Thursday, September 15, 2022

Readers' Corner: Choosing Books and Managing Lists

On a recent post, Kae asked about how I choose which books to read and how I manage all my lists/library holds. I think of reading as my main hobby and I love spending time creating lists and using my library resources to the max. It's essentially a part-time job for me. 

Mood reading

First of all, I am a mood reader. If I'm stressed out, I don't want to read serious non-fiction, I want to read fluff. If I'm otherwise happy in life, I can delve into deeper topics. I tend to stick to fiction, although I do have a goal to read at least one non-fiction book every month this year. So what I'm saying is that I don't have a linear list of books that I need to get through and I check out lots of books at one time and sort of decide from what I have on hand what I'll read.  I've definitely checked books out of the library and renewed them several times without every actually reading them if the mood never strikes me.

Lists and challenges

I am generally doing several reading challenges at once and I mostly use those challenges as a guideline to determine what books to read. Right now I'm trying to:

(1) read one non-fiction book a month,
(2) complete the Pop Sugar 2022 Challenge,
(3) read all the winners from the Women's Prize for Fiction since 1996, 
and
(4)  read the books from r/fantasy's Top Books by Women list. 

In addition, I like to have at least one or two romance novels available to read because you never know when what you really want is just a bit of popcorn in your reading diet. I also read my book club books as they come up. I also take recommendations from people whose blogs I read (Nicole,  Lisa, and Stephany have all given me solid suggestions in the past) and I occasionally get a recommendation from a podcast, like Pop Culture Happy Hour or Pop Mom!.  In 2022, I set myself a challenge to read mostly women and non-binary folks and that has been easier than I thought.

Just a bit about how I choose romance novels. If one of my blog friends raves about a book (like Stephany did with Delilah Green Doesn't Care) or the folks on the r/RomanceBooks subreddit like it, I'll put it on a list. I'm also in the middle of several series, so I'll always read a new book in the series. I have tried to read from already curated lists, like the one from Goodreads of 52 most popular romances from the last three years or BookBub's 25 most popular romance novels of all time, but those have been more miss than hit for me, so I'm trying to be more selective about what romantic novels I read.

I do not get book ideas from the bestseller lists or BookTok or from dedicated reading podcasts. Here's why. I generally read genre (science-fiction/fantasy/romance) and find most contemporary fiction books are about marriages in peril, addiction, or are historical fiction, all of which are usually a miss for me. BookTok seems to skew pretty young and I think I have to come to grips with the idea that I have officially aged out of young adult/new adult lit.  And, to be honest, I've yet to find a book podcast in which the hosts don't annoy me almost instantly or I think they're mean (I listened to a book podcast that immediately started criticizing a book I really liked and just noped out of there because it was obvious that my taste didn't align.)

I also don't generally read what's the newest and most popular because I get almost all of my books from the library and it's difficult to get new releases in a timely fashion. I try to wait for at least a year after a book has been first published to even try to request it from the library.  So maybe all of that is why some of you might think I'm reading things that are obscure or not well-known, although I've read Hamnet and Cloud Cuckoo Land this year, so I'm not absolutely removed from buzzy books. (I also feel like a couple of the books I listed in the post that Kae commented on are absolute classics in the SFF genre, so what's buzzy to one person obviously isn't buzzy to another.)

Library access

The vast majority of the books I read are library loans from our local library. I live a few blocks from the library and between returning books and picking up books, I probably visit the library two to three times a week. I also have library privileges at the University library, although I don't get books from there a lot because I have to drive to the next town to get those books and return them. 

I can get paper books at the library and most of the time the wait times for paper books are a lot less than for ebooks, so if I really want a book quickly, I'll place a hold for a physical copy. Our library itself has a relatively small collection, but it's part of a much larger network throughout the state and, as long as you're not requesting the number one book on the charts, most holds come in within two or three days.  We get these books for 21 day loans and, with the exception of new releases, we can renew them up to three times. (There are no fines at our library and I have returned books late, but I try not to take advantage.)

I currently have nine physical copies of books checked out of the library and will probably put another five or six on hold in the next day or two. I've read three of these books already, am in the process of reading another one, and one is a book club book I have to read in the next week. I'll read the rest of them as it suits me. 

I am antsy about being indoors, so I rarely wander about the library looking at the shelves. Pre-pandemic I might have done this a bit more often, but these days I'm all about the holds.


