Things I Quit

Just because I quit something, it doesn't mean I won't restart them but for now, today, these are the things I quit and will likely continue to do so.

01 - Quit buying ebooks — I find no value in ebooks. You buy it, read it, leave it on your device and then nothing - yes, the value of a book is something but if you've read a crappy book, where's the value or where can I sell it without committing a crime? If you don't know, when you purchase an ebook, you purchase the right to read it but you don't own it so selling an ebook, even if you brought it, is not legal.
    So maybe reading borrowed ebooks from my public library is not a great solution either because they have to purchase rights to the ebooks and those rights do get expired which often is fine unless you're reading a book series and then it's either you read audio books (instead of ebooks), skip a book or two in a series, start a series with the third or tenth book because the first couple of books are no longer available, place a hold on an expired rights book and wait for it to be available in about a year or never or not read the last book of a series. I think it would be better if publishers/authors allow libraries to have perpetual or permanent rights to ebooks they purchase so they can have it in their permanent collection like they do with paper books. But that will never happen because that means they make less money and we all know they wouldn't agree to that.

02 - Quit reading books I'm not enjoying — I used to finish every book I started unless I only read two pages which don't really count. I think after reading more than 20%, you will have read enough to judge a book and whether to quit or to continue. Some people might think 20% is not enough to judge a book and to that I say, keep that thought to yourself.
    Also, I quit reading series I'm not enjoying. I think now I will never finish any series I start because 99% of books (I read) are series so the chances of finishing them all is zero. And those who say you shouldn't judge a series by the first book, I say, shut up. People like what they like and people can quit what they like.

03 - Quit chocolate — I only like to each chocolate during the cold season. I find eating them while I'm sweating not that great. Before this year, I might had been eating them every winter but now, I don't seem to care for them. But I've never been addicted to chocolate, I don't think, I didn't like them until much later in life so not eating them doesn't affect me much. Except for those times when I crave sweets and think of chocolate.

04 - Quit watching Korean dramas — It used be Korean shows are only one season and the series is complete and you don't have to slug through 5 or 7 seasons to get the answer but now with multiple seasoned shows, I just don't care to watch. The one-season was why I watched these shows. There is such thing as too much of a good thing. And besides, I rarely seen any second season being as good as the first. But mostly, the service I use to watch Korean shows keep offering romance shows and I don't like to watch those. 

05 - Quit buying digital tv shows and movies — unless I really love a show/movie, there is no chance of buying a series or movie in digital form. Like ebooks, you are purchasing the rights to see the show/movie so you don't own it even if you actually purchase it.

06 - Quit paying for subscriptions to anything most especially tv streaming — Just like ebooks, tv/movie streaming also purchases rights to allow viewers/subscribers to watch shows/movies and when the rights are expired and if the provider does not renew them, viewers have no luck in watching or rewatching them. (This is true for the service I had used so I don't know if this is true for all streaming services). This is one of the main reasons that I find annoying - you can't rewatch your favorite shows because their rights have expired. Some of which does not make sense when the provider is also the owner but I don't want to waste time talking about that.
    I also quit (more like never started) on becoming members of any youtube channels and pay to watch early video releases or exclusive members-only videos. I don't want to be a member of anything that involves having to pay to be a member. I think the benefits does not outweighed the cost. 

07 - Quit shopping online at new places — I still do buy things online now and then and only at a few places but I'm never going to shop (or open a new account) at new web places. With almost all my favorite brick and mortar stores closed, I'm reduced to shopping online for most things. I used to love shopping online but somehow that love had faded away when I keep getting badly damaged packages/products, mixed up orders that took too much time and patience to get right but mostly they are closed - some of the web places I used to shop just closed down their website without notice which is annoying because they still have my information and who knows if they might get hacked but I choose to believe they did the right thing and erase all their customer's data. And if not...

08 - Quit multi-tasking — I only maybe half quit doing this but it's better to quit half than nothing. I had been multi-tasking because of time constrain but now it's become a habit so it's not easy to quit. I've experienced stress from multi-tasking so I try  not to do it often. Naturally the lazy side of me likes multi-tasking because if I finish a couple of things all at once, I'll have time to procrastinate.

09 - Quit blogging consistently — It used to be I post at least five times a week, then it's down to three or four times a week, then it's twice a week and now it's whenever I feel like it. Even when I have posts written and finished with finished artwork, I still somehow managed not to post anything. I like bloggers who can be consistent even if I can't but that didn't mean they have to post on a schedule or all the time. I think blogging is a post-whenever-you-want vocation. If you're a blogger, you don't have to post all the time but you should do it enough so people know you're still alive and kicking. 

What have you quit that you are glad or not glad about?

Cover Stickers! The Horror!

I'm sure most readers know about stickers on book covers. It used to be these stickers are actual stickers that you can peel and remove for good (sometimes leaving glue residues that will never come off) but now publishers are printing them directly on the cover so the only way to remove them is to physically take a scissor and cut them out or stick some other sticker over it or block them out with black markers. Whatever you do, those stickers are there forever. 
    The stickers are mostly to encourage sales, promote books, brag about what the book/author had garnered but basically are advertisements shoved into readers' faces. So what's the point of creating beautiful covers only to have them ruined by these stickers that never come off? 
    Often when I look for book covers for my book posts, I look for covers without these stickers or if it looks like I can remove them (digitally), I would. The ones I hate the most is the one announcing 'made into a movie or a show' and 'Some famous person's book club picks'. 
    There is a point to these stickers but at the same time, they are mostly offering stale information or information readers didn't care about, at least, I don't. But it's not as rampant as I made it sound but they are around and probably will never go away. Do they really work? They don't seem to work for me but maybe they work on other people.
    Here are some samples covers that covered most type of print-on stickers:

#1, 2, 3, 4, 5

Book Club Picks
01 - Read With Jenna - No idea who Jenna is until I looked her up. Jenna Bush Hager, is a co-host on the Today show and daughter of former President George W. Bush - it makes perfect sense not to read her recommendations.

02 - The Good Morning America Book Club Pick! (with exclamation point) - Good Morning America is a morning tv show that I have never watched and I don't see why I would read their picks.

03 - Oprah's Book Club 2025 - I had seen Oprah Winfrey's show and she had some wisdom but that didn't mean I care for her book selections.

04 - Reese's Book Club - I had seen some of Reese Witherspoons' movies but they don't inspire me to read any of her book picks.

05 - Zibby's Book Club - A book club hosted monthly by Zibby Owens who owns a bookshop but I've never heard of her until today when I searched for book covers so no reason to read her picks.

