By The Book

This week bloggers were charged to come up with their favorite book quotes. I decided to highlight quotes about the reading life. There’s little to say about the quotes — they speak for themselves. Let me know which you find fits your time spent with books.

For more Top 10 Tuesday fun, check out That Artsy Reader Girl.

Top Quotes About Books And Reading

“Never trust anyone who has not brought a book with them.” – Lemony Snicket

“I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book.” – Groucho Marx

“Let’s be reasonable and add an eighth day to the week that is devoted exclusively to reading.” – Lena Dunham

“Reading one book is like eating one potato chip.” – Diane Duane

“The world was hers for the reading.” – Betty Smith

“Literature is the most agreeable way of ignoring life.” – Fernando Pessoa

“There is nothing more luxurious than eating while you read—unless it be reading while you eat.” – E. Nesbit

“You know you’ve read a good book when you turn the last page and feel a little as if you have lost a friend.” – Paul Sweeney

“I guess there are never enough books.” – John Steinbeck

“What kind of life can you have in a house without books?” – Sherman Alexie

Tags: Reading

Back in 2007 I started keeping track of the books I read. It is a basic list with title, author and genre. Nothing fancy — no stars, no comments. It is a helpful list to remind me of my reading journey, although a bit unwieldy to peruse. I tried printing it out, but even with two columns per page, I felt I was endangering an entire forest. Wanting to have a bit more info on hand, I became a member of Goodreads. There I log the books I read and the reviews or ratings I gave them. It’s a great tool, but being an old-school reader, I do like a book in hand. After seeing a thread on a FB page I belong to, I bought my first reading log/journal this year. I love it! With a page dedicated to each book, I can document start and finish dates, format, and genre, page count, etc., with space for my review and favorite quotes. The particular log I chose has room for 100 books with a handy “loan” page at the back to document where my books are in the world (and who has them 😉 ). There is also a list of the 100 top books from the PBS Great American Read. Is it a bit overkill? Maybe, but I love having a “hard copy” to leaf through and reminisce about the wonderful book worlds I have visited.

So are there benefits of a book journal, or is it just a book nerd affectation? There are numerous online articles decrying the use of book logs in education, claiming that it kills a child’s developing love for reading. You know how it is — tell a kid to do something and they will do everything else instead.

My friend and super-teacher, Carrie, has these thoughts on reading logs for kids:

They are usseful when done right, but it is hard to maintain the practice if the logs are too long or detailed. While not very successful in my class, it is useful for kids who like to see a visual of their hard work. I use very simple logs. Noah (Carrie’s avid reader son) is religious about filling his out though, and he loves to show how much he has read.

However, I am talking adult book logs/journals. The ones we book lovers voluntarily choose to keep. Journaling is widely praised, so a book journal, should have the same benefits, yes? Studies show journaling produces mental health benefits, fosters creativity, and reinforces writing skills. I maintain these benefits can flow into book journaling too. Writing about what we learned, what sparked our interest to explore a subject more deeply, the emotions that the book evoked, how the themes relate to our own lives, how the characters responded to situations, how it opened doors to new worlds — all of these things can expand our understanding of the world at large and ourselves in particular (kind of like what reading does 😉 ! ). A book journal is really a vehicle to expand on and articulate what the book has started in our minds.

There are a number of pretty journals dedicated to books and reading, like the one I chose, or you can use a bound blank journal or even a spiral notebook or three-ring binder. Whatever works for you and fits your time and budget constraints. Modern Mrs. Darcy (Anne Bogle) even offers a book journaling class!  Yes, I am advocating keeping a reading journal, even though I have failed at every other journaling attempt in my life. We’ll see if it sticks!

Do you book journal?

Tags: Reading

I have 3 books going right now. That is so unlike me. I usually read only one book at a time, all the way through, to the end. But I have recently taken to listening to a book on my Kindle during the times I cannot read — while ironing, getting ready in the morning, driving around, etc. It is a bit like my GPS reading to me, but you get used to it.  And now I have an iPhone (thanks to my youngest son getting an upgrade), so audiobooks will become a regular feature of my walking time. And I cannot give up the feel of a real book in my hands. So 3 books all at once.

So I have a 2 part question for you:

1) Do you read more than one book at a time?

2) Do you read books in more than one format?

I recently read a very interesting article in The Rotarian (excerpted from One for The Books) by Joe Queenan. Queenan states that he reads a lot of books at one time. Currently he is reading 32 books! Not sure I could ever keep that many books straight. And if I read the article correctly, many of those books do not get finished or are an ongoing project taking years. He also challenges himself to read outside the box — spending a year reading only short books, spending a year reading books by authors from Iceland, etc. His thoughts on reading and books are intriguing and I suspect his book will make it into my collection, just not sure in what format. (It is currently available in hardback, paperback, and a Kindle version.)

Why my ramblings today? Because the same article states that the average American reads only 4 books annually — and is satisfied with that! How about you? Do you read when forced. Or, as I suspect if you are visiting my blog, do you devour books? Let me know your thoughts on reading, book formats, etc.

From Goodreads:

One of America’s leading humorists and author of the bestseller Closing Time examines his own obsession with books

Joe Queenan became a voracious  reader as a means of escape from a joyless childhood in a Philadelphia housing project. In the years since then he has dedicated himself to an assortment of  idiosyncratic reading challenges: spending a year reading only short books, spending a year reading books he always suspected he would hate, spending a year reading books he picked with his eyes closed.

In One for the Books, Queenan tries to come to terms with his own eccentric reading style—how many more books will he have time to read in his lifetime? Why does he refuse to read books hailed  by reviewers as “astonishing”? Why does he refuse to lend out books? Will he ever buy an e-book? Why does he habitually read thirty to forty books simultaneously? Why are there so many people to whom the above questions do not even matter—and what do they read? Acerbically funny yet passionate and oddly affectionate, One for the Books is a reading experience that true book lovers will find unforgettable.

Joe Queenan is a humorist, critic and author from Philadelphia who graduated from Saint Joseph’s University. He has written for numerous publications, such as Spy Magazine, TV Guide, Movieline, The Guardian and theNew York Times Book Review. He has written eight books, including Balsamic Dreams, a scathing critique of the Baby Boomers, Red Lobster, White Trash, and the Blue Lagoon, a tour of low-brow American pop culture and Imperial Caddy, a fairly scathing view of Dan Quayle and the American Vice-Presidency.

Queenan’s work is noted for his caustic wit.

Tags: Reading