Oops. Such a long poll and I must've scrolled too fast cuz I missed one or two I should've ticked. I buy books and they pile up, all over the place. My home has become my library. And therefore, I can always find something I'm in the mood to read.
I marked the happy ending one, but the truth is I don't demand a perfect, sugar sweet ending. I just like *good* endings. Where major issues are neatly resolved, maybe leaving a few very minor threads to dangle tantalizingly in my mind so I keep thinking about the story long after I've closed the book. Where the characters show real progress or growth or achievement or whatever the goal felt like as I read.
I like endings that satisfy! (And, I admit, I always read endings before I buy books. If I get the sense that the ending is going to be bad, I don't bother reading.)
And I also checked the "quit reading if it hasn't grabbed me" one with pride, because that's something I had to learn to do. And now I have fun setting aside a hopelessly boring book for something more intriguing just because I CAN! :)
I don't read the endings before buying, but sometimes if I'm reading along and invested in the characters, I'll do a quick glance at the last page to see if the MC's name appears. I try not to "see" anything else but names, but I want that reassurance! Like you, I don't require sweetness and light. Bittersweet is fine. But I no longer see the point in investing so much time in unhappy endings. Too much of that in life.
"quit reading if it hasn't grabbed me" one with pride, because that's something I had to learn to do.
I did, too, but I've been doing it for a long time. I have a friend who keeps reading out of a sense of duty. She's the same friend who reads books because they're "good for her"--even if she can't stand them. Life's too short!
Yes it is! But I do try to stetch myself - I've been picking up classics and reading them because I'm finally at a point where I can savor them, learn from them, and appreciate them more than I could while I was in school. However, I refuse to get bogged down in a book that makes me miserable - even if it *is* supposed to be good for me!
I read classics the same way I read everything else. If it grabs me, fine. If not...life's too short. Like you, I do have an appreciation for many of them that I didn't have in school, but I suspect that having been a literature major and read a lot of what was "good for me" in my younger years that I no longer feel I have anything to prove to myself. It's good to stretch and grow, I think, both as a reader and a writer, but I guess I'm just more aware of the finite nature of existence than I used to be. :-)
I tend to only read one bit of fiction at a time, and have a hard time doing that if I'm in writing mode because of cross-leaking both ways, but at any given time I have several non-fiction books of various types half-read...either because I got bored, I already knew the stuff in there and didn't feel the need to continue, or lack of time.
I'm still plodding my way through the Discworld books, and I never got a chance to finish the Daily Show America book and now Colbert is coming out with his own, plus there are TWO Sarah Vowell books I've read half of each, and piles of books I've bought for research and not fully read, and so much more...
I stopped reading fiction for awhile when I got serious as a writer, but I realized after a time (and a nearly five year writers' block) that I needed to "feed my head" with stories in order to keep writing. Like you, though, I've got many half-finished books lying around.
I have bought a grand total of two books in the past two years.
Publishers have sent me, free of charge, over seventy-five books in the past two years. I think they want me to review 'em or judge 'em or something.
I also work at a public library, and it is a significant part of my job to raid the shelves after the van run and select everything I want to read now (or maybe in three months' time) and take it home before the public patrons have a chance to even know we've acquired it.
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no subject
Date: 2007-10-08 05:12 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-08 05:51 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-08 08:27 pm (UTC)I like endings that satisfy! (And, I admit, I always read endings before I buy books. If I get the sense that the ending is going to be bad, I don't bother reading.)
And I also checked the "quit reading if it hasn't grabbed me" one with pride, because that's something I had to learn to do. And now I have fun setting aside a hopelessly boring book for something more intriguing just because I CAN! :)
no subject
Date: 2007-10-08 09:11 pm (UTC)"quit reading if it hasn't grabbed me" one with pride, because that's something I had to learn to do.
I did, too, but I've been doing it for a long time. I have a friend who keeps reading out of a sense of duty. She's the same friend who reads books because they're "good for her"--even if she can't stand them. Life's too short!
no subject
Date: 2007-10-08 09:19 pm (UTC)Yes it is! But I do try to stetch myself - I've been picking up classics and reading them because I'm finally at a point where I can savor them, learn from them, and appreciate them more than I could while I was in school. However, I refuse to get bogged down in a book that makes me miserable - even if it *is* supposed to be good for me!
no subject
Date: 2007-10-09 05:31 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-08 11:47 pm (UTC)I'm still plodding my way through the Discworld books, and I never got a chance to finish the Daily Show America book and now Colbert is coming out with his own, plus there are TWO Sarah Vowell books I've read half of each, and piles of books I've bought for research and not fully read, and so much more...
no subject
Date: 2007-10-09 05:27 pm (UTC)no subject
Date: 2007-10-09 01:33 pm (UTC)Publishers have sent me, free of charge, over seventy-five books in the past two years. I think they want me to review 'em or judge 'em or something.
I also work at a public library, and it is a significant part of my job to raid the shelves after the van run and select everything I want to read now (or maybe in three months' time) and take it home before the public patrons have a chance to even know we've acquired it.
no subject
Date: 2007-10-09 05:25 pm (UTC)