book viewed from the perspective of each of the major participants. The book is described as:

By exploring the moral sentiments of entire societies and their leaders, and how such attitudes changed under the impact of total war, Burleigh presents readers with a fresh and powerful perspective on a conflict that continues to shape world politics. Whereas previous histories of the war have tended to focus on grand strategy or major battles, Burleigh brings his painstaking scholarship and profound sensibility to bear on the factors that shaped choices that were life-and-death decisions. These choices were made in real time, without the benefit of a philosopher’s reflection, giving a moral content to the war that shaped it as decisively as any battle.

[astra]

Originally Posted by PG4003

I created a shelf on Goodreads that I call Abandoned.

Nice bookshelf name.
Would you mind if I borrowed it?
I called mine -never finished- but I liked Abandoned a lot more

[Sweetpea]

In my Calibre, they're still under "Reading"...

[wyndslash]

Originally Posted by TGS

Is that's what's known in the trade as an oxymoron?

it's just that...well, isn't one comprehensive love scene enough to last at least a few chapters or so? i mean, yes, i know you two have the hots for each other and all that, but let's not make the reader read through the whole process the second time. the author could just end it openly @x@

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

Right now, I'm at 8.

Two of those are fairy tale books, I'm reading Arthur by Lawhead on my PDA, The Count of Monte Christo (Penguin Classics) by Dumas on my Mini, Gai-Jin by Clavell on my Sony, Prelude to Foundation by Asimov, was reading that on my Sony, but put it aside for now,

i'm thinking of reading Asimov. Got any recommendations?

Originally Posted by lestatar

Ummm, maybe because you:
- have way better things to do with your hard earned money;
- enjoy reading outdoors in direct sunlight;
- plan to actually read rather than simply watch YouTube, play Angry Birds or endlessly and pointlessly update your Facebook Status;
- have no desire to be trapped in a gigantic, walled-garden software ecosystem;
- don't really care for black turtlenecks so much

Sorry, totally not an Apple/iPad hater, honestly...but the only other web forum I participate in is called AnythingButiPod - draw your own conclusions.



Sorry for the OT...

no offense taken that's what i told her, that i just wanted to read and i didn't want to be distracted. plus i don't really need an ipad. xP

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

In my Calibre, they're still under "Reading"...

man, i still can't use calibre as effectively as you guys. i just use it to organize my books for me xP

[wyndslash]

Originally Posted by rhadin

Books that I have started but not finished are finished, by which I mean they will never be looked at again. I delete them from my Sony so they aren't taking up space and so I don't inadvertently start reading them again. The reason I stop is either the book is downright dull or so riddled with errors that the book would best serve everyone if it simply self-destructed or it is so badly written (e.g., meandering everywhere and getting nowhere) that self-destruction is actively prayed for.

There is one exception: Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years by Diarmaid MacCulloch, which I won in both hardcover and ebook form. Sadly the writing is dense, so I can only take a few pages at a time. I go back to it about once a week and read 20-30 pages. At that rate, it will take me 40+ weeks to finish the book (it's 1200 pages), but I'm interested in the subject matter and the approach is good, perhaps a bit more than I really want/need to know.

BTW, for those of you who like good nonfiction, I highly recommend Moral Combat: Good and Evil in World War II by Michael Burleigh. It is a fascinating book viewed from the perspective of each of the major participants. The book is described as:

i don't think i could stand not finishing a book, especially one i borrowed. since kindle only lets you borrow once in forever, i do try to finish all that i borrowed, so i won't waste the lending. plus, i usually just stop at a sex scene and pick up some other time xP

EDIT: just checked the uni lib database for Asimov's works and it's sad that for such a famous author, they only have 5 books, and 2 are biographies. sheesh.

[GreenMonkey]

Originally Posted by wyndslash

i'm thinking of reading Asimov. Got any recommendations?

Personally, I'd start with the Caves of Steel (first Robot mystery book). I'd bet Foundation is the typical suggestion.


I don't have any unfinished books right now that I can think of. I pretty much read or don't read.

I kept getting sidetracked from reading Greg Keye's "The Waterborn" but I did get around to reading it and its sequel last week.

I suppose I have a few abandoned books...I rarely drop a book without finishing it, but it happens once in a great while.

[wyndslash]

@greenmonkey: thanks! i looked at GR's order for his Foundation series, but I just got confused x| although the list did say to start with the Robot series first...hah, but Caves of Steel is available in the uni lib, but i'd want a copy of my own xP

oh, i suppose the one book that I completely abandoned was "The Secret Garden" :P

[Sweetpea]

Originally Posted by wyndslash

i'm thinking of reading Asimov. Got any recommendations?