Some Rants on Book Series

Almost every book is a series so it's harder to find standalones and even if you found one, there might be a chance the author will write another book to change that status. Even books published a while back gets sequels or prequels so there's really no escape from book series so you might as well enjoy them. Here's some of my thoughts and rants on book series.

01 - The first book will always cement the verdict for me whether to continue the series or not — If the first book is bad, then the rest of the series is bad but that kind of mentality is wrong but what the heck. There are so many book series out there that there's no reason to slog through two or three books to get to the good ones. I know not every book in a series will be great but I think if you want readers to read your series, you should put all the best stuff (or at least something that makes me want to stick around) in book one - don't wait until book two to put it in because I'll never read book two if I dislike book one.

02 - Maybe publish series all at once — I don't go about trying to pick series that are already finished being published before deciding to read them. I just decide when I see the first book. So it's frustrating to have to read a book or two and find the series is incomplete because of various reasons. One reason is the series not being successful enough that no new books will be published. Another is that the author has not finished writing them or worse, the author has died. So why not only publish a series after all the books in the series are finished being written? Maybe it's a waste of paper and money to publish a series all at once, maybe a whole series may be a bigger failure (financially speaking) than a single book but incomplete series are annoying. Of course I'm not saying if the series is 20 books long to published all 20 books at once but maybe half of it or have some sort of completion with the story to the first three books.
    I dislike how some books are released as standalones but only turns into a series because that book is successful and not because it needs a sequel. I have seen this and I have say, the sequel or the next book in that so-called series is never good.

03 - Make book series as standalone series — It's a bit crazy to have a series with sub series or even sub-sub series and so forth. Just make them all separate so people won't go crazy trying to decided which order to read. I'm all for book sequels using new characters in the same universe but maybe not put in things to connect to the original series. Authors should stop connecting all their books into a singular universe. Why can't book series be standalone series or does everything have to be part of a series?
     
04 - Shorter number of books is better — Three, four, seven or even ten books in a series I can tolerate but after ten, it's just too long. I do not have patience for long series mostly because I can't fast-forward a book like a tv show. I've seen series that are 40 books long and just recently I saw one that was 60+ books. I think the longer a series the less likely the stories will get better. You can only expand so much with the same characters. 
    But if a series has each book as a sort of standalone, I don't mind this as much. For instance, for murder mysteries (which I mainly read), each book has a case so that it can be self-contained so you can read them in any order. But sadly, even with this kind of setup, there are still storylines that are continuous (like character relationships changes or characters dying, etc.) but at least, you don't have to try to figure the order too much.
  
05 - Shorter books are better — As in length - 400 pages or less, not 800 or 1,000 pages. I have low patience for book series with books the size of dictionaries - they're too much and especially way too long if the series is 5 or more  books. If one or two books are long, it's fine but if all the books are long - who has the patience? I think long books are for standalones, not series. 

06 - Put numbers on the book or after the title so we know the order of the book — I know some book series are, as stated above, self-contained so you can read them in any order but I'm an orderly reader and I prefer to read a series in order so I need to know the sequence. So yes, any reader can go search online the order of any book series but why do readers have to do that? They should be able to tell by looking at the book cover or spine (in paper formats) or inside the book (ebook format). 

07 - Reprints of parts of a series in those so-called special editions have to stop — You might have seen one or two beautiful editions of the first or second book of a series that you love and thought hey, maybe they will print the other books in the series in that same beautiful edition but nope. This pisses me off. Not only because I spent money on them but that I have half of a series which I then have to get rid of because I don't like owning half series. 
    
08 - End the larger plot quicker — I don't like book series with larger plots for the entire series that doesn't get wrap up until the last book of the series but especially for long series. For instance, for murder mysteries, I would prefer the larger plot (or a certain case that involves the main character that is constantly mentioned in every book) to get a resolution in book 2 or 3 so that if we don't read the rest of the series, we get a resolution. I don't want to read 10 books to get that resolution. 

09 - Authors shouldn't continue a series of another (usually deceased) author's completed series — They made it sound like it's a continuation but it's really a redo or remake. These new books will never have the same flavor as the original so why do it? 

10 - No more new books (such as sequels or prequels) to already finished series — When a series is completed, that's it, don't go back and release a sequel or a prequel. It's harder to accept the new additions when you've read the original. More so when the sequels comes a decade or longer after the original was finished. Like I said in #9, they will never have the same flavor even with the original writer because it's written at a different time, different mind-set, almost like a completely different series so why do it?

What do you like or dislike about book series?

Seven Things: Some Bookish Queries

01 - Does cursing make characters sound more like real people?
I find cursing to be very distracting in a story but if a character curse in anger, I can easily accept it but to use it just to make a character sound more realistic? No, just no. Excessive use of the F word certainly make me not like a character and also make me think they are not well educated but that's a cliche, right? I guess I'm more use to not cursing in books so it always takes a bit getting used to if there is excessive cursing.
    
02 - Do you read horror and how do you enjoy reading horror without scaring yourself?
I'm too much of a scaredy-cat to read horror. I avoid them because I know I can't handle it plus, having scary imagery in my head makes me an insomniac.

03 - Why do so many mystery/thriller books have prologues?
I have been reading mysteries/thrillers and have come across more prologues than any other genre. In most, the mysteries are almost always related to the past so we get this small past insight before the book starts and I don't know, it just seem unnecessary sometimes because almost every time, we never return to that scene.
    There was one book where the author included the prologue as the first chapter and I thought that was good but I was still reading a prologue in disguise which somehow didn't irk me as much.

04 - Do you read books in a series out of order?
I prefer to read books in a series in order because I'm like things in linear order. I did read a few books series out of order because I didn't know they were part of a series.
    Sometimes I think publishers and authors kind of disguise their books in a series and make readers think they are standalones. If you look at covers, they don't always say it's part of a series and if they do, they don't even bother with book 1 or book 12, something to indicate where that book stands in that series. It's like they don't care if readers read books out of order. I care. But I guess this will never get changed because publishers don't want turn people off who don't like book series.

05 - Should you hate popular books you didn't read?
Popular books are everywhere, shoving into everyone's faces (at least whose who hangs out at youtube a bit too much), it's only natural to grow some sort of emotions toward these books, right? Either that or I'm judgmental and that's allow. Maybe it's wrong to judge books I didn't read but I know them well enough to form opinions and most are negative opinions. So why I am wasting time hating books? I guess if you can't enjoy loving a book, you can you enjoy hating it, right? I also think you can't be a well-rounded reader if you don't hate some books.

