I go through patches of devouring books and patches where I struggle to read any. At the moment it's a struggle. My usual reading time is last thing at night, but I've been going to bed late and have been too tired to read. I need more discipline at bedtime, then I'll get on with some reading.
Thanks so much for commenting and welcome. I think Substack is a subculture. Outsized representation of book readers for sure! I will probably finish 30 this year and maybe shoot for 36 next year. Your humor about books abounds :)
Well your comment reveals you as THE PROFESSIONAL interviewer it seems. I thought about this and am just not sure. While not guaranteed I think many of us get the opportunity to be wiser as we get older. My sense is that is mostly not rushing to an answer and thinking about it. Book readers (in general) are willing and able to step into another person's POV and give it a real examination without interrupting. The wild thing is they can put that book down and do it all over again and cheerfully except getting their thoughts shaken up. Gotta think about this a little more.
My FAVORITE things about the poll answers so far is they are WAY MORE self-aware than me. None of them stuck with me thinking I read too many Substacks and lots of them read more books than I do -- I need to adjust my hobbies PERHAPS. I am not positive but I believe about HALF OF US ADULTS didn't read a book in the last year. I bet this can correlate accurately to hours of cable news watched and hours spent on SM. A number I carry around all the time is 1440 minutes in a day and sleep 7-8 hours a night.
If you wish to get a sense of the book, this documentary is a very good overview. Here is a YouTube link to the "The Soul of America" with Jon Meacham. It is a great explanation of how American history has unfolded. Highly recommended.
It's a two cup of tea affair :) I am in a small writing group. Those that watched it loved it. Back in 2018 (the flyer was in the book) I went with a friend and heard him speak at the Humphrey School of Government on the U of MN campus. He is a great speaker.
One of the reasons I actually like Goodreads is because I find a lot of usefulness in all the people who are open about "this book didn't work for me specifically and here's why," which offsets the less useful "I didn't like it." It reminds me that not every book is going to work for everyone and that's okay and we all learn.
I couldn't agree MORE! This is why when I posted my BookClub history on my HomePage I provide links to GoodReads & Amazon for reviews and also to GoogleBooks for previews and AbeBooks for buying used. I struggle with writing reviews because if it were not for the others in my book club providing perspective I am probably not a qualified reviewer. Does anyone REALLY want my book opinions??? Not sure :)
I personally find personal reviews useful. There are far more books than any of us can read, and sometimes knowing that a book might be great but also not for me is very helpful. Goodreads gets a lot of flack for its role in the publishing/books marketing world, but simply as a reader I appreciate normal people who love books having a place where they can say "this didn't work for me but might for others and here's why I, specifically as an individual normal everyday human who reads books, didn't connect with it."
I think that is just about right Antonia. I don't write reviews for GoodReads but certainly could I suppose. At this point my backlog of unposted books I've read would be imposing. I have mentioned it in my Substack before but I make a point to NOT READ reviews before reading our Bookclub selection. I kinda want to come to a conclusion with a clean slate.
Great newsletter Mark! Thanks for putting Firehouse on my radar and TBR. I hadn't heard of that before. I've read several 9/11 books and want to read this one too. Going down the rabbit hole also put Halberstam's The Fifties book and several others on my TBR. Just what I needed, more books to read. :)
I am so glad Gayla. The Firehouse is a short read and has stuck with me. His very best book IMO which no one votes for in past years because of its length is "The Children". The very best book on the Civil Rights Movement I ever read. It focused on its key players, some of whom were trained in India and brought the approach of non-violence to America. It was these unknowns that trained Dr. King.
I looked in all my libraries on Libby for The Firehouse and there isn't an e-book available that I can find. I looked on Audible and found it there and ordered it. Can't wait until my next long drive to listen to it. I haven't read The Children, but I'll check it out. Thanks for the recommendation.
In some ways both books are about the commitment and sacrifice required not just by individuals but those that support them to serve others. A cause greater than ourselves. I think two of the people profiled in The Children are still alive and in their 90s. I would love to hear them speak. Have a great day -- you reminds me that I should try more audio books.
Gotta love your book club, even when you disagree. Yes it's hard to believe that someone would give a book a 3 when to another it was a 10. I see that in Restaurant Reviews - someone gives the restaurant a three instead of a 5 just because they had to wait for their seat - not really fair but welcome to the world where everyone has an opinion. It was a learning experience to me that a book club would allocate certain longer books to the five week months. Brilliant. I never heard that Peter Gabriel song before. I listened to it and then looked up the lyrics. Good song pick for today. Not written by Gabriel . Written by song writer Stephin Merritt. Songwriters often bring different content to their artists than the artist could write or create themselves. Collaboration is good like your book club, I'm sure.
Great comment and observation Paul. I wrote a post a long while ago that was light-hearted. It was about the absurdity of everyone has an opinion. I just searched out 5 star passionate reviews for McDonalds and Domino's -- best pizza ever! It still makes me laugh. I think that we determined that in a given year there are four months with five weeks so it works pretty slick so you either have 28 or 35 days to read the longer books. I'm a big Gabriel fan and listen to lots of his stuff.
I go through patches of devouring books and patches where I struggle to read any. At the moment it's a struggle. My usual reading time is last thing at night, but I've been going to bed late and have been too tired to read. I need more discipline at bedtime, then I'll get on with some reading.
I read too many Substacks... but I picked option 2 as that is true too.
37...So many books. The list of books I want to read is a book. I have actually bound it. But I am bound never to finish.
