Now back to today's regularly scheduled Reading Blog
Some of you may know... but I try to keep it mostly quiet. I am both POOR and CHEAP. It isn't that I don't think authors deserve a lot of money (heck I want to BE one who supports herself) but I have supported a family of four by myself for a long time... layered on top of a childhood of relative poverty... A deep-seated belief in reusing and recycling... a love of old stuff. So here we have it... This tends to be how I acquire my reading material.
I think two of these books were gifts and the two from L.Diane Wolfe I WON (YAY! I love winning!)--those are the ones I intend to get to next (the top 4 on the hard cover stack). Now I am not Leanne—if I were, this would make a nice two weeks of reading. Instead, I am me, and take about a week a book... when I am not reading one of my OWN or critiquing for a friend (for the edit)...
When it comes to reading for free, I moved to the right place... I live in a college town, where people and the library GIVE AWAY the books they are done with. I try not to be greedy—I take them one at a time, but if there is a box of free books, I nearly NEVER pass it by. The titles you see, I intend to get to... I've decided I acquired them through the fates... that they were offered up when I walked by for a reason. It keeps my reading more varied than it might otherwise be... You'll note the pile has a fair few thrillers, mysteries, and dark suspense. But there are also some literary options, a little fantasy.
I've had past jobs where there was an exchange, and I LOVED that (and came across some of my favorite books EVER that way--The Poisonwood Bible and the Red Tent come to mind)--it gave my coworkers and I common material to talk about--I read some FABULOUS books that way. This way though, my reading is far more varied than it might otherwise be, and... you know... it's free...
12 comments:
I pass no judgement on your reading options, but please set fire to that Koontz before it hurts somebody. Than Kyoo.
A good wheeze: phone up a well-known publisher like Random House and complain of an edition being damaged or defective. They usually send one free book as compensation even if your claim is nonsense. Haha! Lying is lovely!
PS: Your Tart blog freezes my computer. Too many apps/links. So know that I am with you in spirit.
Hey, nothing wrong in free books...spread knowledge and all that jingo... Besides in India, especially in Bombay and Chennai we have/had (sadly) designated streets which sold really good titles in pretty good condition at throwaway prices...Miss those good ole days. ;)
Mark-I have the Koonz because I've actually never READ one of his and wanted to see what the fuss was about. Sorry the other blog is freezing you out! ACK! Thought I'd fixed that!
Songsnwords-I seem to remember that those supercheaps were pirated? (which an author doesn't want, but I suppose it DOES get a person read)--I remember at some point reading about the HONOR of having a book pirated... like a badge of desirability or something...
@ Tami- hell no, the books that she's talking about are genuine second hand books. I'd even picked up a second edition of 1984 for Rs. 5 once (25 cents?). Long sad story of what happened to many of those books :-(
People who did not appreciate the books their parents collected sold them off by weight to the vendors who were often as clueless about the value. Those stalls have disappeared.
Thanks Rayna for clarifying my point...Yes, I even have a very old book (guess 1960's edition, its very brittle now) "Fairy tales for children". The thrill of buying those books with your meagre pocket money was something else. Have a nice day. ;)
AHA! A little like living in Ann Arbor then, but much more predictable, (if there were formal stalls for them). My library always has a cart of free books, but it is hit and miss as to whether it is anything good. They seem to clear sections by genre, so this week I skipped the romance, and the reference books I am rarely interested in...
Hey, wait a sec, wasn't Leo Africanus in your stack when we were in Scotland? :-P
And Koontz is undervalued. Yeah, he writes horror [/genre snob], but he CAN write. I'm sticking to that. ;-)
Yeah, Leo Africanus was a casualty of finishing CONFLUENCE and I never really got back to it. I liked what I read, but it isn't a genre that is HELPFUL to what I'm doing, and it is heavier than a 'walk with it' book, so I just haven't had time.
I don't think I have ever read a Dean Koontz book but would love to try one in the future.
*adds to the never ending list of must reads*
What a great TBR pile!! I see a few of my favourite authors and people :) Enjoy Diane's books - I did :)
Chary-He was just starting to publish about the time I switched from my horror phase to my classics phase, and though I still look for Peter Straub now and again, I never returned to the horror, but I know I should get there.
Jemi-Hey, thank you! I plan to get to Diane's as soon as I finish my read of MINE I am editing... erm... and there is a library book, as that needs to be RETURNED... but soon!
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