Do you re-read books?

[astra]

Originally Posted by binzer

What's it to ya :P

Just curious
I have not read him yet, although I diligently collect his books and wait until he finishes the series so I can read it. But I show my face from time to time on Malazan forum. I think you are the first member of this forum that I know of who is actually reading contemporary fantasy and maybe from the same forums I visit besides mobileread community

[binzer]

Originally Posted by astra

Just curious
I have not read him yet, although I diligently collect his books and wait until he finishes the series so I can read it. But I show my face from time to time on Malazan forum. I think you are the first member of this forum that I know of who is actually reading contemporary fantasy and maybe from the same forums I visit besides mobileread community

I'd already seen your name on the Malazan forums so I was just teasing

I'm currently captivated by the mafia game they have going over there. It's quite hilarious and suspenseful if you join the spoiler room.

Edit: btw, I can't believe you collect them and don't read them! That's some mighty will power. If you're worried about having to wait inbetween, it's really not so bad because you'll feel the need to reread them anyways. His series is quite complicated, to say the least.

[astra]

Originally Posted by binzer

btw, I can't believe you collect them and don't read them! That's some mighty will power. If you're worried about having to wait inbetween, it's really not so bad because you'll feel the need to reread them anyways. His series is quite complicated, to say the least.

Yes, I do worry about it. I hate waiting! After I read WoT 8 books and realised that the series are not finished and I will not be able learn about the fate of mains characters I became friends/enemies with during the first 8 books and I have no idea when I am going to read what happened to them and how everything is going to finished...I vowed never again... read a series that is not finished.

I have managed quite well so far
Didn't read HP for example. However, what tremendous pleasure I had during 2.5 month last autumn when reading all 7 books in a row!
Now I have 2 finished trilogies of Robin Hobb awaiting me. The same with R. Feist.

[binzer]

I think that if I read SE's books for the first time all in a row, I would very possibly die from malnutrition. I need the break between good books so I can have a life (I am seriously lacking in willpower when it comes to a page-turner).

I still think you should start the Malazan books now though! You won't go crazy because there's plenty to discuss on the forums, and you will definitely want to re-read GotM because you'll have no clue what's going on the first time you read it

[astra]

Maybe...maybe...I will start reading him relatively soon

I have a to-read-list that will last me for 1.5 year. Toll the Hounds will be published and Dust of Dreams will be almost written by then and I might start on the Malazan World.

Unfortunatelly, I am a very slow reader and I cannot afford to re-read a lot of books when there are so many unread books out there. Although, if the book is interesting I do not mind. But I am very choosy on the books I decide to re-read.

Anyway, I must confess that this sort of culture "fan forums" is completely alien to me. Reading a book was always like an intimate act I cannot imagine what one can discuss about the series while reading them and they are not finished yet. I have never ever participated in such forum discussions before. What is there to dicuss? I either like the book/series or not. Sometimes(not always) I can state some reasons why I feel this way. That's it. Why Mr.A said to Mr.B that he hates him? Speculate what would happen if the king deployed his troops differently? It is a book. It is already documented. Everything is predefined by an author. The king deployed his troops this way because Steven Eriksson in his head invented it so. You see what I mean? I know it sounds odd, just like the fan forum idea sounds odd to me
On the other hand I am very curious about this series. More than in any other of the series that I keep an eye on. So, I am looking forwad for reading it and participating in the "fan" part of the Malazan forum

[tompe]

Originally Posted by astra

Anyway, I must confess that this sort of culture "fan forums" is completely alien to me. Reading a book was always like an intimate act I cannot imagine what one can discuss about the series while reading them and they are not finished yet. I have never ever participated in such forum discussions before. What is there to dicuss? I either like the book/series or not. Sometimes(not always) I can state some reasons why I feel this way. That's it. Why Mr.A said to Mr.B that he hates him? Speculate what would happen if the king deployed his troops differently? It is a book. It is already documented. Everything is predefined by an author. The king deployed his troops this way because Steven Eriksson in his head invented it so. You see what I mean? I know it sounds odd, just like the fan forum idea sounds odd to me
On the other hand I am very curious about this series. More than in any other of the series that I keep an eye on. So, I am looking forwad for reading it and participating in the "fan" part of the Malazan forum

One reason I go to science fiction conventions (the next one is Eastercon this year at Heathrow, http://www.orbital2008.org/) is for book and literature and genre discussions. But I have also seen your opinion when I have tried to get friends that read science fiction to go to conventions. They say they like to read the books but they do not want to talk about them. Here is an example of discussions about Pratchetts books:

http://www.sf-foundation.org/publica...pratchett.html

• Coming of Age: John Clute
• The Childrens' Books: Cherith Baldry
• Theories of Humour: Andrew M. Butler
• Unseen University: Penelope Hill
• The Librarian and his Domain: Andy Sawyer
• The Witches: Karen Sayer
• Death: Nickianne Moody
• The City Watch: Edward James
• Mapping Narrative Spaces: Matthew Hills
• Faith and Ethics: Farah Mendlesohn

Just as an exemple that you can discuss a lot of things about a book or a book series.

