Booking Through Thursday: What Is Reading, Fundamentally?

Booking Through Thursday

This weeks question suggested by: Thisisnotabookclub

What is reading, anyway? Novels, comics, graphic novels, manga, e-books, audiobooks — which of these is reading these days? Are they all reading? Only some of them? What are your personal qualifications for something to be “reading” — why? If something isn’t reading, why not? Does it matter? Does it impact your desire to sample a source if you find out a premise you liked the sound of is in a format you don’t consider to be reading? Share your personal definition of reading, and how you came to have that stance.

(Two weeks late for Reading is Fundamental week, but, well…)

Reading is that thing you do when your eyes move back and forth across some form of written words. That's my official answer! So with that definition novels, comics, graphic novels, manga (I think.. you know I'm not sure what manga is really... are there words?) and e-books would be reading. So are magazines, newspapers, and blogs. But audiobooks... now THAT would be listening. That's what we do with our ears, you see.

BUT... NO, it doesn't matter. They count, those audiobooks, because the words get into your head whether you read them or you listen to them.

HOWEVER... for some reason, I still haven't been converted to this listening form of reading. I need to be holding something, for the most part. I need to "see" the words, to "feel" the words.

Having said that, I'm still open to the possibility that audiobooks have their place, especially in the car, or while exersizing, or while crafting or whatever. But at this point, when I read, I want to lie (lay? I can never remember which one!) down and relax and really get involved in the book. So for me, that's what reading is all about.

Graduation

My high school graduate... 18 years ago!

Weekly Geeks #5: Forms of Story Telling

Here's the question/theme for Weekly Geeks week #5:

Guten Tag, Weekly Geeks! This week’s theme was suggested by Renay. She says, “I thought it would be cool to ask people to talk about other forms of story-telling.”

This week’s theme is once again one you could approach several ways. You might want to tell about the forms of storytelling (aside from books) you love. Maybe you enjoy TV shows, movies, music, narrative poetry, or Renay’s favorite, fanfiction. You could give us an overview of a type of storytelling, such as listing your favorite movies. Or you might pick a more specific story, one particular favorite. I just finished watching an episode of Lost, for example, so I could tell why I enjoy that series, or I could get more specific and focus on one character’s personal story. Some people might post youtubes of the songs whose stories they find brilliant, or some might share family bedtime stories. Can’t wait to see what you come up with!

And my attempt at answering it:

The first thing that came to mind for me regarding good story telling is our own life stories... or autobiographies... or telling the stories of ancestors. I think people's personal stories, especially those people in your own life, are some of the most important and fascinating stories out there. I've been able to interview both sets of my grandparents and get their stories written down, and now that they are done, I need to work on my parents next! As for my own story? I've kept a journal since I was 12 which pretty much tells every boring detail of my life since then... so my story is being told I guess... bit by bit as it unfolds!

I liked all the other suggestions for story telling options. For instantce, a couple of my favorite movies that tell a great story are:

Star Wars (the original of course!)




Ladyhawke,




and The Princess Bride.





And I love the idea of songs that tell stories. A couple that come right to mind:

Hazard by Richard Marx



One Tin Soldier by Coven... I think





and Cats in the Cradle by Harry Chapin.




Well, I'm guessing I could go on and on with this theme... so I'll just say that's it for now!

A List of SOME Favorites: A to Z

Awhile back, a few of us did the list of favorite authors A to Z meme. Then 3M did a variation of that and did a list of favorite books, A to Z. So... loving lists like I do, I wanted to try that one and I'm finally getting around to that today:

A: Anne of Green Gables by LM Montgomery
B: The Book Thief
C: A Crack in the Line by Michael Lawrence
D: David Copperfield by Charles Dickens
E: Eldest by Christopher Paolini, Ender's Game by Orson Scott Card
F: Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
G: The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck
H: Harry Potter by JK Rowling
I: Inkheart by Cornelia Funke
J: Jane Eyre by Charlotte Bronte
K: Katherine by Anya Seton, The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini
L: Life of Pi by Yann Martel, Lord of the Rings by JRR Tolkein
M: Moonstone by Wilkie Collins
N: Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens
O: The Outsiders by SE Hinton
P: Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
Q: The Queen's Fool by Philippa Gregory
R: Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier
S: Seabiscuit by Laura Hillenbrand
T: A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith, Twilight by Stephenie Meyer
U: Uglies by Scott Westerfeld
V: The Virgin Blue by Tracy Chevalier
W: Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell
X: Ex Libris: Confessions of a Common Reader by Anne Fadiman (sounds like X... close enough right?)
Y: A Year Down Yonder by Richard Peck
Z: Zorro by Isabel Allende


Hmmmm.... interesting.

Booking Through Thursday: Books vs. Movies

Booking Through Thursday

Books and films both tell stories, but what we want from a book can be different from what we want from a movie. Is this true for you? If so, what’s the difference between a book and a movie?

Yes, I would say that's true. Here's some differences between the two, for me anyway:

Books use your imagination much much more. In movies, it's all done for you.

Books are quiet. Movies are loud.

Books go much deeper into the characters and situations. Movies only scratch the suface with what's really going on.

Books are an "alone" experience. Movies are a social experience.

Books stimulate the brain. Movies stimulate the senses.

Books are more fulfilling, like you've actually accomplished something. Movies are more of a time filler, something you can fit in between everything else.

However, both are very entertaining. Both are great ways to escape the real world. Both are fun and enjoyable.

Books and movies? Yeah... I love 'em both!

Speaking of Classics

Another classics discussion, snagged from Julie:


Classics I Have Never Read and Don't Even Feel Guilty About
Lolita by Nabokov
Lord Jim by Conrad
Ulysses by Joyce
(There's got to be more to this list... but it's not coming to me right now!)


Classic I Have Never Read and Feel a Tad Guilty About
Walden by Thoreau
Pilgrim's Progress by Bunyan
(I've got them, so I'll probably read them some day)


Classics I Want to Read but Haven't Yet
Bleak House by Dickens
Vanity Fair by Thackeray
A Passage to India by Forster
War and Peace by Tolstoy (still working on it!)
Don Quixote by Cervantes
The Little Prince by Saint Exupéry
The Catcher in the Rye by Salinger
(This is just a small list of my hope-to-reads)

Classics I Have Read (or Mostly Read) and Sorta Regret (Julie said Deeply, but I changed it!)
The Good Soldier by Ford (I tried)
The Wings of the Dove by James (I tried)
Moby-Dick by Melville (I tried)
The Idiot by Dostoevsky (I tried)
(I still plan on getting through most of these some day ... I hope)

So... how about you?

Pre-Challenge Fun: A Classics Meme

Trish, who's hosting the Classics Challenge, has come up with this meme to get us exited for her challenge. And even though I'm lousy at challenges, I think I'll try this one and get some classics read since I've been really neglecting them lately!


1. My favorite classic is: sheesh there's so many and I can't list just one! Great Expectations, Pride and Prejudice, A Woman in White, The Count of Monte Cristo....

2. The classic I had the toughest time finishing is Crime and Punishment... one I read back in high school. It was a tough one. But then, I ended up using it for all the essays I wrote that year. You can use that book to answer any question!

3. I would recommend A Woman in White by Wilkie Collins to someone who doesn't read a lot of classics or who doesn't generally like classics because it's different, it's funny, it's suspenseful, it's witty... and it would introduce them to one of my favorites but less well-known classic authors: Wilkie Collins.

4. To me, a classic book is a book that stands the test of time. A book that is just as good now as it was then... maybe even better now. A book that people will never get sick of.

5. The type of relationship I have with classics is I love them! I find it easy to get into the rhythm of the older style language. They are some of my favorite books. I miss them. I need to read more of them.