06 - Do you get annoyed by Goodreads' reviews where some said  [This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers] and when you click on [Show full review], there's no spoilers?
What's up with that? It's annoying especially when I expect spoilers. Maybe some readers make a mistake and click on the wrong button? I don't use Goodreads so I don't know how this feature works but it would be nice if people don't overuse it.

07 - As a reader, do you think you have bad book taste?
Sometimes I think I must have terrible taste in books because there are so many books people love and I just don't and I don't see why they do. I like to believe I have good taste but I guess it's all depends on what one believes is good taste. But reading is a preference so even if a book is hated by millions, there would be one or two people who loved it so I don't think anyone's book taste is good or bad, just different from everyone else's.

Do you have some bookish thoughts to share?

How do you decide which book to read first?

I am now only reading ebooks borrowed from my public library. I don't plan on purchasing any ebooks from here on unless I'm so desperate to read a book that I don't want to wait on the library or it's not available at the library.
    As I can only have 5 holds at a time, I find I have to be really choosy when it comes to which book to put on hold first. The wait time varies as it depends on how long each reader keeps a book but a reader can keep a book for 21 days but can extend the time after that. Basically, the more holds on a book, the longer the wait time. Sometimes I'm #102 on a wait list and other times I'm #2 so it can be a surprise which book is available first.
    I always have a problem deciding which books to read because the books I want to read aren't always what I want to read. For some reason, I sometimes loose interest in a book so I would cancel the hold or return it. Sometimes I end up with books just to test them and see if I'll like them. Also, I'm a moody reader. Most of the time I have six or less books on loan so if I'm bored with a book, I will start on a new one. (I can only borrow 10 ebooks at a time.) In general, which book I read first half depends on the library's availability and the other half depends on my mood.

How about you? How do you decide which book to read first?

Seven Things

01 - I have changed my blog's header and background colors to a warmer palette. It's not a big change but maybe it gives off a different vibe. Before, it was a cool, mostly blue palette. Am I the only one who thinks about colors and feelings when it comes to blog templates? 

02 - For some odd reason, I no longer get email notifications for some readers when they leave comments on my blog even though I had notifications before. I still get notifications for others so this makes no sense. It was like a sudden thing. I didn't change any setting or anything. Recently, pop-up comments now have reply function but I doubt that change anything with email notification functions but who knows. I still get comments marked as spam, even my own comments. There's a glitch somewhere, right? I swear google does not like blogger users at all.

03 - The 12th annual Tolkien Blog Party 2024 starts on September 22. It's hosted by Rachel at The Edge of the Precipice. I only participated once but I had enjoyed it. I admit the only books I read of Tolkien is the three Lord of the Rings books and The Hobbit and I have seen the Lord of the Rings movies. More about this blog party over here.

04 - I don't like it how some videos are now HDR (High Dynamic Range) videos on youtube. They are so bright, probably 40 times brighter than any normal screen, it hurts to watch them and there's no option to turn it off anywhere, not at youtube, not on my computer. Whose brilliant idea that we needed HDR to "make images look more realistic and true-to-life?" HD (high definition) is already far too clear than normal screens so why do we need this HDR? I prefer not to watch anything that is "more realistic and true-to-life" because that takes away the charm of fictional reality. Plus do you really want to see the pores on an actor's face ten times as clearly as before?

05 - Movies I had watched recently on youtube free with ads:

- Scales: Mermaids are real - It was a pretty good movie until the end. I don't want to spoil it but SPOILER: a girl mermaid turns a man into water, basically murders him and everyone's okay with it. So yes, that's a good solution but they could have just turn one of his hands into water, just to show what they could do, scare the bastard or maybe the girl's mother should have done the killing so then a 12-year-old wouldn't be responsible for killing a human. But there seems to be no consequence for what she had done so I don't know what the writers were thinking. Plus, a boy with brittle bones who can barely walk could easy ride a bike with no issues is dumb. Other than the ending, it's a good movie about a girl becoming a mermaid with some minor jokes.

- Persuasion (1995) - I've not watched this version because I didn't like the lead actor and actress but I thought I should give it a try after I saw someone's review of this adaptation. This was okay. I had read the book, seen the other 2007 adaptation, knew what was going to happen so it's sort of like watching a repeat with different actors and a slightly different ending but still kind of the same but I think the 2007 version is better but maybe because it looked more modern somehow even though both of them are period dramas.

- Another man's poison (1951) - SPOILER: I thought they should have ended with Bette Davis' character getting away with it all but no. All the men here seemed so awful even the doctor, he's like a busybody who really should have minded his own business. It's not a movie that solves anything or offer any type of happy ending, just a movie to show how cruel fate could be.

- Taken 3 - It's was fun to watch even though you sort of know it's a bit unbelievable the things Bryan Mills (played by Liam Neeson) did but that's why it's fun and entertaining. Forget logic or loose ends because we want to root for Mills no matter how many men he kills in the process.
 
06 - Do book titles have to keep their promise? There's a book with a boy in the title but the boy turned out to be a girl. Do readers have a right to be mad about this? I would. I think it makes the story harder to accept or like. The author promised a boy character and then it's revealed as some twist and said he's really a girl. If they said the boy had a sex change operation and became a girl, then that's fine with me. To pretend she was a boy right from the start is just wrong. But mostly because she, being a girl, is supposed to be a surprise twist to the story which I don't think it's a surprise or a twist, more like a dumb move to make a book exciting when it's not.

07 - I've been reading epilogues that just ruined books for me. I can accept any ending as long as they makes sense but epilogues is another thing. I had read one too many endings with epilogues that basically ruined the ending that I'm now incline not to read them. Epilogues are to give a farther view of future events instead of trying to alter the thinking of the ending or the story, right? But that's not what authors are doing, at least, in the books I read. When an epilogue alters my thinking of a character or an event, I think it's not an epilogue, it's a story-changing, alternative reality kind of information or message. I'm not even sure what I'm actually trying to say but only that I think it's better not to use epilogues unless you know it won't piss off readers.

What's on your mind these days?

How far along would be a good time to give up on a book?

I believe if you're not enjoying a book, it's perfectly fine to give up reading it. There are so many books out there, no need to waste time on books you can't finish or don't want to finish. So how far along would be a good time to give up on a book? 10%? 20%? Or maybe 40%? I had given up on books at 10%, 40% and even at 70% which some would say, you're almost there so why not finish it? My brain won't let me. There are scenes or things that I just can't get mind over it. But just because you give up on a book doesn't mean you can't go and pick up that book again later on. Here are the books I have given up reading so far this year. 

