L.Q. revisited…

gardens at Versailles

I read about as slowly as I write. There was a time I could devour a novel  in 3-4 days. Wish I had those kind of days now.  But come to think of it, I wasn’t writing when I read at that pace.

So why does this post include a picture my son took at Versailles and what does that have to do with reading?

Hm…  Absolutely nothing. It’s just a cool shot, isn’t it? (Versailles was my favorite experience on a 2 day trip to France.)

Anyway…back to reading. Mentioning others’ works and blogging about books you like helps build L.Q., the ‘likability quotient’ Kristen Lamb wrote about a few weeks ago. Accomplishing L.Q. #6  is not an easy task when it takes me weeks – or months – to find my way from start to finish of a novel. A full-fledged review would be the way to go but I suppose even a mention is a good thing, right?

My problem is that I don’t tend to read many currently published books. I decided to make an effort to explore some indie writers so I downloaded 6 new ebooks over the holidays. I read 1 (no comment), started 2 others, and have scooted back to 1 of the 2 now & then. The others await my attention.

The stack of books – physical and virtual – that I am currently reading:

  • biographical materials from the Third Crusade era: 7 books, none recently published – need I say more? : )
  • Timothy Zahn’s 20th anniversary Heir to the Empire – I sang praises of the original edition on AOL forums years ago & this annotated version is a Star Wars geek’s Nirvana
  • Bill Bryson’s Notes from a Small Island, a Christmas gift from my future son-in-law who knows how much I love traveling around the UK. I found myself chuckling throughout the first chapter
  • 4 ebooks (these are ebooks in addition to the 6 I mentioned above)
    • A Breath of Snow and Ashes from Diana Gabaldon’s Outlander series (yes, I’m way behind) – she doesn’t need my recommendations
    • Marie Loughin’s Valknut: The Bindingwhich I actually have read and commented on. (Norse gods and hobos. Buy it, people!)
    • The Sonsov Bitches, by Niklas Leavy, whom I read about on writer David Gaughran’s blog. Thumbs up for this gritty, realistic, funny, and sad look at Simon and his gay boy band
    • What Stays in Vegas, by Beth Labonte – a fun romp so far!

I’m curious about other writers’ reading habits: do you put a ‘writer’ or ‘editor’ hat on and start analyzing the text, the structure, etc., of a story when you read?  I know I’m guilty of that!

  1. Marie loughin Avatar
    Marie loughin

    I try not to wear the editor/writer hat when I read something I bought for fun. I work enough already! If the quality is poor enough to distract me, I put it down and try something else. There’s too much out there to read to put up with that.

    1. Char Avatar

      Reading for fun? What a novel concept!! 🙂

      Actually, I put on the writer hat when I’m reading to figure out how the other writer pulled off the action or emotion of a scene.


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