Weekly Geeks: Winter Reading

For this week's Weekly Geeks, share with us the books which call out to you during the cold, wintry months. Are there genres which appeal to you most? Why do you think you are drawn to these types of books during winter? Do you have some book recommendations for other readers who are looking for some escape from the blustery weather? Give us some of your favorites and tell us why you recommend them.

As "extra credit" why not share some photos of what the weather looks like outside your home...or where you curl up to read when 'the weather outside is frightening.'

As a rule, I always end up reading more during the winter months, something that made perfect sense when my winters looked like this:

 

(that's my husband last winter - on a very balmy day in the teens)

Now we live in California and our winters are not so wintery - when it rains, it pours, but for the most part it's sunny and in the 60's, so it's quite pleasant and I'm not stuck inside by virtue of the weather. However, I also have a dissertation proposal to write, and I'm researching from home most days, so I've been doing a lot of reading, both academic and for pleasure. Because reading for fun when I'm supposed to be reading for school still keeps me on the same track, which is good.  

Thinking back on what I've read over the years during winters, I noticed that I tend to read series (mostly intended for YA or children) of books: a few years ago I spent a week reading all the Harry Potter books, and I just read the entire Percy Jackson series in a week as well. 

I tend to go for books that are either very light, or else I am attracted to mysteries.  I'm currently reading the Stieg Larsson books (I read Girl With a Dragon Tattoo in two days), and I read the Tana French books earlier this winter - though I preferred The Likeness to In The Woods.

Part of the reason that I read YA series in winter, and I read them so quickly, is that I usually have a very limited amount of time to read for pleasure before the semester gets back into full swing. However, since I'm not taking classes for the first time in my life, so I've been reading a lot more - and these tend to be the books that have been out for a while and I've been meaning to read, or the books that I received for Christmas.

where i hope technology fails...

That sounds like a really negative post title, doesn't it? Well, I don't hope that technology fails, completely. I think that technology is amazing. In fact, yesterday I got an iphone (it was a wedding gift) and I kind of, sort of love it. I don't completely love it, yet, but I think that's because I don't completely know how to use it, you know?  I was just figuring out how to get the most out of my blackberry, and then I suddenly have to change technologies, and carriers, all for a family plan... just kidding. I'm sure it will be worth it. I've been coveting them for quite a while.

But where I (not-so) secretly hope that technology fails us is in the Kindle. I wasn't so opposed to the success of any other forms of technology.  But something about the Kindle just, well, sucks.  One of the best things about reading is the activity behind it.

Going to the bookshelf. Thumbing through all your books to see which one asks you to read it. Holding the weight of the book in your hand. Turning the pages, physically. Feeling like arriving at page 300 is a serious accomplishment, because you gauge how far you've come on this journey with these characters. Being able to, if the mood strikes (or you're reading for serious purposes and not for unabashed enjoyment), underline something. Or make a (sometimes not-so) witty comment, in pencil, that you can erase when you've gotten past your joke. Writing your name inside the book when you're finished.  Finding its home again, next to the rest of these books, all of which you have shared similar experiences with. 

Something about the Kindle really irks me, though. The tablet. The pages that "mimic" turning, the way that the digital cameras make the "click" sound that is just to try to make people feel more involved. The difference, however, is that most people didn't develop their own pictures, or physically imprint the image onto the negative.  They enjoyed them afterwards, and sharing photos between people was exponentially better with digital cameras. 

With digital music, you can still share it really easily with friends. Can you share kindle books? 

I can tell you the physical difference between holding something epic like Ulysses or War and Peace and something like A Christmas Carol (which I love, but I'm just trying to explain the difference in size, so...). Reaching that last page can really feel like an accomplishment. What would I do with a kindle? Set it back on the shelf where I got it? Upload another book? Also, what about crack screens? Or reading a kindle near the beach? If water splashes on a book, the page gets all warped, but does an electronic even survive?

And what about first editions, that have been loved and cherished and used as investments over a long period of time? Is there a "first edition" e-book? I mean, I can see reading a kindle for newspapers, since they use so much paper and they are relatively obsolete the next day. And even for magazines, for the same reason. But books? Come on, people.

Re-reading

Maybe it's because I'm currently re-reading a plethora of these books for my prelim. Maybe it's because I'm, at the heart of it, the biggest bookworm I know. Maybe I'm just procrastinating. 

Okay, it's likely a combination of all of those factors, if I'm being perfectly honest with you (and with myself).  But, in an effort to keep my wandering mind somewhat focused on the task at hand -- Gadda's Quer pasticciaccio in Via Merulana (That Awful Mess on the Via Merulana) -- I just read a really insightful article on Newsweek again, by David Gates, about the "Pleasures of Rereading."  

You can read the article here.

There are some books I have read over and over, sometimes for enjoyment and sometimes because multiple classes assign the same books from semester to semester. But really, what is the harm in that? I learn something different each time I pick up Gadda (begrudgingly) or Svevo (happily); each class offers new insight, each professor offers a new point of reference for the book, and I'm learning to appreciate books more on the second time around. Besides, some books can only be re-read, like Ulysses. Which is amazing, the second time.

Two things

1. Shelfari update: I haven't used it since I posted about it, so I guess it's not the most efficient of the network places.  I use the "Visual Bookshelf" application on facebook really regularly, though. I've just completely forgotten about shelfari's existence since then, so. Not completely, since obviously I'm talking about it. But you know what I mean.

2. With all the time that I spend reading, I've spent very little time blogging about that reading, so I'm going to work on blogging about it more regularly. Both academic/required reading and the rest of reading.

That's it for now. I'm going to put off the blogs a bit longer.

Types of Reading

I put the things I read into three categories.

1. School / research reading: this takes up about 90% of my reading. If it is assumed that I read 8 hours each day, more or less, then about 7:15 of those 8:00 are dedicated to the courses I'm taking and the lists below.

2. Bedside reading: this is, on the nights I don't pass out immediately, about 30 minutes of reading. Usually, this book is the one that takes me the longest to finish, since most nights I fall asleep in less than 5 minutes.

3. Morning reading: since I dry my hair upside down, I get extremely bored with my head hanging towards the floor looking at wood. So, I always keep a book handy. The best books for this type of reading are books without extremely intricate plots, since I spend about 10 minutes reading these books at a time.  I finish these books much more quickly than bedside books, because I read every time I dry my hair.

Why don't I just read one book at a time and finish it more quickly? Well, I obviously don't read school books when I get in bed or when I dry my hair because I have to actually focus on these books. It only took me four years to realize that I would get a lot more out of a book for school if I read it diligently and closely. And, of course, I need a pencil (preferably, but a pen will work in a pinch) when I read for serious purposes. And I don't want to read either my bedside or my blowdry books too quickly, because I try not to stockpile more than 4 books at a time.