[HarryT]

Originally Posted by tompe

I have seen it argued that re-reading a book is a totally different activity then reading it for the first time. But I think that mostly applies when you read things deeply. I reread and the experience is a bit different but not so much. The experience is very similar to reading the book the first time so if it was a very good bok that you enjoyed very much the first time than it is definitely worth rereading.

I think that one way to define "great" literature is that you can get more and more out of it the more you re-read it. That's why I regard Dickens so highly as an author; the more you re-read the books, the more you get out of them.

[binzer]

Originally Posted by astra

Maybe...maybe...I will start reading him relatively soon

I have a to-read-list that will last me for 1.5 year. Toll the Hounds will be published and Dust of Dreams will be almost written by then and I might start on the Malazan World.

Unfortunatelly, I am a very slow reader and I cannot afford to re-read a lot of books when there are so many unread books out there. Although, if the book is interesting I do not mind. But I am very choosy on the books I decide to re-read.

Anyway, I must confess that this sort of culture "fan forums" is completely alien to me. Reading a book was always like an intimate act I cannot imagine what one can discuss about the series while reading them and they are not finished yet. I have never ever participated in such forum discussions before. What is there to dicuss? I either like the book/series or not. Sometimes(not always) I can state some reasons why I feel this way. That's it. Why Mr.A said to Mr.B that he hates him? Speculate what would happen if the king deployed his troops differently? It is a book. It is already documented. Everything is predefined by an author. The king deployed his troops this way because Steven Eriksson in his head invented it so. You see what I mean? I know it sounds odd, just like the fan forum idea sounds odd to me
On the other hand I am very curious about this series. More than in any other of the series that I keep an eye on. So, I am looking forwad for reading it and participating in the "fan" part of the Malazan forum

On the Malazan forums a lot of people post just to try and figure out what's going on :P A guy just posted a few days ago, 100 pages into the "GotM", and asked if it was normal to be completely lost. The answer was a resounding yes. The thing with SE is that he throws you into the middle of a story that started a long time ago, and he defines very little. You just have to decipher how things work as you read. The other thing about SE is that most things aren't as they seem, and the more you realize that, the more you'll question yourself. Since the books are so complicated it's often difficult to remember tiny details from past books (that you'll suddenly realize are significant) so the forums become an excellent resource, especially if you don't want to re-read. At any rate, you'll see

[zelda_pinwheel]

Originally Posted by ElaHuguet

I have my favourite books, the bones of my library, that are like "comfort reads", I love snuggling down and re-reading them when the mood hits (Agatha Christie, PG Wodehouse, Dick Francis, Arthur Ransome,...). (...) Other books I also re-read, but not as often. And some books are good for being read once and never again.

i completely agree ! and now i will have to look at dick Francis and Arthur Ransome, since Christie and Wodehouse are two of my favorite "comfort" authors also... and i even like to re-read mysteries ; the second (or third, or...) time, you can see all the clues the author left for you that you did not even notice the first time, and think "oh, she really took me for a ride !!"

Originally Posted by ronnn

I often re-read chapters of books that I liked.
Being french, i sometimes get a book in english that I read in french before.

i do this too, especially since i used to get most of my books from the library (before i got my eb1150), and it is much more common to find translations than the original version. but when i find an author i like, if they wrote in english, i like to re-read the original versions. i did this with SS Van Dine and now with Dorothy L. Sayers, and it is really amazing how different the experience is just changing the language. also for this reason, if i find an author i like who wrote in German (which i don't speak), i will re-read them in english, even though it is also a translation, because it is a germanic language and i think the ambiance is closer ; but an italian or portuguese writer i prefer to read (and re-read) in french (until i learn italian ).

[sydneycat1999]

At the moment I'm living between 2 houses which are in different continents. Currently, my "physical library" is in Europe while I'm living most of the year in Asia. So, I always end up buying the current books from my favourite authors at the airport for my trip to Europe & leaving them there when I've finished reading them & bringing back old favourites to read on my way back to Asia So, I guess I'm always re-reading my books. It used to frustrate me especially if I'm following a series & knowing the next sequel or the one before that is on the other side of the world. And have on occassion bought the same book again as I just can't wait that long for the next trip back But that all changed when I discovered e-books I now mostly have on my notebook the favourites which I have on my "physical library". I like the thought of doing my part for the environment, by only buying ebooks but sometimes just can't resist the temptation