01 - A Death in Door County (Monster Hunter Mysteries #1) by Annelise Ryan > link
I was over 40% in when I decided I just couldn't continue with the endless descriptions and history of a lot places and things that don't seem to be related to the mystery. Mainly, I disliked the female main character - I think her name is Morgan. She seemed arrogant, egotistic, like a spoiled rich girl even if she claimed she wasn't. The would-be romance between her and the cop was subtle, boring and just unnecessary. There was one scene (not the exact wording as I don't have the book to check) where he said, "I'm attracted to you," and she replied, "I'm attracted to you too." As if he said, "I have a nose," and she replied, "Hey, I have a nose too." There is direct and there is this, whatever it is. There's nothing between these two characters except awkwardness. This cop is the so-called other main character/future love interest but he seemed very much like a side character because she basically bossed him around and he go out of his way to do things she wanted. I thought they would be partners in solving the murders but it was mostly her as she chose to do things on her own and even take evidence without telling him.
    [SPOILER: And they layered on the tragedy - she, the main character, had parents who were murdered by her fiancé, and he, the cop, lost his wife and child in an accident. And there's a third, semi-important character who lost his wife and child in childbirth. Three tragedies is a bit much. I skimmed to the end and was disappointed there's no monster, at least, not the one I expected. So this is a first book in a series but still, expectations. SPOILER ENDS]
    Anyway, it was just so boring. I think the bit about the main character's past was really the only interesting bit of this whole book. And the dog was a nice character. I like a dog who can swim and is the best buddy any pet owner can have.

02 - Miss Pym Disposes by Josephine Tey > link
I may have read about 30 or 40% before I decided I just don't care to continue. The writing is really good but I was just bored with how much mundane things can happen with Miss Pym and a college full of ladies. Miss Pym is maybe a little bit easily persuaded and even prideful because she was to stay at the college for a weekend but kept staying on because people kept praising her or making her feel like she's done a great thing even though she just wrote a book. There is a murder but I never got that far or even far enough to hint at a murder even though the book is 300 pages. I skimmed to the end and found out who was killed and who the murderer was and that's it.

03 - Stories of Your Life and Others by Ted Chiang > link
This short stories collection was boring and bland or perhaps I'm just too dumb to understand them. I think I had read at least three stories before I gave up.

04 - Where We Go When All We Were Is Gone by Sequoia Nagamatsu > link
The stories were too weird for me and confusing. You can't tell where one story begins or ends - they are like fragments or puzzles, they fit together but so loosely that they might not. I remember a character who can stretches his neck for miles and he was filming a couple having sex and I supposed he had the camera in his mouth because it was only his head that was there in the room and I just stopped at that story. It's just so weird. I really liked the cover though.

Have you any books you gave up on? How far along would be a good time to give up on a book?

Seven Things: Bookish Thoughts

01 - For some reason, the hot weather make me not have much patience for reading long books or even long series —  It's like the time goes so quickly that spending it reading long books just seems tedious and too much work. I've been reading a lot of short books and standalones (which I will post about later) and and I'm a much happier reader.

02 - "She hosted a grin of nostalgia," from Hands On Homicide by Sarah Hualde — What does this mean to you? I had written this down to think about it and still it just seems like a weird phrase and not quite right. Is this just one of those writings that you have to tear it apart to understand or do you just suppose to shrug it off as something quirky that means something but not really? I didn't read the book but I'm sure it wouldn't help to understand this phrase any better.

03 - If you're going to have the word ghost or ghosts in the title and if it's a fantasy, please have a ghost in the book — Same thing with mermaids and whatever else that promise something. I think there's an unspoken or unwritten promise with book titles. I know you shouldn't always take book titles literary but I can't help myself. How do you stop yourself from judging book titles?

04 - I hate those cute cute illustration for romance books that are smutty. At least with those shirtless man/half naked lady on the cover, we know what type of books they are but with these cute covers, you cannot be sure. These make people think they are some type of family-friendly, wholesome romantic comedies but no, they are filled with explicit sex scenes. Why can't modern romance books say exactly what type of books they are? (Example of these cute covers: The love hypothesis by Ali Hazelwood, The hating game by Sally Thorne, The Brown sisters series by Talia Hibbert, Fix her up by Tessa Baily)

05 - I know age shouldn't matter when comes to authors but when I find published books written by teenagers, I just kind of judge the books and maybe unfairly. What I want to know is why adults are publishing books by teenagers but failed to edit them properly. By that I mean, they just aren't written better. So maybe books written by teenagers are aimed at children and teenagers and perhaps this is why they kept the writing as it is but that didn't mean they shouldn't be properly edited.
    But I guess it can be said the same for adult writers. Some books written by adults aren't properly edited either so why are publishers do such a sloppy job at editing their books? Self-published authors, I can understand they may not be able to afford more thorough editing but major publishers have the ability and yet, they don't do it. But then again why do they have to care about good editing as long as the books sell? I'm not going to name names but some books could do with better editing and cutting the length down.

06 - Romances disguise as murder mysteries and how hot guys ruin murder mysteries — So maybe books aren't disguising their genres but when you put the word mystery or murder in your book title and said it's a murder mystery, it had better focus on the murder mystery in equal focus with the romance. I don't want to read a book focusing on romance with a side of murder mystery - those are romances.
    What's with using the word hot? It always sound like some teenager is saying it. And of course our main character (most of the books I read have female main characters) always ends up romancing the hot guy. And these hot guys (some of them are a bit extreme in the looks department) are always quite intelligent. So they (the authors) are telling us there isn't a single hot guy who is dumb even in the entire fiction universe? I'm not making fun of dumb hot guys but I just think they are unfairly under represented. But I suppose no one wants a main male love interest to be dumb so it's why they are always intelligent and good looking.
    There was a book (actually I think read several of these) that I remember reading where the main character returns to the home town where she grew up but her ex-boyfriend/childhood crush/whomever stayed hot (or they get even hotter - they must be in need of fire hydrants badly) and I thought, he stayed that way because he was waiting for her to come back or else he would be an overweight guy with receding hairline because we can only have hot guys as love interest for our heroines because having an ordinary or plain-looking guy is just not good enough! Oh no, that would blasphemy!
    What's annoying is when these women keeps drooling over these hot guys with internal drooling with monologues and whatever. Lust is okay but in a murder mystery, it's distracting and it makes it seems like I'm reading a romance.