For ebooks and audiobooks, I have two options through my library. The first is Libby. I can have up to ten holds on Libby at a time and Libby books can mostly be sent to my Kindle. The wait times are generally pretty long, though. My current hold list on Libby is:

Devil in Spring by Lisa Kleypas (available soon) -  romance novel
The Witness for the Dead by Katherine Addison (approx. 3 weeks) - fantasy
Down Among the Sticks and Bones by Seanan McGuire (approx. 4 weeks) -  fantasy
The Master by Kresley Cole (approx. 8 weeks) - romance
Storm Echo by Nalini Singh (approx. 10 weeks) - fantasy romance
Empire of Pain by Patrick Radden Keefe (approx. 12 weeks) - non-fiction
Kushiel's Dart by Jacqueline Carey (approx. 13 weeks) - fantasy
A Prayer for the Crown-Shy by Becky Chambers (approx. 15 weeks) - science-fiction
Bombshell by Sarah MacLean (several months) -  romance
Crying in H Mart by Michelle Zauner (several months) - memoir

I like to mix the list up with when things will become available and genre. It's not ideal when four or five books come in at once because the biggest issue with ebooks from Libby is that I can only borrow them for 21 days with NO renewals.  So if five books come in at once, I have to finish them in three weeks. I do have the ability to postpone the delivery if I know I won't be able to get to it in the time limit. For example, I currently have three relatively long books already checked out and both Devil in Spring and The Witness for the Dead were available and I basically just pushed my place in line so I would become second in line rather than first. 

The other option for ebooks and audiobooks through the library is Hoopla. There are no waits for Hoopla, but Hoopla doesn't work with Kindle, so I have to read these books on my phone, which isn't ideal, so I mostly use Hoopla for audiobook loans when my podcast queue is short. We only get three borrows from Hoopla every month, so I'm pretty judicious with those borrows.  

Managing holds

Honestly, I don't spend a ton of time managing holds. Libby notifies me when a book is available and I can quickly see how many books I have on my Kindle from the app, so I can see if I should snag it right away or delay it.  I generally spend some time each weekend putting holds on physical books and then just go to the library throughout the week to pick them up. It's super convenient that I live so close to the library or I'd have to be much more organized about this process.  

The only exception to this is when I know I'm going to be out of town. The absolute WORST scenario would be for me to have no books available on my Kindle when I'm traveling. In that case, I do spend time babying my Libby holds and making sure I'll have enough reading material while I travel. I also will use the search feature for free Kindle books if things are looking pretty desperate, although those free Kindle books are very hit or miss. I'll also occasionally hit up the "available now" feature on Libby, although our library only lets us check those books out for seven days.

This is a lot of words for what seems like a pretty basic process.  How do you determine what books to read next? How many books do you check out from the library at one time? Does your library allow you renewals on Libby books (this is my dream)?  Do you prefer to read the hot books everyone's talking about or are you a genre seeker like me?  

24 comments:

  1. I don't think I could have said this with fewer words. My local library is pretty decent in its own right and it's also a branch of a major city library so I can get just about any book or movie that I want with a few mouse clicks. It's true that the wait time for physical books can be a lot less than Libby, but I prefer e-reading, so that's what I use the most.

    My two biggest sources are the Sarah's Bookshelves podcast and Modern Mrs. Darcy's daily ebook sale list. Usually when books are on sale they're not the latest releases so I have a better chance of being able to get them through Libby, or if it's something that I really want and don't want to wait it's just a few dollars to buy the book. And of course I also keep an eye on the bloggy blogs for more reading ideas!

    At this stage of life I only read for 10-20 minutes before bed, so I'm not plowing through a ton of books. All that I want is something that holds my attention.

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    1. I think a lot of people spend more time than I do into research about what individual books are about before they get started. I don't like spoilers about books, so I frequently go in cold, but I'm also not shy about not finishing books, so my lack of research works out for me. That being said, if I only had 10-20 minutes to read a book a day, I'd do A LOT more research than I do now!

