2 posts tagged “reading”

Too many books, too little time...what's a girl to do? I currently have five unread/unfinished library books at home:

I've started Hairstyles of the Damned (I'm approximately forty pages in), but I have yet to be really hooked by it, so I am not sure whether I am going to finish it or not. I am also approximately half of the way through Maus, which I am enjoying but finding a little difficult to read on account of the font-style and broken English. The other three books are all books that I have been wanting to read for a while but haven't had the time (or motivation) to start. I am particularly interested in starting West with the Night, as it comes highly recommended by Ernest Hemmingway who wrote:

Did you read Beryl Markham's book, West with the Night? I knew her fairly well in Africa and never would have suspected that she could and would put pen to paper except to write in her flyer's log book. As it is, she has written so well, and marvelously well, that I was completely ashamed of myself as a writer. I felt that I was simply a carpenter with words, picking up whatever was furnished on the job and nailing them together and sometimes making an okay pig pen. But [she] can write rings around all of us who consider ourselves writers. The only parts of it that I know about personally, on account of having been there at the time and heard the other people's stories, are absolutely true . . . I wish you would get it and read it because it is really a bloody wonderful book. 

It looks like I am going to have to get moving on my reading because I just checked my library account and I have one book on hold and two books on their way (both of which are books that I have had on hold for months).

If that isn't enough, I also have the Freaks and Geeks boxed set on the way, and I will likely only have three days to a week to watch the entire series for the first time.

How am I ever going to fit all of this into my days? I really need to discover a way to beam books directly into my brain.

Ever wonder what to read next? Even despite my ever-growing to-read list, I am always on the lookout for more book recommendations. To help me (and others like me) along, I have started to create a list of online reader's advisory resources. Although the list is still in its infancy, I thought that I would start to list some of the links here and then update the list as I find more resources. Feel free to leave comments and suggest your favourite book-related websites, blogs, etc.

• AllReaders.com (http://www.allreaders.com)
  This website allows users to search for book reviews by title, author, plot, setting or character. It also allows users to browse by genre or recent reviews.
  
  
• Gnooks (http://www.gnooks.com/)
  
  
• Reader2 (http://reader2.com)
  This social website allows users to create lists of their favourite books (or their entire collection) and to search for book recommendations based on other books they have enjoyed, on user-created tags, etc.
  
  
• Reader 2 Reader (http://www.reader2reader.net/)
  
  
• Reader's Robot (http://www.tnrdlib.bc.ca/rr.html)
  This website allows users to search for book recommendations by genre, keyword, or "appeal factors" such as book length, writing style, and characterization.
  
  
• Story Code (http://www.storycode.com)
  This website allows users to get recommendations based on books that they have enjoyed.
  
  
• What Should I Read Next? (http://www.whatshouldireadnext.com/books/search)
  This social website allows users to get recommendations based on books that they have enjoyed.
  
  
• Whichbook.net (http://www.whichbook.net)
  This website allows users to search for books based on desired style (e.g. funny, conventional, short, etc.), characters, plot, and setting.