Tag: discussion

Are You Monogamous or Polygamous (When it Comes to Books)?

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MonogamyorPolygamy

Do you like to devote yourself to one book at a time and give it all your book love, only then moving on to the next? Or do you enjoy having a number of books on the go, flirting with each as the mood takes you? To put it another way, do you like to read in sequence or in parallel?

I can see pros and cons to both but I’ll ‘fess up now to being a dyed-in-the wool polygamist…when it comes to books.

In Praise of Book Monogamy

  • You can give your full attention to the book – the story, the characters, the writing – without any distraction
  • You won’t have any problem picking up where you left off because it will be fresh in your mind, not obscured by anything else you’ve read in between
  • You’ll get through the book in a shorter elapsed time
  • If it’s a challenging read – a long book, a complex subject or unusual writing style – you’ll be able to apply your full concentration to it
  • It will be much easier to recall when you come to write that all important review
  • No temptation to switch to another book leaving the current one unfinished
  • Ideal for the self-disciplined

favourite                     BookPile

In Praise of Book Polygamy

  • You can switch between books depending on your mood. For example, perhaps a few chapters from something light-hearted when you’re feeling a bit down and then back to something more thrilling when you crave excitement.   Or something gentler and slower for bedtime reading.
  • If you’re struggling to get into a particular book, you can switch to another for a time and go back to the first book later.
  • Less chance of a DNF because of the above
  • You can take a break from a challenging read but, rather than do something entirely non-book related, you can polish off a few chapters of another quite different book
  • You may pick up similarities or common themes between books that you wouldn’t have noticed if you’d read them separately
  • You’ve got more chance of finding a book with the right chapter length to fit those odd reading opportunities during the day
  • Ideal for the multi-tasker

So, do you practice monogamy or polygamy when it comes to books?

Blog Talk: Temptations of a Book Blogger

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TemptationsofaBookBlogger

A few weeks ago, I wrote about some of the temptations I’ve encountered as a novice book blogger. You can read my original post here.   Confession time: I’ve been better at warning others of temptations than I have at resisting them.

In particular, the temptation I referred to as The Author’s Best Friend Temptation – that seemingly irresistible urge (for me, anyway) to say ‘Yes’ to review requests from authors when you really should glance at your TBR pile and say ‘No’.  As a consequence, I’ve amassed quite a stack of books from indie authors needing review, some going back several months.

In an effort to make amends, I’ve decided to devote July to reading and reviewing as many of these books as I possibly can.  In order to do that, I’ve made a deliberate effort to limit my other commitments next month and read ahead as much as possible for blog tours or publication dates in July.

And what about some of the other temptations I identified, like The NetGalley Frenzy Temptation? Ah well, best draw a veil over that one for the time being. One confession is enough for now.