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  2. I get a lot of ideas from blogs (like yours, and the three you mentioned.) I don't have a kindle so all my books are physical copies, which I love. And I get them mostly from the library. I did just buy "Robert Galbraith's" The Ink Black Heart because it's 1000 pages. As a new book I was pretty sure the library wouldn't let me renew it and I didn't want to feel rushed while reading it. I like the Modern Mrs. Darcy website but don't listen to the podcast. Anyway, I always appreciate your book reviews- I've gotten a lot of good suggestions here.

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    1. I'm interested in what you think of the new Galbraith. The reception has been so polarizing that it's hard to know what's real and what's polemical about JKR. I do know that it's more than 1200 pages and I'm not sure I want to spend that much time in Strike's dark world for that long!

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  3. I am SHOCKED to learn that you are a mood reader. SHOCKED. You always seem to be reading based on challenges and lists, which to me seems completely at odds with being a mood reader. Anyway, as one mood reader to another, I have never felt such an affinity with you as I did when reading your second paragraph!

    Like you, I use my local library A LOT. I am terrible at managing my holds though, so what typically happens is that a thousand books all come in at once and then I can’t get through all of them. And… being a mood reader, sometimes I am just not in the mood for a book, but I feel like I MUST read it before it’s due, and then I don’t read anything. It’s a bad plan. Right now I have 12 books checked out, one hold that just came in that I need to pick up, 9 ebooks downloaded to my kindle, and two audiobooks checked out; one I am listening to, the other I tried and is not for me. I am going to return it right now.

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    1. Ha! I do all the challenges and lists because otherwise all I would read is romance novels, particularly the Harlequin romances from the 1980s you can buy by the bagful from book sales. I absolutely read based on mood and that can make it challenging to actually read books from genres I tend to dislike.

      I don't have the feeling that I MUST read a book if I check it out, though, because I always think I can just check it out again. :) As a matter of fact, I have a book checked out right now that this is the third time I've had it. Maybe I'll get to it, but maybe I won't!

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  4. Ooh, THANK YOU for responding to my inquiry!! This was so interesting. I was just so curious about how you managed it all, with such a large quantity of books read every month. I completely agree that I am probably "out of the loop" on any buzz books in the sci-fi/ fantasy/ romance genres, haha! So I admit that the fact that I haven't heard of them basically means nothing. I am not overly in the loop on any buzz books in any genre, period, really, because I just don't spend a lot of time reading book blogs or listening to book podcasts. I would say the places I most often hear of books are from another blogger, or maybe friends on facebook posting about a book they loved, or sometimes on Goodreads where that section recommends other books similar to books you recently finished. Sometimes books are truly buzzy enough that I'll hear about it on the Today show or an article or something. I guess for non-fiction books, I often hear authors interviewed on podcasts, too, or at least referenced. I have a "want to read" list that is probably 100 deep, and I just don't read that many books right now, so I could probably spend the next 5 years just working through that. haha. I did make a list of 10 books I wanted to read this year and started out the year strong trying to prioritize those, but I sort of fell off the wagon a bit. Sometimes I get lazy about requesting them and then end up reading one I either had lying around but never read, or for example, recently a friend cleaned out her book stash and gave me a few I hadn't read yet, etc. I used to listen to audiobooks more, but podcasts have mostly taken their place. I like the idea of keeping an e-book on my phone's Kindle app though, because I feel like this would be a great way to minimize social media or other mindless scrolling in certain situations. (Example, waiting for my kids in the car and don't have my physical book along....I often start scrolling social media, but reading a BOOK would be a nicer option!) I typically greatly prefer paper/physical books on the whole, but I'm trying to be more open minded about this. I can see the benefits to embracing other versions, too. One more thing.... I also am not really a big fan of reading other people's reviews of books on Goodreads. I also had a case where I LOVED a book, and then went to the reviews and found people totally ripping it apart....and I felt so dejected. hahaha. It was a big letdown!

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    1. I actually prefer reading on my Kindle, to be honest. It's easier to take notes and is lighter and easier to hold. Also, because I read books almost exclusively from the library, my Kindle is guaranteed to NOT smell like cigarette smoke. I end up reading a lot of physical books, but that's only because of availability. I'm fascinated by people who are anti-ebooks. That's just not something I understand!

