Booking Through Thursday

I’ve seen many bloggers say that what draws them to certain books or authors is good writing, and what causes them to stop reading a certain book or author is bad writing. What constitutes good writing and bad writing to you?


That is subjective. But I find that stilted dialogue is a problem. I need it to be natural, more or less how people actually speak. I can take thin plots and weak storylines, but give me bad and stilted dialogue, the book goes down. I once started to read a book that had a dialect. It was some southern (USA) country, post-slavery dialect. Good grief, I read maybe 10 pages of it, and gave up. I can't tell you if it was stilted, because I had no idea what was being said!!

Booking Through Thursday

If you read series, do you ever find a series “jumping the shark?” How do you feel about that?

And, do you keep reading anyway?

I don't usually read series, however, I've read some.
The three most famous are Harry Potter, Narnia and LoTR and we all know how great those are.

A long time ago, the first series I read was "The Green Mile" by Stephen King. This was when that book was in 6 serial books. We passed it around work, I blew through that series, it was fun.

Other than those, I've read 2 other series:

Sisters of the Quilt series by Cindy Woodsmall

Crossroads of Grace series by Allison Pittman

I'm sure you can tell by the titles that these are Christian/Inspirational fiction. I actually read the Crossroads of Grace series out of order, but when I went back to book one after reading book 2, I was not disappointed. This was my first try at reading a series that wasn't 'popular'.

Sisters of the Quilt series revolved around the Amish community. I found it informative and interesting.

None of the above had Jumped the Shark, I found them all very good. I have never not finished a series.

Booking Through Thursday

What are you reading right now? What made you choose it? Are you enjoying it? Would you recommend it? (And, by all means, discuss everything, if you’re reading more than one thing!)

I am in the middle of 4 books right now, so I'll pick the two that I find most interesting.

Elizabeth Street by Laurie Fabiano

Elizabeth Street is a novel based on true events. It is based on Laurie Fabiano's great grandmother and other relatives from the early 20th century. The book talks of their immigration and the reasons behind it. It also talks about the early Italian-American culture in New York at that time. This is not just a history book, there is a story of tragedy and hope entwined in this book.

I discovered this book when looking for books to read about New York City. I love reading non-fiction books about it, and I occasionally come across a fiction book or two that I find interesting, this was one of them. I am half way through, and am enjoying it very much. I recommend this book to everyone, and if someone lives in NYC, they may find it even more interesting, but I think anyone could enjoy this story.

*Elizabeth Street is a street in New York City's Little Italy.


The other book I'm reading is called Mustaine. It is an autobiography (or as he puts it, A Heavy Metal Memoir) about Heavy Metal guitarist/singer Dave Mustaine from the band "Megadeth".

I have this in audiobook format, and though Mustaine himself is not reading this, the narrator that is sounds very much like him. Mustaine talks about his messed up childhood, his messed up parents, his drug riddled youth, his drug riddled adult hood... you know, same old same old.

Since I have been a Megadeth fan since 1986, I knew a lot of this stuff, however, I didn't know all. I am not shocked about what I hear, but I am interested.

This book is not for all audiences. It is filled with profane language, drugs and violence. I think an interest in the band, or at least Heavy Metal music is necessary to really find enjoyment here.

I came across this book accidently while looking through books at audible.com. There it popped up, big as day, of course how could I not buy it?

*Dave Mustaine wrote this at around age 47. A good age, I think, to write a first memoir.

Booking Through Thursday

You’ve just dropped your favorite, out-of-print book into a bathtub, ruining it completely … What do you do now?

1. Curse like a sailor

2. Go into denial "It isn't that badly ruined"

3. Cry

4. Curse like a sailor again

5. See if I can find a replacement somewhere

Booking Through Thursday

Something I’ve been thinking about lately: “What words/phrases in a blurb make a book irresistible? What words/phrases will make you put the book back down immediately?”

I'm a big fan of "true stories", so anything that mentions that, I will gobble up. Also I will pick up any book that talks about Spiritual Journey's, Angels and stuff like that. I will also read anything about Christmas.

What makes me put a book down faster than anything is the word "incest". I will pretty much give anything a chance, but that storyline bothers me.

Something else that makes me drop a book is anything that has to do with "The Old West" or "Gunslinging" (aside from the King books). I'm not terribly interested in that subject, I have watched some western movies but it has to be a very good one or have someone real handsome in it like Gary Cooper. LOL!