Thanks so much for commenting and welcome. I think Substack is a subculture. Outsized representation of book readers for sure! I will probably finish 30 this year and maybe shoot for 36 next year. Your humor about books abounds :)
Wow your readers are big book readers it seems. And your book club sounds awesome!
ALL my close friends are big book readers. I wonder what book readers in general have in common?
Well your comment reveals you as THE PROFESSIONAL interviewer it seems. I thought about this and am just not sure. While not guaranteed I think many of us get the opportunity to be wiser as we get older. My sense is that is mostly not rushing to an answer and thinking about it. Book readers (in general) are willing and able to step into another person's POV and give it a real examination without interrupting. The wild thing is they can put that book down and do it all over again and cheerfully except getting their thoughts shaken up. Gotta think about this a little more.
I like where this is going!
My FAVORITE things about the poll answers so far is they are WAY MORE self-aware than me. None of them stuck with me thinking I read too many Substacks and lots of them read more books than I do -- I need to adjust my hobbies PERHAPS. I am not positive but I believe about HALF OF US ADULTS didn't read a book in the last year. I bet this can correlate accurately to hours of cable news watched and hours spent on SM. A number I carry around all the time is 1440 minutes in a day and sleep 7-8 hours a night.
I've seen those stats about book reading too. So crazy!!
I just want them not to be true!
I have The Soul of America on my to-read list (in actual-book form, not even ebook form!) - I'll bump it up. Thanks for the recommendation!
You are welcome.
If you wish to get a sense of the book, this documentary is a very good overview. Here is a YouTube link to the "The Soul of America" with Jon Meacham. It is a great explanation of how American history has unfolded. Highly recommended.
https://youtu.be/Xl9PQk1C9gQ?si=Xk2aSwaQZJdiGGgf
Thanks, I'm going to watch it!
It's a two cup of tea affair :) I am in a small writing group. Those that watched it loved it. Back in 2018 (the flyer was in the book) I went with a friend and heard him speak at the Humphrey School of Government on the U of MN campus. He is a great speaker.
One of the reasons I actually like Goodreads is because I find a lot of usefulness in all the people who are open about "this book didn't work for me specifically and here's why," which offsets the less useful "I didn't like it." It reminds me that not every book is going to work for everyone and that's okay and we all learn.
I couldn't agree MORE! This is why when I posted my BookClub history on my HomePage I provide links to GoodReads & Amazon for reviews and also to GoogleBooks for previews and AbeBooks for buying used. I struggle with writing reviews because if it were not for the others in my book club providing perspective I am probably not a qualified reviewer. Does anyone REALLY want my book opinions??? Not sure :)
I personally find personal reviews useful. There are far more books than any of us can read, and sometimes knowing that a book might be great but also not for me is very helpful. Goodreads gets a lot of flack for its role in the publishing/books marketing world, but simply as a reader I appreciate normal people who love books having a place where they can say "this didn't work for me but might for others and here's why I, specifically as an individual normal everyday human who reads books, didn't connect with it."
I think that is just about right Antonia. I don't write reviews for GoodReads but certainly could I suppose. At this point my backlog of unposted books I've read would be imposing. I have mentioned it in my Substack before but I make a point to NOT READ reviews before reading our Bookclub selection. I kinda want to come to a conclusion with a clean slate.
Great newsletter Mark! Thanks for putting Firehouse on my radar and TBR. I hadn't heard of that before. I've read several 9/11 books and want to read this one too. Going down the rabbit hole also put Halberstam's The Fifties book and several others on my TBR. Just what I needed, more books to read. :)
I am so glad Gayla. The Firehouse is a short read and has stuck with me. His very best book IMO which no one votes for in past years because of its length is "The Children". The very best book on the Civil Rights Movement I ever read. It focused on its key players, some of whom were trained in India and brought the approach of non-violence to America. It was these unknowns that trained Dr. King.
I looked in all my libraries on Libby for The Firehouse and there isn't an e-book available that I can find. I looked on Audible and found it there and ordered it. Can't wait until my next long drive to listen to it. I haven't read The Children, but I'll check it out. Thanks for the recommendation.
In some ways both books are about the commitment and sacrifice required not just by individuals but those that support them to serve others. A cause greater than ourselves. I think two of the people profiled in The Children are still alive and in their 90s. I would love to hear them speak. Have a great day -- you reminds me that I should try more audio books.
Gotta love your book club, even when you disagree. Yes it's hard to believe that someone would give a book a 3 when to another it was a 10. I see that in Restaurant Reviews - someone gives the restaurant a three instead of a 5 just because they had to wait for their seat - not really fair but welcome to the world where everyone has an opinion. It was a learning experience to me that a book club would allocate certain longer books to the five week months. Brilliant. I never heard that Peter Gabriel song before. I listened to it and then looked up the lyrics. Good song pick for today. Not written by Gabriel . Written by song writer Stephin Merritt. Songwriters often bring different content to their artists than the artist could write or create themselves. Collaboration is good like your book club, I'm sure.
Great comment and observation Paul. I wrote a post a long while ago that was light-hearted. It was about the absurdity of everyone has an opinion. I just searched out 5 star passionate reviews for McDonalds and Domino's -- best pizza ever! It still makes me laugh. I think that we determined that in a given year there are four months with five weeks so it works pretty slick so you either have 28 or 35 days to read the longer books. I'm a big Gabriel fan and listen to lots of his stuff.