I don't think I will end up buying an ebook reader device, (wouldn't say no if someone gives it to me ) but keen on getting a PDA as I've gotten used to search Wiki or Google to find out more on something I'm currently reading. Books that I keep reading again & again are from J.D. Robb, David Eddings, James Patterson & of course mushy stuff from Judith McNaught & Julie Garwood

[Laine]

Originally Posted by sydneycat1999

I don't think I will end up buying an ebook reader device, (wouldn't say no if someone gives it to me ) but keen on getting a PDA as I've gotten used to search Wiki or Google to find out more on something I'm currently reading. Books that I keep reading again & again are from J.D. Robb, David Eddings, James Patterson & of course mushy stuff from Judith McNaught & Julie Garwood

I got my iPAQ 212 last week and I love it. The screen is so much better than the 2790 and I've already got eReader, Microsoft Reader and Mobipocket working on it.

Laine Cabramatta, Australa

[Nigel]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

...BTW: How do you folks keep track of book's you've read. I was thinking of getting a Groqit (http://www.groqit.com/) but it won't work well with eBooks.

BOb

I've been thinking of using the free tools on the Groqit site to keep track of my growing e-library, read and unread.

Since e-books don't have bar code and I don't go to a physical store to buy them, I'm not sure what use I would make of the Groqit device itself. However, they don't make you buy it to use their tools on your computer.

What do you have in mind Bob? How would you use it? How many books would you need to keep track of? At the most basic level, you could type in the info. I don't have the patience to do this but I'm pretty sure one could import from Windows Explorer > Excel > Groqit.

If there's some functionality that should be added to the Groqit software for e-books, I could at least get the word to them. I worked with one of their developers in another company and we're still in touch.

Regarding rereading (other than reference books); To paraphrase the message on an old tee shirt: "So many books. So little time".

I have however read Replay By Ken Grimwood at least three times. Its a fiction about going back in time and reliving ones life differently, using the knowledge of experience to change the choices one made the first time around. Its been ripped off to make some really bad movies.

I've re-read it when I've felt in a rut and needed to make changes in my life.

Doesn't anyone here carry around a Bible to reread for on the go inspiration? There are a number of people I regularly avoid who do this.

[pilotbob]

Originally Posted by Nigel

I've been thinking of using the free tools on the Groqit site to keep track of my growing e-library, read and unread.

Have you looked at librarything.com? I have an account there. Just haven't had time to enter all my books by hand. I have a cuecat scanner but it has a ps2 keyboard connection, not USB so it doesn't work in any of our current computers.

Originally Posted by Nigel

What do you have in mind Bob? How would you use it? How many books would you need to keep track of? At the most basic level, you could type in the info. I don't have the patience to do this but I'm pretty sure one could import from Windows Explorer > Excel > Groqit.

Well, it's not so much an issue with eBooks. But, still not all books are eBooks. I read all of the Star Trek series, there used to be several active ones, they seem to have slowed down alot. Anyway... every now and then, when my wife was at Walmart or somewhere she would see some of the new releases on the rack. She would get them for me. A few times she got ones that I already had.

Most of the other books I can generally remember... but after years of reading books and you hear about a book, sometimes it sounds familliar and I would like to check to see if I have read it. Library Thing would work well once I get everything I own/read in there.

If there's some functionality that should be added to the Groqit software for e-books, I could at least get the word to them. I worked with one of their developers in another company and we're still in touch.

I think it would take a combination of each eBook site having some type of web service that exposed the books that you have bought from them. So, if you use the Kindle and buy 100% of your books from them, it is pretty easy to look in your media library. But, it would be nice if there was a way that all of my purchases from Sony, Sci-Az, Steve Joren, BAEN, etc, (and d/l's) could be accumluated in one place

BOb

[nekokami]

ReaderWare can get your purchases from Amazon. I think it's just a matter of writing an extractor for each of the major vendors, and you can copy and paste your purchase history from any vendor into the extractor.

My problem with ReaderWare is that it doesn't relate multiple copies or different editions of the same book to one another. Does Groqit really handle that better, or is it relying on the user noticing two items next to each other in a list sorted by author and title?

[Evelyn Sinclair]

Bob,

You seem to be just about a perfect example of "who we made all this for."

The Groqit device is for people who do collect at least some physical media, and shop places other than online least some of the time (actual stores, garage sales, swap meets).

Perhaps the concerns you have are shared by others; both those who might want to just use the free online service and those more like you. But it might be a good idea to take this discussion into a new thread, as it could be considered to be veering away from the topic of this one.

If you would like to discuss what the Groqit site and/or device has to offer, would you mind making a new thread for the "Groqit Personal Inventory Management System?" Otherwise, it might look like I just showed up out of nowhere with unwelcome "news."

Thanks for your interest!

Evelyn