Books and Bunnies
This morning I was looking at the books on my to-be-read shelf*. I've touched on this briefly before, but it's been a while.
Some of these books are new. There's one by David Baldacci hiding that you can't see here. Some have been on this shelf for years. Why is that?
Obviously I want to read them, but so far I haven't.
Yet I continue to purchase other books - and read some of them first - before touching others that have had a longer shelf life.
As writers, we continually strive to choose the best titles for our projects. Yet the title and cover are ultimately decided by the publisher with little or no input from us.
What makes us, as readers, choose one book over another to read on any given day?
Is it title? Cover? Knowing the type of book or style of writing of a particular author? What makes me choose Lisa Scottoline to read one day and pass over her for James Lee Burke on another?
I don't have a ready answer. It's something I think about each time I choose a new book. Or crowd others onto this shelf.
There's an empty space or two there now. Time for a visit to the book store.
*No dust bunnies were harmed in the shooting of this photograph.
Obviously I want to read them, but so far I haven't.
Yet I continue to purchase other books - and read some of them first - before touching others that have had a longer shelf life.
As writers, we continually strive to choose the best titles for our projects. Yet the title and cover are ultimately decided by the publisher with little or no input from us.
What makes us, as readers, choose one book over another to read on any given day?
Is it title? Cover? Knowing the type of book or style of writing of a particular author? What makes me choose Lisa Scottoline to read one day and pass over her for James Lee Burke on another?
I don't have a ready answer. It's something I think about each time I choose a new book. Or crowd others onto this shelf.
There's an empty space or two there now. Time for a visit to the book store.
*No dust bunnies were harmed in the shooting of this photograph.
Comments
Glad you spared the dust bunnies. It's almost Easter you know. :)
I tend to read in cycles. If I'm reading a series, or found a new author, I'll read everything in the back list.
If a book is a 'tough read' for whatever reason, I'll try something totally different next.
And sometimes, I put off reading a book until my schedule will allow me to savor it.
Joanne - You might have hit on something about the time of year. I'm going to think about that.
Terry - That's because these are books I havent's read yet :)
1) I love the author
2) I love the cover - even if I don't know the author
3) I read a really great review of the book.
ann
We are alike in that I often pass over the unread books on my shelf and go for a book whose cover blurb sounds good or a favorite author's new book or a book that fits my mood at the time.
Helen
Straight From Hel
And I dig detailed cover art, so that always draws me to a book first.
Terry - Small press is like that. Think online.
Ann Elle - Those are the reasons I'll buy a book. But unless I buy it on the day I'm ready to read it, it goes on the shelf first. I felt great about all these when I bought them.
Helen - Exactly. And don't you love seeing all the new dust bunny babies every morning :)
Jane - One of the books on my shelf is like that. I won't say which one. But it isn't the Baldacci one.
Gads, my book pile is growing too. This is the first pile I've had in a long time too. You make me want to get organized.
I can't read too many thick monsters in a row. I also need to vary the themes - I'll take a comedy to break up serious historicals.
I choose to view this as charmingly eclectic.
I just know when I pick up a book, I'm picking up a real treat. So I try to do it often.
Southpaw - True about the title. You'll notice I cropped out the other shelves.
Elspeth - I try to vary more by favorite authors and new-to-me authors. But sometimes by genre.
Elana - I think of books as treats, too. I like to enjoy them in my own time. You'd be much less impressed with my organizational skills if you saw my desk top. Or my computer files.
Daring - Maybe mood for me. Hmmm. Lots to think about here.
I'm attracted to the cover first, then the blurb on the back. Sometimes a book will sit on the shelf because whatever lured me to buy it in the first place was only a temorary interest that I got over before reading it.
Elizabeth
Mystery Writing is Murder
Laura - Me, too, about the dust bunnies. These books are all my fiction R&R books.
Conda - I always have at least one book I'm in the process of reading.
Elizabeth - That's exactly why one of these books is still on my shelf.
Guess it has to do with my mood- some books I pick up because I feel like reading them in the bookstore, but by the time I actually get down to reading it, I no longer feel the urge to. So off they go to Mt. TBR, where the dust bunnies breed.
~ Rayna