07 - Does knowing more about an author makes the reading experience better or worse? — If an author is the kindest human on the planet, does this make reading their books a good experience? No, it makes no difference to me. If an author is an asshat, does this make reading their books a horrible experience? I would still say no. It all should depend on the books themselves. It's because authors and almost everyone post their lives on the web, readers can't always avoid not knowing anything. But more so because the news just pours out whatever they could find no matter what the effect is on people. Perhaps it's better to avoid reading about authors' lives or perhaps readers shouldn't get to know authors so well, not as fans. I prefer not to know an author in depth. I prefer to just know whatever the short bio in the back of the book or on the book jacket said. Why do we need to know more?

What bookish thoughts do you have today?

Are you a blogger?

If you have a blog and you keep putting content into it, are you a blogger? I would say yes to this but then it might not be true. There was someone who was an author but he had a blog but he insisted he was not a blogger. He even had comments turned off. So is he a blogger?
   I guess blogger is just a title, much like author or actor. And it's no big deal but I think it's a big deal for those who blog. I wouldn't call myself a blogger but I might do so since there is no other word for someone who slacks at blogging but still blogs.

If you have a blog, do you consider yourself a blogger?

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Today, July 17, is the 3rd anniversary of this blog you're reading. I don't really do much celebrating of any kind but I like to make a note of this phenomenon since I have a bad habit of moving to new urls. Blogging is not my life but it's part of my life so I'll probably continue doing it for a long while. Let's hope I stay put here and not move to a new url. Happy 3rd anniversary, dear blog.

Some Bookish Thoughts

01 - I recently read a book's synopsis with these words: 'light her panties on fire.' That is, supposedly what the main character's would-be-love interest does because he's oh-so-sexy. This phrase clearly says something about the book. I don't want to draw conclusions base on this phrase but if a publisher or author chooses to use such words for their books, I get to judge them for it. Besides the phrase putting me off, the reviews tell me it's not a book most people (including myself) would want to read. But I'm not saying don't read it, I'm saying judge for yourself. (FYI, the book is Putting the Fun in Funeral by Diana Pharaoh Francis)

02 - I'm not okay with the practice of deleting listings and creating new ones. It's damm confusing. Recently, a book series that I had enjoyed and had ended but the author wrote a fifth book which is fine but the series got a new name and all the books had been retitled with new covers which would be fine too except now the previous listing is removed (for the ebook format anyway) and according to amazon, I didn't purchase the series so I get recommendations for them which annoys me because I don't know which book I did read because they have new titles. Why can't the series name and book titles change without being a new listing? Also, the books' pricing doubled which I suppose if an author had become more popular, they have a right to up their pricing.
    Then there is another series where the old listings are removed and new ones are made but there are no changes to cover art or book titles or series title. There might be reasons for it but I can't see it. And again, amazon says I didn't purchase the series so I get recommendations for them as new and since all the titles/name are exactly the same, it's very confusing. (Note: This is from the point of view of a kindle reader.)

03 - I've tried again to read Mansfield Park by Jane Austen but again, I failed to finish it. I find it so dull that I can only finish the chapter I had been reading. I don't know if I will like or dislike Fanny (the main character) as she is still much like a side character who is a witness to other people's folly. I'm only up page 138 and the book is about 440 pages and I'm reading the paperback format which I thought should make me read faster but it seems to have the opposite effect.
    I want to finish Mansfield Park simply because I had finished Austen's other completed novels (Sense and Sensibility, Pride and Prejudice, Emma, Northanger Abbey, Persuasion) and had enjoyed those. I don't care that Mansfield Park is considered Austen's finest work or that Fanny was her favorite character - those are not reasons to read it. I'm sure some people would tell me to give it up since I'm not enjoying it but I don't know. I have been trying to read this for the last five years or so. Is it time to give it up?

Do you have book complaints or book thoughts?

Bookish Crimes

These are just hypothetical as I'm too much of a scaredy-cat to do any actual crimes but if I was in a state of mental stupidly and had a sudden desire to commit some crimes, I might do these.

01 - Go to people's houses and raid their libraries — I'm quite jealous of people with a whole room for a personal library. I like those home libraries where they have a cozy reading corner or even a snack corner.

02 - Murder a book aka put it out of its misery — I have considered this for some books I had read because I don't think they should be read by anyone. They should be buried or destroyed or thrown into an active volcano.

03 - Tear off the covers — Some covers I just hate so much that I want to tear them off and put on a new one.

04 - Destroyed all special, limited or exclusive editions of books — I think re-re-releasing the same books in those so-called special editions is a crime itself. Unless a book is truly special, I don't want a special edition or a collector's edition or an author-signed edition - they are all wasteful especially if the book is crap.

05 - Hand out free books on top of the Brooklyn Bridge — I'm not much into heights but I like the idea and I like giving books away.

06 - Build book castles in book stores — I'm not sure I would be able to do this since I've never even builded a sand castle but I think it would be amazing if it can be done.

07 - Hack amazon and make all the books free to purchase — At least for 24-hours. I just can't stand the way they priced books especially ebooks that are over 15 dollars even though the paper versions cost half of that plus there is the issue of whether you own any digital products you purchase. But I guess I would only end up buying just a few books because I would feel too guilty to get too many.

What bookish crimes would you commit if you get the chance?

Book beginnings I dislike

A good beginning is important because if I am not interested in what I'm reading, I wouldn't continue. Of course, it's all about personal preference because what one reader dislike, another will like. And I'm not saying I wouldn't read a book with these beginnings but I don't like them all that much. Here are a few book beginnings that I dislike.

01 - When a character wakes up and shows us how their morning or day routine with a bit of backstory — Unless they get eaten by a dinosaur about a quarter-way through or something, I would find this beginning a bit boring. So yes, a main character's life can be interesting but if that's all there is, I guess I got too short attention span to enjoy such a beginning.

02 - A dream sequence — Any dream, no matter how exciting, is still a dream and so it wouldn't really be the story even if it show the fears/aspirations of the main character. Also, I find this way of starting a book as some type of fake out by making the reader think one thing and then boom, it's all a dream. Who likes that?

03 - World building right from the start — Much like #1 but with more focus on the setting and how that world works. As much as I like to know about a world, I wouldn't want to read a whole bunch of info dump right from the start.

04 - Start with an exciting event from a character's point of view whom we will not hear from again — To be clear, we do hear from this character again but not in the same way. This character is more of an ignitor, someone involved in a single event which impacted the story or is the story. For example: We get to witness a character's murder but that character is never heard of again aside from that he had been murdered and his murder is the start of the story or is the story.
    I was often disappointed to have read such a good start but the rest of the book was often dull. And sometimes this beginning makes the reader get attached to the character but the character is not in the story which is disappointing. So maybe not all books with this beginning have a dull story but I haven't read one that wasn't.