I love the Daneel stories (Caves of Steel, Naked Sun and Robots of Dawn), and the first five Foundation books (Foundation, Foundation and Empire, Second Foundation, Foundation's Edge and Foundation and Earth). And his robot stories are always a fun read.

Originally Posted by wyndslash

man, i still can't use calibre as effectively as you guys. i just use it to organize my books for me xP

So do I, I only made a few custom columns to make it a bit easier

[DMB]

I always have several books on the go. If I totally abandon a book because there is something about it that I dislike or can't get on with then I regard that as permanent abandonment.

But although I am a reading addict a lot depends on circumstances. I currently have two philosophy books on the go on my K3. But I need to be in the mood for them and also not too tired to grapple with the arguments. When I am really tired I read undemanding genre fiction and at any time I might have one of those on the go where I read a chapter at a time.

I have also embarked on rereading Anthony Powell's Proustian 12 novels A Dance to the Music of Time.. So far I have only got as far as the third chapter of the first book. But I am reading it unusually slowly because it is rereading and after almost every paragraph I stop and have a think. Because I first read these books many years ago, I am finding all sorts of things that I missed on the first read. And in any case I myself am a very different person with very different experience from that first young reader.

When I first got my K3 I acquired cheap or free copies of The Complete Sherlock Holmes and also a Victorian translation of the Iliad. Neither is new to me, although I hadn't come across that particular translation before, so I dip into them from time to time as the mood takes me.

Then in dt format I have almost finished Alan Sokal's Beyond the Hoax, which is quite interesting and lends itself to being read a chapter at a time because it is a compilation. I had just started reading a book about early eastern Christianity when it was pinched by my husband. On past form, he'll probably hang on to it for a couple of years and then claim to have lost it. I am going to get him a Kindle for his next birthday. He pooh-poohed the idea when I got one, but now the rest of the family have followed my example he sees the benefit. The benefit for me would be that he could read my books without stealing them off me.

[wyndslash]

Originally Posted by DMB

I always have several books on the go. If I totally abandon a book because there is something about it that I dislike or can't get on with then I regard that as permanent abandonment.

But although I am a reading addict a lot depends on circumstances. I currently have two philosophy books on the go on my K3. But I need to be in the mood for them and also not too tired to grapple with the arguments. When I am really tired I read undemanding genre fiction and at any time I might have one of those on the go where I read a chapter at a time.

I have also embarked on rereading Anthony Powell's Proustian 12 novels A Dance to the Music of Time.. So far I have only got as far as the third chapter of the first book. But I am reading it unusually slowly because it is rereading and after almost every paragraph I stop and have a think. Because I first read these books many years ago, I am finding all sorts of things that I missed on the first read. And in any case I myself am a very different person with very different experience from that first young reader.

When I first got my K3 I acquired cheap or free copies of The Complete Sherlock Holmes and also a Victorian translation of the Iliad. Neither is new to me, although I hadn't come across that particular translation before, so I dip into them from time to time as the mood takes me.

Then in dt format I have almost finished Alan Sokal's Beyond the Hoax, which is quite interesting and lends itself to being read a chapter at a time because it is a compilation. I had just started reading a book about early eastern Christianity when it was pinched by my husband. On past form, he'll probably hang on to it for a couple of years and then claim to have lost it. I am going to get him a Kindle for his next birthday. He pooh-poohed the idea when I got one, but now the rest of the family have followed my example he sees the benefit. The benefit for me would be that he could read my books without stealing them off me.

i do have to admit that ever since i got my kindle, i've rediscovered my love of reading

and yes, that's true. i'd have to be in a certain mood too to tackle any book that requires deep thought

Originally Posted by Sweetpea

I love the Daneel stories (Caves of Steel, Naked Sun and Robots of Dawn), and the first five Foundation books (Foundation, Foundation and Empire, Second Foundation, Foundation's Edge and Foundation and Earth). And his robot stories are always a fun read.

*adds to never-ending TBR list*
though, the idea of robots is something bittersweet for me xP

[elemenoP]

I almost never abandon a book, it's a problem I have. I just (this morning!) finished East of Eden and I have to say, I got nothing out of that book. And I remember loving Steinbeck in the past. I disliked it so much, I put it aside for a while (which I also never do) to read a short YA book, and then I felt I should finish it, I guess because it's a "classic." Eh.

eP