Booking Through Thursday

We’re moving in a couple weeks (the first time since I was 9 years old), and I’ve been going through my library of 3000+ books, choosing the books that I could bear to part with and NOT have to pack to move. Which made me wonder…

When’s the last time you weeded out your library? Do you regularly keep it pared down to your reading essentials? Or does it blossom into something out of control the minute you turn your back, like a garden after a Spring rain?

Or do you simply not get rid of books? At all? (This would have described me for most of my life, by the way.)

And–when you DO weed out books from your collection (assuming that you do) …what do you do with them? Throw them away (gasp)? Donate them to a charity or used bookstore? SELL them to a used bookstore? Trade them on Paperback Book Swap or some other exchange program?

I have a huge problem parting with my books. I joined 'bookcrossing' so I can part with them and feel good about it, but I have yet to leave a book lying around. If anything, I pick up books that others leave lying around. There is someone in my apartment building who leaves books in the lobby for others to take. Guess who is the first one there?

I don't think I've ever really weeded. The last time I got rid of any books was when my 2nd husband and I split. I got rid of all of his books. I have never taken them to the library for donation, or the Salvation Army for that matter. I haven't counted how many books I have, but let's say it is close to, if not over 3,000. I have one huge book shelf that is overstuffed, one small one, one rolling cart, books in boxes.

Want to take a peak? OK, you've been warned. This is just about 1/3 of what I own.

My SHELVES from Hell

I have since fixed them up slightly, so it isn't such a mess, but I didn't get rid of anything.

Booking Through Thursday

Two-thirds of Brits have lied about reading books they haven’t. Have you? Why? What book?

Honestly....No.

You asked why, but I will tell you why not.

I think there is no need to lie. If I didn't read a book I don't think it is a big deal. If I want to read it in the future, I will, if not, I won't. I've told people the truth, I've started books and never finished. Among those were Bleak House & Crime and Punishment. If they ask why, I'll tell them either I got bored or didn't feel like it.

I've read plenty of good books, and so what if I didn't read some of the more 'important' books of the day.

Does anyone really care? I don't read to impress, I read for enjoyment, and if someone wants to judge me because I didn't read XYZ, then I think they need a hobby. LOL!

Booking Through Thursday

What’s is the saddest book you've read recently?
I guess it would have to be Veronika Decides to Die by Paulo Coelho. Although I didn't much care for the book. It is about a 24 year old woman who has everything in life, but doesn't appreciate it, so she decides to attempt suicide. She fails, and ends up in a mental hospital.
Wikipedia says The gist of the message is that "collective madness is called sanity", which is a nice message, although I didn't get that when reading it.
However, this was a very sad book. The things that Veronika went through broke my heart. Coelho created a character one could have sympathy for.

Booking Through Thursday

What’s the most enjoyable, most fun, most just-darn-entertaining book you’ve read recently?

(Mind you, this doesn’t necessarily mean funny, since we covered that already. Just … GOOD.)



Roasting in Hell's Kitchen : Temper Tantrums, F-Words, and the Pursuit of Perfection by Gordon Ramsay

Most of us know Gordon Ramsay's TV personality. But is he like this in real life? More or less. His memoir talks about many things. The typical sad, dysfunctional childhood, his rise to the top, his exploits with women...


Although there were many sad parts in this book, it was an enjoyable read. Though I wouldn't consider this book 'fun', Gordon gives it a lighter spin. It could have been a real downer, but I suppose when he peppers it with F words, it is hard to take it all seriously.


However, once you read this, you will realize why he is the way he is. He isn't some random A-hole that makes others lives miserable, there is a method to his madness and it will cause you to think differently of this maniac!!

Booking Through Thursday

What’s the most informative book you’ve read recently?

The Complete Stephen King Universe: A Guide to the Worlds of Stephen King

I read this last fall (yes that is the most recent). I was always a Stephen King fan, but I wanted to know more about his works and how certain books came to be. A lot of his stuff, if not all of it, are based on some aspect of his personal life. It was interesting to see what those things were and how he filtered them throughout his works.

Booking Through Thursday

What’s the biggest book you’ve read recently?

(Feel free to think “big” as size, or as popularity, or in any other way you care to interpret.)

Outlander (Book 1)
by Diana Gabaldon
Pages: 627 (Large paperback)

I would say this would qualify under both the biggest (pages) and the biggest (popularity).

I haven't read many chunksters this year, I opted to listen to them on audio, so as far as actually reading something over 500 pages, this was it. And her series is very popular, although I've not read any more yet.