05 - Start with a future scene — This one I had read so many times that I'm beginning to find this annoying. A future scene and then start the story some hours/days/weeks/months/years before that scene. I see this as an editing kind of beginning because this is used a lot in television shows which works fine because it usually takes half an hour or an hour to get back to that scene but in book form, it either takes 200 or more pages or it takes the entire book which if you calculate reading time, it could be 7 or more hours. Who has the patience for that? And besides that, this future scene can be confusing sometimes because it has no end or beginning. But I'm not saying I wouldn't read a book with this beginning, I just wish readers didn't have to read so much to get back to this future scene.

How about you? What book beginnings do you dislike? Or are you a reader who can enjoy all book beginnings?

How much bad writing can you tolerate?

I read a sample of a fantasy book which was so badly written (odd and confusing sentence structure, unfinished sentences, repeat of unnecessary words, even an error on the book title, etc.) that I started correcting it as I read. Then I went to check on the reviews and there were 300+ good reviews and only 14+ people said the book needed editing. Is this the norm now? How could there be 300+ good reviews for a book this badly written? It was a 600+ page book which means there would be a lot of grammar errors that cannot be easily ignored. So I like to know: how much bad writing can a reader tolerate or how much bad writing can a reader tolerate before they give up on a book?
    For me, if I am correcting the writing that means I'm not focusing on the story so I would give up on that book after a few chapters or when I had enough. I would tolerate a badly-written book if I can enjoy the story but it is distracting when the writing needs to be re-read a few times to correctly understand what was written. Bad writing is bad writing, you can't hide that.

As a reader, how much bad writing can you tolerate? Or how much bad writing can you tolerate before you give up on a book?

Seven Things

My favorite summer drink is strawberry lemonade which is why I drew that above.

01 - New header — I think a change even something as small as a blog header is always refreshing and brings new life and energy to a blog or so I believe but it doesn't matter why. Sometimes a change is just a change. 

02 - Writing and not posting — I write a lot of drafts but they don't get posted as I didn't finish them. I don't know why but I can't finish a lot of them. Sometimes what you thought was a good idea and then you check back later and find the idea is just not as good as before. But I don't know what's good these days. I only post what interest me and maybe one or two people. Who knows what one gets interest until they happen to come across them. I'm certainly a bad judge since I pretty much dislike most things.

03 - Reading Jane Austen is a bit boring now — So maybe it's not her books that are boring but maybe one particular a book I'm currently trying to finish. Mansfield Park is the only finished novel of Austen's I haven't read (I'm not interested her early or unfinished works). I've tried reading Mansfield Park three times before this but never got far enough. The more I read, the more boring it seems to me. I'm wondering if I was influenced by the movie I saw (It was the version starring Frances O'Connor). That movie was awful and it made it seemed like Edmund settled for Fanny because she was the last viable choice and that he didn't really love her all that much. And there was a bit about slavery that was a bit unsavory and thankfully I didn't see the version with the very risque sex scene.
    Reading about rich, snobbery people and the mundane things they do is kind of boring. And Fanny, well, she's just there now and then. We get to know her feelings and her thinking but basically, she might as well be a background character that people thought about when necessary. Edmund seems to care for her but honestly even he forgets her existence from time to time when he is with a pretty lady. And there are so much dialogues, some of them are a bit inane. But I only read up to chapter 13 so perhaps I should hold judgement. Right now, I don't seem to want to continue reading it.

04 - No more (unintentional) TBR pile — I've removed all the books I haven't finished reading off my kindle. Those books have been there for years so it was time to give them up. I don't make to-be-read lists but I seem to have unintentionally made a TBR list by accumulating these ebooks. I did  want to read them at the time I brought them though most of them were free or 99 cents so I don't feel bad giving them up. But if I have brought them as paper books (which would be more expensive), I don't know if I would have given them up as easily.

05 - Library books — I'm actually not reading a lot of library books even with a kindle and their large selections. And now I'm having issues renewing my virtual card. I'm not sure I want to renew it as I have to do it every year because you can't get a permanent library card without going to an actual brick and mortar library which I did try but I'm too annoyed by the people to try again. But I'm barely reading these days.

06 - Lazy blogging? — I haven't been doing a lot of commenting on blogs or posting because of work but that's an excuse. I can set aside a time to blog but somehow whenever I have to schedule anything, it feels like work so it's why I don't schedule anything unless I have to. I think there's joy in not doing things on schedule but I suppose that's another way of saying I'm lazy. After blogging so many years, I find I'm less active in blogging although I still would like to blog more but I lack the motivation. It's one of those vicious cycle of my life - I lack motivation when I want to do things. I can't do anything about it but try to conquer it somehow but I'll probably continue on with my lazy blogging.

07 - Lazy summer — It always seems to me summer is a more relax season, a time to do less and be lazy. It's just too bad we don't all go on vacation during the summer. Even as I worry about being unproductive, I think just being lazy sometimes can be good for you so say the lazy person (me). True or not, let's all have a relax summer (or winter if you're on the other side of the world).

Got anything you want to share today? Leave them in the comments.

Highly Specific Reasons For Not Continuing A Book Series

I'm not saying these are good reasons but as a reader, I have a right to quit a series for whatever reason however good or bad or just plain unreasonable. Here are some of my reasons for not continuing a book series:

01 - Knowing the villain is going to be resurrected — I was surprised by the first resurrection, than was annoyed by the second resurrection so a third resurrection just makes me so damm annoyed so I decided I can't read the series anymore. What was the point of killing off a villain if you're just going to bring them back each and every time?

02 - Main character (and story structure) remains exactly the same — For most mysteries where we get almost nothing about the main character (usually the amateur sleuth or the detective), I wouldn't expect any type of change to them but we get told in great details about the main character's life and their aspirations so it's reasonable to expect some change, right? But seven books in and there's no change. So book series are getting longer but I honestly don't want to read 20 books for a change.

03 - Main character is extremely condescending to the other main character — So maybe this is a bit odd but I don't know. I just think if two people are equal partners and friends, then one of them shouldn't be so condescending to the other even if the other chose to accept being treated badly. I wouldn't call it bullying but these are children characters which I thought made it worst. If the second character is a sidekick, maybe it might be easier to accept but then again, I don't believe friends should treat each other like crap even if one of them is superior than the other.

04 - Disturbing themes/violence against women — I'm too much of a prude so often I find dark themes far too disturbing than most people. What I didn't like for one particular series was there was rather a lot of disturbing ideas and most of them are against women. Somehow, it's more disturbing to me probably because I'm a female but generally, I'm sure a lot of people would be disturbed too.
 