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    2. Well, I will say, I don't have an actual Kindle. (I have a VERY OLD Kindle Fire somewhere, but that had the glowy screen like an ipad). So for me, if I read an e-book, it's on my phone. Which is not overly pleasant. I don't hate it, but I don't love it. Which Kindle do you have? (Are there different versions still?) Maybe this would make a good Christmas gift for me to request. I could see how one of those lightweight more paper-like versions would be nice. I think I'd like that. I do definitely like the electronic aspect of highlighting or taking notes. With paper books, I love to take notes, but find the process tedious sometimes or not conducive to just sitting in a chair and reading. And I'm funny about highlighting in actual books, even if I own them... How does that work though if it's a library book? Does it somehow save just your notes or highlighted passages to look back on later? I mean obviously you don't keep access to the book forever. Thanks! (And p.s.- I think part of what I like about physical books are that I spend all day on a screen for work and too much time on my phone. So a physical book feels like a clearly different form. I also think I have some nostalgia around how I used to curl up with a book as a kid- always paper back then, of course.)

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    3. A Kindle discussion! I love it! I have a Kindle Paperweight, which has the e-ink and no glare screen and is essentially useless for anything except reading books, but it's EXCELLENT at that. I don't even think of my Kindle as a screen - it's just another form of a book for me. I guess that's the piece that everyone is different about. The easy of holding a lightweight Kindle far outweighs the bad "screenness" of it for me.

      You can access your notes and highlights from the Kindle online even after you return a library book! (There's a site read.amazon.com.) And if you borrow that book again, all of your notes will be there. It's really a very slick system and I'm all about you putting it on your Christmas list!

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  5. Well this was very fun to read! I spend some time managing my holds, and I am also a mood reader. I'm hoping to get a Kobo for Christmas, which is compatible with my library (apparently Kindles are not compatible with most Canadian library systems!). So that will be fun. I am reading a super heavy book right now but I am only reading a chapter a day because it is TOO MUCH and I am not even in a bad mental space, it's just too much. I'm reading it along with much lighter reads. I am also revisiting something from my childhood that I kind of went down a rabbit hole, and I am too embarrassed to say the title of the series so I won't. But it is the most horrifying and weird book series (it was written in the late 1800s, and is a book about a Southern family, if that gives you any idea). Anyway, it was an old book of my grandmother's, and then I found out it was a whole series, and too long, didn't read, it's a book that is making my eyes bug out of my head on so many different levels.

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    1. Oh, there are so many embarrassing series that I currently read that I can assure you I would not judge you! I'm still hanging in there with JK Rowling's controversial mystery series under her pseudonym and I'm reading a romance novels about vampires that I'm currently twenty books into. I will never shame you for what you love!

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  6. Reading this is making me feel so guilty for how little reading I've been doing lately. I'm feeling kinda tuckered out from summer; I always, always scale back on reading over the summer but usually things have started to ramp back up and I'm just not ready to do that yet. Sigh.
    I love putting books on hold, but often don't manage it very well so have no idea when things are coming in and end up with a huge stack of books I can't possibly get through in time!

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    1. There should be no guilt associated with reading! Do what works for you. It ebbs and flows. Some months I read fifteen books and some months I read one. If it becomes a chore, you'll stop enjoying it and that will really lead to bad outcomes.

      Like I told Suzanne, I don't feel pressured to read something just because I check it out. It's great if I do read it, but if I don't get a chance to, I can always check it out again at a different time!

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  7. Wow. You have such a great process for your reading. Also, I'm very envious of how much you can read. (Nicole as well) I mean, I've been working on 3 books since January. I know, that sounds pitiful. I'm just a very slow reader and I generally ONLY read right before bed, but usually only 3-4 nights a week. You are my reading super hero.

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    1. Hey, everyone reads at their own pace - at least you ARE reading!

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  8. As usual, I am impressed by the sheer volume. I like to read mystery series, and there hasn’t been much for me lately. I do see that Rowling has another Strike book out. We’ve got the audible version. Maybe I’ll start it, but if Sue is reading at the same time we might get confused as to who is where. 🥸

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    1. I am super interested in what people think of this new Strike book. The reviews are so polarizing!

