Thankful
Nov 22
Seasonal Reading
Nov 12
© 2012 by onutzaC
Four Seasons of Books, or Amy’s Weird Reading Habit
I know what you might think of when you hear “seasonal reading,” but no, I’m not talking about holiday-themed books, although I LOVE me a good Christmas story. Or, well, books about any holiday at all–Fourth of July, Valentine’s Day, New Year’s Eve, Thanksgiving. No, when I think of “seasonal reading” I think of one of my own weird reading quirks: reading certain types/genres of books during certain times of the year. Not exclusively, mind you, but more generally speaking. I can’t explain it any other way except that I just don’t seem to be in the mood for certain kinds of books until the weather starts to turn one way or another. Is this too weird, friends? I hope not. I mean, I understand that I am an odd bird sometimes and I’m cool with it, but still. No judgement, right?
Anyway, because I’m feeling a little self-indulgent, and because we just happen to be a time of year when my reading hankerings are changing with the seasons, I figured I’d give a low-down of what might be my biggest book weirdness. Guys, it seriously affects my reading for the whole year. I’ve tried to break out of it and, with only a few exceptions, I just can’t seem to make it happen. (If you’re being curious, books aren’t the only seasonal thing I deal with either. I do it with music, too.) I will tell you that sometimes my seasonal reading is TOTALLY obvious, and also that if a book takes place in a certain season, I read it during that season. I can’t read books set at the beach in the dead of winter. Unless I am at a beach myself on vacation someplace warm. One exception to this whole pot of crazy? Historical romances. I’ll read a historical romance at any time.
Aaaaannnyyyway…enough intro.
Winter
Winter is basically fantasy time. Something about the cold and the longer nights make me want to hunker down, get under the covers and get really absorbed in a deep, well-constructed story in another world. I like to devote time to my fantasies because one aspect of this genre that is so important to me is world-building. I want to understand the intricacies and the relationships and the complexities, and in the nicer weather when I’m busier running around doing things outside, I don’t have the same time to get into the nitty gritty. (I am never put off by lots of details in my fantasies.) In the winter-time, when I’m not as likely to be leaving my house every waking minute because it’s SO FREAKING COLD OUT, I cozy up to a (hopefully) good fantasy, and I like my fantasies like Jersey girls like their hair: the higher the better.
I also read lots of sad books in the winter. If someone dies horribly or in a really sad way, I’ll pick it up and get my sob on. Sometimes I’m a glutton for punishment that way.
Spring
If I’m reading any dystopians–admittedly not always the books I grab, although I do love them–I seem to read lots of them in the spring. I have literally no explanation for this whatsoever. Alas. But of all the seasons, I find the spring to be the most ambidextrous. I’m more apt to read anything in this season than any other time. Darker/more serious contemps or issue books, urban fantasies, dystopians. I don’t really read too many paranormals in the springtime, but basically anything else is fair game. Have I totally alienated you yet with my utter strangeness?
Summer
Likely to no one’s surprise at all, I read TONS of contemporaries in the summer. TONS. Lots of beach books, summer vacation books, romances–LOTS of romances. I like to swoon in the summertime. Also, any kind of adventure book. If it’s fast-paced, maybe a little dangerous, I’m feeling it in the summer. I think it’s because I can read these books quickly, and I feel like the story passes quickly, and that’s just what I’m looking for in the summertime. Breezy.
Also, even though I read middle grade all year because I love it so, I read LOTS of MGs in the summer, too. Or, at least, I always have the impulse to read lots of MGs. Unfortunately, I am not made of spare time.
Fall
Ah, Fall. Possibly my favorite season of all. Fall is my time for all things supernatural. Something about the encroaching cold and darkness give me creepy feels, so if it’s a book about vampires, werewolves, witches, or a mystery of any kind, I’ll be more likely to pick it up now. And I’m gearing up to get into my fantasies as well. I can feel them calling to me already.
So, friends, I have shared with you a weirdness about myself. I’m not the only one with these kinds of quirks, right? Do you have any? Share! This is a safe place, friends. You are not alone. 🙂
Hear Me Out
Sep 24
Some Early Thoughts From an Audiobook Newbie
I have just recently hopped on the audiobook bandwagon, friends, and I’m pretty excited about it. So far I’ve listened to four books–THE NAME OF THE WIND, THE WISE MAN’S FEAR, and AMY & ROGER’S EPIC DETOUR, which was a reread, and THE GOLDEN COMPASS–and they were all mostly stellar. I’m in the middle of listening to THE SHADOW OF NIGHT, the sequel to A DISCOVERY OF WITCHES, and it’s really good, but in my early days as a book listener, I’ve noticed a few things and I thought I’d share them with you.
1. I think I like single narrators better than full casts
So this one actually goes back to an assignment I had in library school to compare listening to a book and reading it. I picked the audiobook for GRACELING, and didn’t even finish listening to the first chapter. It was a full-cast recording, which I thought sounded kind of scattered or inconsistent. Fast-forward to THE NAME OF THE WIND, which was just one OUTSTANDING narrator, Nick Podehl. BIG difference. Big, awesome difference. It’s way easier for me to follow the thread of the story if I only have to listen to one voice. It helps me with continuity. Plus it seems less schizo.
2. The right voice can TOTALLY make an audiobook
Nick. Podehl. But also Suzy Jackson, the narrator for Amy & Roger. She was very listenable. I haven’t yet come across a book whose narrator(s) was annoying to listen to, but I’m sure they’re out there, and I can imagine that ruining an otherwise enjoyable book for me.
3. I hate not knowing how to spell things, like names of people or places. It keeps me from understanding what/who/where, etc.
This happens lots with the fantasies. THE GOLDEN COMPASS has tons of names of people and places that were strange or invented and I had trouble keeping track of some things because I couldn’t understand the words, because they were made up, and I couldn’t look at them to puzzle them out. Same with the Patrick Rothfuss books. Also, this is just plain annoying to me.
3a. On the flip side, I LOVE having a better idea of how to pronounce names/places/things.
Obviously. I NEVER would have known how to pronounce Pantalaimon (seriously had to look up the spelling) or Amyr or a ton of other things, although I could have guessed. Still, nice to hear.
4. Not being able to see a map, if there is one, sucks.
Not being able to see a map ALWAYS sucks. I don’t like not having a picture of the world I’m reading, especially when people are moving around a lot in the book. I always wind up feeling lost. This is obviously heightened when listening to a book. Checking a map isn’t even an option.
5. HEAVY BREATHERS ARE THE WORST.
So, ok. THE GOLDEN COMPASS–which I will be reviewing very soon–was a full-cast recording, but one of the guys did the voices for two characters, and you could hear him inhale before every word. WORST. It was icky sounding. Like, step away from the mike for a second.
6. Awkward pauses are awkward. And annoying.
This is a weird thing that has more to do with the production of an audiobook than the reading, I’d imagine. The book I’m listening to right now, THE SHADOW OF NIGHT, has this all over the place. Weird pauses in between words sometimes; weird pauses between the end of a chapter and the beginning of the next ALWAYS. It’s crazy inconsistent. Sometimes there’s a pause of a few beats, sometimes it’s a few whole seconds. I’m always checking to make sure that something didn’t go wrong with my iPod. ANNOYING.
Guys, I’m LOVING audiobooks right now. They’re the perfect way for me to pass the time on my commute. I’m not so good at listening to books when I’m at home, though. Too many other things to distract me, and I wind up not really listening. But in my car, I can pay more attention, and it makes the drive to and from work something I can look forward to. I’m officially in the fanclub, friends! So tell me: do you listen to audiobooks? What’s your favorite one to listen to?