05 - Not what was expected — The author made a note about making a story 'as close to reality as possible' and I guess I have a different expectation from that. Based on the first two books, the 'as close to reality as possible' meant the equipments being used, daily life stuff, location details, etc. are all realistic but apparently, not for the main character. For a character who is a normal human with no special powers, no special healing abilities, no special mental strength (this one, I might accept as some people are mentally stronger than others), just survived almost being killed several times and ended up with some body aches and a headache and returned to work the next day - is that reality? So yes, this is fiction but promising to make a story as close to reality as possible should also mean the characters and not just the settings and background details, right?
    I guess I was more annoyed by this note since it's at the beginning of the books. If they had left it out, it would be perfectly fine but by making this note, the author is making a promise. If they had said 'as close to reality as possible but not for the characters', then maybe I would accept this without any annoyance. This could possibly be a dumb reason not to continue a series but I don't care.

06 - Added romance — So this might also be a dumb reason not to continue a series but when I read a series and there was no suggestion of a romance, I just kind of like it to stay that way. But I was more annoyed by who was chosen for the main character to have the romance with. It's kind of terrible how book blurbs give so much away that sometimes reading them makes me not want to read a book.

07 - Couldn't stand the main character — If I'm reading a book and I keep wishing for the main character's demise, then it's a sign I shouldn't bother continuing the series. Other people can read a book and didn't have to care about the main character but for me, I have to care somehow or else it's meaningless to read it.

08 - Break up a couple just so the main character can start anew in a different location — I don't get this but maybe because I like the couple. The excuse was so the main character can grow on their own which makes sense but at the same time, I can't help but think, they dump the romantic partner for a pretty lame reason because who says a person can't grow while in a relationship? (As evident by the 5 books.) It would have been better to kill the romantic partner which would probably be a good idea for that particular series and then they can find the killer together and then end that relationship but no, they want the boring, lame breakup which I'll never accept.

09 - Fake out — What I meant is when the book blurb (and even the story itself) suggested it will give answers but then it turned out it was a fake out! Maybe they shouldn't have bother going with this particular storyline and made the readers thought they would get answers and instead got the door slammed in our faces. It's the third book so I think it's reasonable to expect answers but the heck with it. I won't even care I didn't get the answers, I'm just annoyed by the way the book misled me.

10 - Didn't like the first book — To me, the first book sets the standard for the other books in the series so I most likely will not like the other books if I didn't like the first one. When people say it gets better in the second or even the third book, I have to wonder, why didn't it get better in the first book? Usually, the first book is the best one and the second or third is the lousy one so how could that got reversed? I think finishing the first book is giving the series a chance. Any more than that, means a longer commitment and who has the patience to read two or three crappy books to get to the good one?

What stops you from continuing a book series?

Some thoughts on reading Agatha Christie

The body in the library (2023)

One new author that I read a lot of (mostly last year) and enjoyed was Agatha Christie so I thought I make a list about that. This list is mostly based on reading 12 Miss Marple novels, 1 Miss Marple short story collection, 33 Hercule Poirot novels, 1 Hercule Poirot short story collection, 4 Superintendent Battle novels, 5 Tommy & Tuppence Mystery and 5 standalones. (I also read a novelization of one of Christe's plays by Charles Osborne which I wish to forget.) I maybe mostly refer to Poirot and Miss Marple books since I read them the most. Here are some of my thoughts on Christie's books:

Reading and Respect: A Rambling

I can enjoy a book without respecting the main character but if the main character does something really stupid or something that's morally wrong that I just cannot dismiss, then perhaps I may not enjoy that book as much. I think I'm too used to overly good characters in books (and in tv shows) that I can't seem to change my preference (probably not the right term). That is why I often cannot enjoy books with anti-heroes or serial killers or morally gray characters as main characters.
    There is no such thing as a person who does everything right but as main characters in books, I would like them to be a little better than the average person at making moral judgments but not necessary for everything they do but just enough that I won't think they're asshats and maybe allow me to respect them a little.
    How about you? Do you need to respect a main character in order to enjoy a book?

For more about the A-Z Challenge, go here.

Seven Things: Some Bookish & None-Bookish Thoughts

01 - Same old same old — I notice now I either post short fiction or some sort of list. I guess I'm not as random as I used to be with my blogging. Sometimes I see my blog as another unfinished on-going project where I try to do better but in the end, I just fall back to the same old routine and I don't think it's a terrible thing. Of course it would be nice to change and do better and create new content and get more readers but I've given up trying to figure out how to get more readers. Blogging is simply posting what I want. I'm not into promoting my blog or make it more well known.

02 - Is it wrong for bloggers to just delete their blogs without notice? — I have seen a few bloggers who just deleted their blog without any type of notice. When you go to their blog, you get a 'the site is no longer available' or some notice saying the blog no longer existed. This kind of disappearance acts just irks me. I know there must be some good reason for the disappearance such as being deceased (which I am loathed to think because I prefer no one dies), lost in a witness protection safe house, or even lost their minds but one must be polite about it and leave some notice before completely disappearing. Not that I blamed these people for leaving but it irks me a bit especially for those bloggers I have followed a long time.

03 - Blogging is not what it was ten years ago and yet, it's exactly the same — Or perhaps I'm exactly the same and blogging has changed. Most people flock toward social medias rather than blogs even though blogs are a type of social media except no one is saying that except me. Blogging will always be my social media because I mostly hate social media or maybe not hate, more like, stupefied by the way they change so fast. Wasn't twitter used to be 140 characters but now people not only can they exceed that limit, they can also post photos and videos and basically use it like a blog. I guess the only difference between social media and blogs is the way people use them? I think social media is for short, quick burst of thoughts and ideas and I suppose it's why I prefer a blog because I'm not one to be brief or fast.

04 - Over ten dollars for an ebook? — I'm not being cheap (well, a little bit) but I just don't want to pay anything above ten dollars for an ebook. I don't think ebooks offers the same benefits as printed books. I certainly could not resell an ebook like printed books since it's more about transferring of ownership. We are to think of ebooks being in the same class as printed books but are they?
    I've noticed some printed books are cheaper than the ebook version which makes no sense to me. Isn't printing a book more expensive than creating an electronic file? So yes, artwork is probably expensive but since most books comes in several formats (printed in hardcover and paperback, various types of ebooks, audio), I assumed the artwork is being paid to be used on all these formats so clearly, they can lower the price of ebooks or match the printed version's price, right?