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  9. I love hearing about how others manage their reading. It's endlessly fascinating to me! I read almost exclusively on my kindle, either through the ap or my actual kindle. I check out books through Libby, too, but if they aren't available on my kindle, I won't read them because I do not like the interface of Libby. I am super picky, I guess, and have gotten so used to the kindle. I will request a physical book if I need to read it soon and the wait is shorter, so I'll get the physical copy of my September book club. I messed up and didn't request it soon enough to be able to read it on my kindle. We choose our books in January and I order them based on library availability so I had plenty of time to put it on hold and wait for it to become available! At our library, we can put 15 books on hold at a time. My husband doesn't read any ebooks, so I also have his library card on my libby ap so I can have 30 holds! It's amazing! And then I have a TBR list in libby so when I check out a book, I pick something from my TBR list to request. I usually try to only have 3 books checked out at one time. I don't want to stress about not getting to it. I mostly read new releases or books written fairly recently. I get a lot of ideas from book podcast, though - especially Currently Reading, Sarah's Bookshelves Live and From the Front Porch. They tend to read diverse books which is also what I aim to read. I also get ideas from others blogs - like you, Stephany and Nicole! I don't exclude any authors, but most of my reading tends to be women authors and I try to read a lot of owned voices.

    But I also really focus on finding books for the boys. I subscribe to a newsletter focused mostly on picture books. I request everything that person recommends. I also request everyone on the indiebound.org kid's next list. I use the adult list to get ideas for what to read next, too. Besides the holds, I will randomly grab picture books from the shelf, too. We often check out 20+ books/week and a weekly stop at the library is part of our weekend routine. Paul is very very into reading; Will is less so but he's starting to get better about sitting still for a book. My life goal is to raise readers so hopefully what I am doing sticks. My husband is a reader, too, but he's only read a couple of books since the pandemic started. He used to read almost exclusively on the bus and now we don't take the bus anymore so he lost that time slot for reading and hasn't shifted it elsewhere. I probably read more than ever now, though!

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    1. I think I would switch to be an exclusive ebook reader if the selection available via the Libby app were a bit broader. I can't really justify buying books at this point, so I do end up getting physical books more than is my general desire. I had to buy a book for book club this year because I just couldn't get it in time from the library and I was pretty grumpy about it. It looks like I've only bought 5 books this year (one physical and four ebooks) and I think that's a lot!

      You should try to institute reading time for your husband! Sounds like he just needs to be reminded of how engrossing a good book can be! It's good for the kids to see both parents reading (particularly the same sex parent, tbh).

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  10. I LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT THIS POST! I have already written at length about my weirdo bookish habits, including the way I adhere to a very strict TBR. I use the library but I also love buying books, mainly because it makes me happy and I love the look of a house full of bookshelves stuffed with books. I don't utilize the library nearly to the same degree as you, as I mainly request books when they come up on my TBR list. I keep a running list of the next 5 books I want to read so I try to always have those 5 books readily available. If it's a book I need to request from the library, I do that when the book is added to my list. I don't request a lot of super popular books from my library, so there usually isn't a wait for what I want. I do find managing my reading to be a part-time job as well, haha. There's a lot that goes into it.

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  11. That was so interesting to read. I always love to learn how other people choose their books. I use Libby exclusively right now and never borrow more than 2 books (I read regularly, but not enough to ensure that I can finish the books in 21 days. I would also love extensions on loans, but I guess that only works on books that don't have a waitlist.

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  12. This is fascinating. I'm terrible - I don't use the library. I also don't own a Kindle - I use my iPad. I know, I'm weird. I also am a mood reader, though, and that is one reason I do like Birchie, above, and buy the books when they're on super-sale, usually $0.99-$3.99. I will splurge, however, on favorites. Nora Roberts. Always. JD Robb (who, of course, is also Nora Roberts). A few others. But my reading habits are NOTHING like yours! I am so envious of your volume. But I also know that it is a high priority for you, so good on you for making it happen!

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  13. Oh so many good thoughts and habits. They do aline a lot with what I am doing. (I did write two blogposts about it some time back). Just last months I finally signed up for the library because I needed some audiobooks. I have so much stuff going on and dont have much time to sit and read so I figured audiobooks are an option. And then I realized that the libby app finally has come to Germany. And the library ( I live in Berlin) has almost all books I want to read in their catalogue. Yeah. Unfortunately I can only read on my phone as the libby app for kindle is not an option here in germany. So sad.

    I loved your sentences about romance novels: "because you never know when what you really want is just a bit of popcorn in your reading diet." But I agree its not easy to find a good romance novel that isn't over the top cheesy or kinky. So I have to check out the ones you mentioned. Maybe there is something in there for me.

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