Happy 2013! I haven’t dropped into the Sunday Salon for awhile (almost three months(!!)), so the first Sunday of a new year seems like an appropriate time to get back into the groove. I’m not sure I’ll be around every week, but I’ve missed being around at all.
I’ll be posting my 2012 Books of the Year selections tomorrow–four fiction, two nonfiction, and several special mentions–so if you’re interested in that kind of thing, I hope you’ll check in to see what I chose. My year-end reading stats and challenge summaries will post on Wednesday. I know they’re a little late to be official “year-end” posts, but I didn’t really have time to work on them until after Christmas, and so many of us were on holiday blog breaks during the last couple of weeks that I decided to hold them till we were all getting back to business as usual.
My reading year is off to a running start–as of yesterday, I was reading four books concurrently! This is practically unheard of for me, and it’s a bit of a test, to be honest. I had a triple-booking stretch for a couple of weeks in November and December, and it went better than I expected it to, so I’m upping the stakes just a bit. Besides, double-booking and audiobooks are two of the suggestions Lifehacker recently offered in answer to this question (one we might call “The Bookworm’s Eternal Dilemma):
“Over the years I’ve collected hundreds of books I want to read, but no matter what I do they just keep piling up. Is there a way I can read faster and get through this backlog quickly?”
So here’s what I’ve been quadruple-booking this past week:
- one print book, fiction–a galley for my Shelf Awareness review gig–which I hope to finish and write up today
- one audiobook, fiction
- two e-books, both nonfiction
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| the e-books and the audio I’m currently reading |
“…(T)he #peeon is really the Procrastination-along. The intent is to ‘finish that damn book if it’s the last thing I do.’ In January. Because I don’t know about you, but I got better things to do come February.
The point is to finish that one book that has been bugging you or that you’ve been meaning to finish or that you just want to get out of the way.”
I’m going to #peeon Elizabeth Kostova’s The Historian. Since I left off 3/4 of the way through it almost six years ago, my discussion post about it may be kind of weird, but I will be able to get rid of it in good conscience afterwards. (And since I am 3/4 done with it, I hope that means the rest will go relatively quickly…)
Speaking of things that go relatively quickly…if you have a little time between now and January 20, would you consider participating in a survey on “The Cost and Value of Book Blogging” for Wendy Darling at The Midnight Garden? She’d like to get a broad sampling of book bloggers across all genres to provide information about their investment of time and money in their blogs–all of the questions are optional, so you may answer as many or as few as you like, and it’s anonymous unless you choose to leave your contact info. I’ve responded, and I’m curious to see how it shakes out.
How is Year Zero? I've seen that book before and almost bought it a few times but then I'd end up with something else I thought I'd like better. Sometimes I'm wrong. 🙂
I think you'd like it–it's pretty funny, and has a lot of smart pop-culture references. But I'd go with the audiobook if you can–John Hodgman reads it, and he's an excellent match for the material.
aw, I want to read the Revolution was Televised. Happy New Year, Florinda!
Amy, that book is totally your thing–I've been thinking of you while I've been reading it! 🙂
For what it's worth — I always thought The Historian could have been edited down shorter, but I did eventually make it through when it came out. Good luck with it. cheers http://www.thecuecard.com/
My recollection is that I put it down when the third different strand of backstory was introduced, so yes, I'd be inclined to agree with your take on the editing. But if I can't finish it this time around, it's not getting a third chance!
Happy New Year!
4 books at a time? Madness! Since I got a Kindle for Christmas, I'm actually reading one e-book and one paper book concurrently, which is a lot for me, and honestly one is still getting a lot of preference over the other.
Good luck with your multi-booking! 🙂
My previous attempts at two-timing my books have always gone much more like yours. But I finished two of the four books already, and since I don't commute on the weekends, I won't be back to the audiobook till tomorrow. I feel a little at loose ends :-). It's weird.
I think reading four books at a time is a good idea, I'm currently reading Far From The Tree by Andrew Solomon. I think I'll start reading The Twelve Tribes of Hattie by Ayana Mathis. Enjoy your week!
Thanks, Vasilly! I'm not sure it'll be a long-term thing, but so far, so good… Have a great week!
I got Year Zero at ALA last summer and couldn't get through the first chapter. I think I might try out the audiobook, though! I can totally get on board with a John Hodgman narration.
– Anastasia @ Birdbrain(ed) Book Blog