Thursday, September 07, 2006

As the pages turn . . .

Well, here goes the second entry based on the questions from Booking Through Thursdays

Comfort Zone or Not?
1. We asked last week about what draws you to your favorite kind/genre of book. This week, we want to know--how often do you depart from that comfort zone? If you love mysteries, do you ever read fantasy? If you primarily read cookbooks, do you ever read a good romance?
When I was a librarian at a public library, I did a lot more cross genre reading simply as a survival skill. These days I don’t jump around as much. One reason is I just don’t seem to have the time to invest. There are some times that I have no choice in reading materials. For the most part I have not had many pleasant surprises in required reading. I still don’t care what happens to either mouse & their smelly cheese.

2. How MUCH variety is there in your reading? Do you mostly stick to one type, with just the occasional toe-dip into a different style? Or do you generally read a variety of things, just, maybe more of your favorite style than anything else?
I tend to get into ruts. For a long while it was just science fiction or fantasy. This was followed by my mystery period; which was divided into police procedures, cat mysteries, & historical mysteries. I then spent a lot of time devoted to Anthony Trollope. ‘Tony' was than replaced by breezy non fiction & biographies. There are also writers I revisit on a regular basis, some yearly and a few every three months or so. These include Frank Herbert, Douglas Adams, Norton Juster, John Bellairs and Charlotte Bronte. The one element all these books have in common is strong characterizations.

Friday, September 01, 2006

Round Them Up & Bring Them In

Thursday night the Yarntopia Sock Posse met for our "Show & Tell" pizza party.
It was very good fun. What was truly amazing was the way all of our socks were both the same and different due to the color variations found in each dye lot of this custom made yarn. The best news was that the Posse will ride again. The twist this time will be that all the posse will use a custom pattern but have our choice of colorway from the sock yarn of Hill Country Yarns.

This week also was hightlighted by the news that I have won some yarn! I entered a 'name that yarn' event announced on Angelia's Knitting (angeliasknitting.blogspot.com). And low and behold one of my suggestions was chosen. Here's a photo of the newly named fiber - Mosaic Mayhem









I was also lucky in my blog searching this week.
I found a great blog called Booking Through Thursdays (http://bookingthroughthursday.blogspot.com).
Posted each week are a series of questions about reading. Just what a librarian needs - the perfect blog fill.
So here goes my first pass - and yes it is starting two days late.

Motivation
1. What is your favorite kind of reading? Novels? Biographies? Mathematical textbooks?
More often than not I am reading fiction. I can further break it down in that mysteries and science fiction compose the bulk of this, with a some 'serious' novels tossed in. But I do enjoy a good non-fiction title for a change up. The more recent of these have included Bring Down the House by Ben Mezrich, and Krakatoa by Simon Winchester. And needless to say knitting books!
2. What do you like best about your favorite kind of reading? What keeps you coming back to that kind of book? Following a gripping story? Watching characters develop? Being educated about things and places you didn't know about? Letting your mind relax into someplace completely different?
What draws me to a work of fiction is usually the characters. If it is a personality that is one with an unusual perspective on their world, I want to know that person. Even if the reviews declare that the book's message is suppose to be life changing or the plot gripping, if the characters are not complying I put the book down. To see how someone will deal with a problem but coming at it from 'left field' is what I enjoy.



Today I played gift elf. I dropped off some yummy baked goods as well as a plant & card at my sister's house. Her birthday is Monday and with her busy schedule having the birthday goodies given today, she can have her 'cheer' when it is easiest for her.

Have a happy holiday - Libraryminion