05 - Book rants — Apparently I watch way too many youtube videos and most of them are on books. Somehow those Best books of the year, Favorite books or Books I love lists almost always have books I hate on them so I don't watch many of those. It's often more interesting to watch book rants such as Worst books of the year lists and find out why people hate certain books rather than why they love them. I have very few words for the books I love but books I hate, I have tons of words for them.

06 - Make a fuss about representation? — I'm never going to read books based on representation. When I hear people say they they pick up this book/read this book because it has this/that representation, I just want to roll my eyes. Can't a character just have this and that characteristic or be this and that way without people pointing out this character represent this group and that group? I don't want to read a book because it's diverse, I want to read a book because it has a good story and that characters are just characters. In the real world, we don't go about searching for diverse people to be friends with so why make an issue where there's none?

07 - They should know better — Margot Kinberg at her blog wrote about characters doing things they should know better but they do it anyway otherwise there wouldn't be a story. (Read the post here.) Making mistakes and making bad decisions is human and yet, readers can't help but berate these characters as these bad decisions arise emotions. Sometimes these characters can go too far and we have to question whether it would have been better if these characters have never made the decisions that they did. Certainly if a character makes the same mistake more than once, than there is a definite reason to berate that character, right? What do you think? Does it bother you a lot when a character makes a bad decision?

Got anything on your mind? Do share them.

What the heck reading moments

This week's Top Ten Tuesday is Favorite “Aww” Moments In Books (those sweet/cute moments in books that give you warm fuzzies) but I'm going to list something that is slightly the opposite — what the heck moments. Some of these things are really preferences as a reader and nothing more. For more Top Ten Tuesday, visit That Artsy Reader Girl here.

01 - When you realized you're reading a really bad book but you continue to read it anyway because for some strange reason, you thought it might still get better — I've done this a lot because if you're 50% in, it seem a shame to not finish it. Though it rarely gets better.

02 - When the character you thought was the most interesting one in the entire book gets kill off — I have read a couple of books where the one character that I thought was the most interesting of all the characters but then they get killed leaving behind the boring characters to carry on the story. Of course if you start with a boring character, I suppose one should expect that boring character not to die but they didn't get less boring so...

03 - When you're reading a final book in a series and the moment you thought was going to end the series didn't come — I think it's ridiculous to continue a series when it was clearly written (at least to me) that that series was meant to end right there in that book. It annoys me more when the reason for the delay is something utterly stupid or simply a delay or when they just repeat what had happened previously just so the characters are back where they started.

04 - When the truth of something that is so damm important to a character should be coming out but it didn't — So we live in an age of people wanting instant gratification but book readers would still plow through a 1,000 pages to get to the good stuff, it definitely would cause a lot of annoyance if they delay something that we are promised.

05 - When you're reading a murder mystery and they finally reveal the reason behind the murder and it turns out to be something lame — Let's just say disappointment is not the quite the word for that feeling. Maybe the incredulous reason is just too incredulous that I rather not know why they did it.

06 - When you read a 1,000 page book and nothing happened — So maybe things do happen but they are not important or significant enough unless you think such things as a character making coffee and drinking it as important, than sure, things happen. I think some of the books I read really didn't need to be so long. You can tell some things are fluff or fillers just to make a book or even a book series longer.

07 - When a villain that is supposed to be dead comes back not dead — Maybe this would be a welcome thing when it's the good guy but somehow when it is a villain, it's not at all good and fuzzy, it's more like: What the hell? Wasn't he killed? Who resurrected the jackass?

08 - When you read a book and you thought you understood what you read but then realized you didn't understand anything at all — A reader interprets books so maybe what makes sense to others will not make sense to me and verse versa but I just think some books simply do not make sense to me at least.

09 - When you read a book that you thought was a standalone but it turned out it was part of a series — I'm not saying I get that annoyed by this but if a book is part of a series and there are no indication anywhere, one just would get annoy if they don't get a complete story unless they read five or six more books.

10 - When you read the last page of a book series and realized it was the worst book to end a series — I love/hate book series mostly because of this. I read a lot of great first or second, middle books but the last book always seems to suffer from something. It's hard to end a series but sometimes I think authors or publishers just don't seem to be trying all that hard.

What dumb or incredulous moment have you had in your reading experience?

Three Random Bookish Musings

The book gardener (cropped), 2019

01 - The curious word: undulate — According to youtuber, Merphy Napier, undulate is used in a lot of books and I find that fascinating because I have not heard of the word until I saw her video. According to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, undulate as an adjective means having a wavy surface, edge or markings. Undulate as a verb means to form or move in waves; to rise and fall in volume, pitch or cadence; to present a wavy appearance.  
    Already I read undulate in a couple of books including The Lord of the Rings, Harry Potter and a few that I can't remember the title but I wasn't searching for that word but it came up. I can't decide if this is a good word or not but I find it amusing however it is used. (You can watch Merphy Napier's video about the word here.)

02 - Is hoarding books a bad thing? — I used to buy a lot of paper books and then stacked them in a pile in a corner and I keep telling myself I'll read them some day and I sort of did read some of them. But now I buy ebooks and I hoard them the way I do with paper books except there's no pile. Whenever I open my kindle and check out all the books I have and haven't read, I do feel a bit guilty because I spent money on them (I brought them mostly during sales and some of them were free) and they aren't being read and it seems kind of sad. It's easy to snag some ebooks without even thinking too much. Of course, I could also do the same thing in a book store but with less impulse because once I get them home, I'll have to find a place for them which isn't easy. Now ebooks, I can store 2,000 books in my kindle and not even think about spacing or even organizing them. I don't have 2,000 books but I certainly have a whole lot which I swear I'll read them some day. Maybe.

03 - Read or not to read because of one word error — I read a review where one person decided not to read a book because the author misused the words its/it's and I thought that seems like a petty reason not to read a book because it's one error which most readers can easily overlook. The error was in the beginning of the first chapter (and anyone reading the book sample would easily see it). I suppose since it's so close to the beginning of the book, it sort of makes the reader think, if the author can't use one word correctly, then perhaps the rest of the book would be full of errors as well which might or might not be true. Who can say if this mistake is because the author or even editor didn't know how to use these words or if the person who set up the text make that mistake or it really is an unintentional mistake. But it's a reader's choice whether to read a book or not for any reason, good or bad, reasonable or not. For me, I wouldn't decide on a book base on a single error because no book is error-free even if they seem so.

Have you find any curious word you keep seeing in the books you read? Do you think hoarding books (paper or digital) a bad thing? Would you stop reading a book if you saw one error?