Maintenance Monday
What's Your Criteria?
We all have our reasons for picking up books, and they're not all the same. Even when I think I know someone else's reading tastes, sometimes I'm wrong, and for reasons I can't even fathom. This happened not too long ago when I was promoting my Top Ten 2009 giveaway and I was encouraging a friend to sign up, and she explained none of the titles interested her, and those that did, she's already read. When I pressed a title she hadn't read, which I felt FOR SURE she'd love if she read it, her response was that she was a very picky bitch, and the book simply didn't interest her. :)
Color me surprised, but in a good way. It got me thinking about the criteria we all use to select books to read (and for that matter, books to buy). She had very specific, definite criteria (and I'll probably ask her if she'd like to share them, publicly or privately), whereas it'd be easier for me to explain the stuff I avoid.
However, my criteria for selecting books has narrowed over the years. When I first started my masters' program at SHU, I'd read everything and anything that remotely interested me. Then I started narrowing my focus: I'd still read everything and anything, but I made a point to start reading more SF written by women, bonus points for debut authors. That's a little piece of criteria I follow to this day. Then, when I started coming across books that I wasn't enjoying, I started paying closer attention to reviews and the types of readers who reviewed them. This helped narrow my search more. I'll pay attention to award lists and award winners, but I don't swear by them, because I know that my tastes don't always represent the general public, so that's where online reviews (and Amazon reviews), as well as word of mouth, come in very handy.
For this year, I'm being particularly specific: I'm trying to only buy books by authors I'm already invested in. That's not to say I won't pick up some newbies this year, because I'm sure I will, but in an effort to keep my TBR pile under control, it's best if I don't let myself get distracted by the newbies. For the most part, and at least for this year.
But I said I had specific criteria for books I avoid, didn't I? That can play just as an important role as stuff you look for, so here's my random list:
1) Author of said book cannot be an ass. By ass, I mean how s/he interacts with fans, how full of her/himself s/he is on her/his blog, and whether or not their blog voice jives with my personal sensibilities. There are some authors I won't read because they respond very BADLY to online reviews, there are some authors whose attitude rubs me the wrong way. Sometimes, I might be tempted to relax this rule if the title interests me enough, but for the most part, it holds firm.
2) Books in a series, especially of epic fantasy, need to have an overwhelmingly positive fan reaction before I consider devoting my time.
3) An old one, but one I still watch out for: men writing SF. This isn't a hard and fast rule, because just because a guy writes SF doesn't mean I'll avoid it, but for a while, I was reading a lot of male-written SF that hit all the wrong buttons, and since I was working on my SF thesis, I started avoiding such works in order to focus on what I was trying to do, which was more in line with what women were writing in the genre (which is more than just love stories). Again, just because a guy writes SF doesn't mean I'll completely dismiss it (hello, Paolo Bacigalupi!), but it goes on a waiting list for a while until I've read a sample by the author or I read reviews that I trust. :)
4) And here's a brand-spanking new one I'm avoiding: well known historical events or mythological ones told through the lens of a woman. I'm burnt out, y'all. Just burnt out, and it's not fair for me to read such books at this time.
That's all of the criteria I can think of off the top of my head, so now it's your turn! What's your set of criteria in determining what you will or will not read? Lay it on me!
Book Club Selections
January: The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
February: Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
March: Theme: SF Hugo Winners. VOTE NOW!! Poll closes Tuesday night, so if you haven't voted yet, now's the time!
Not my giveaway, but . . . Book Love Affair is hosting a dual giveaway at her blog, and you've got multiple chances to win a copy of either Justine Larbalestier's How To Ditch Your Fairy or a personal favorite of mine, John Scalzi's Old Man's War! Interested? Just click here: here.
Book Sale: still going on. Details are here.
Upcoming Reviews: Flora Segunda by Ysabeau S. Wilce, Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro, and DEFINITELY The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
Currently Reading: Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
2010 Reading Total: 8 out of 50 (once I hit 50, I'll move that number up to 75).
2010 Comics Total: 25 out of 365. #26 will be tonight, but my hubby's pressuring me to read multiple issues in a night, so the numbers might go up. :)And now, a poll:
For those of you who participate in the book club, you'll notice that when I announce a selection, I provide direct links to buy the selection (new or used) at various websites. So you don't just go to Amazon.com. You go to the Amazon.com link featuring the book selection. But I want to know, is anyone REALLY taking advantage of that, or can I just post a list of websites where you can buy (or swap!) books and let you all plug in the information yourselves? You tell me! NOTE: PLEASE DO NOT ANSWER IF YOU'RE NOT PARTICIPATING IN THE BOOK CLUB!!!
Poll Book Club: Where to Buy?
We all have our reasons for picking up books, and they're not all the same. Even when I think I know someone else's reading tastes, sometimes I'm wrong, and for reasons I can't even fathom. This happened not too long ago when I was promoting my Top Ten 2009 giveaway and I was encouraging a friend to sign up, and she explained none of the titles interested her, and those that did, she's already read. When I pressed a title she hadn't read, which I felt FOR SURE she'd love if she read it, her response was that she was a very picky bitch, and the book simply didn't interest her. :)
Color me surprised, but in a good way. It got me thinking about the criteria we all use to select books to read (and for that matter, books to buy). She had very specific, definite criteria (and I'll probably ask her if she'd like to share them, publicly or privately), whereas it'd be easier for me to explain the stuff I avoid.
However, my criteria for selecting books has narrowed over the years. When I first started my masters' program at SHU, I'd read everything and anything that remotely interested me. Then I started narrowing my focus: I'd still read everything and anything, but I made a point to start reading more SF written by women, bonus points for debut authors. That's a little piece of criteria I follow to this day. Then, when I started coming across books that I wasn't enjoying, I started paying closer attention to reviews and the types of readers who reviewed them. This helped narrow my search more. I'll pay attention to award lists and award winners, but I don't swear by them, because I know that my tastes don't always represent the general public, so that's where online reviews (and Amazon reviews), as well as word of mouth, come in very handy.
For this year, I'm being particularly specific: I'm trying to only buy books by authors I'm already invested in. That's not to say I won't pick up some newbies this year, because I'm sure I will, but in an effort to keep my TBR pile under control, it's best if I don't let myself get distracted by the newbies. For the most part, and at least for this year.
But I said I had specific criteria for books I avoid, didn't I? That can play just as an important role as stuff you look for, so here's my random list:
1) Author of said book cannot be an ass. By ass, I mean how s/he interacts with fans, how full of her/himself s/he is on her/his blog, and whether or not their blog voice jives with my personal sensibilities. There are some authors I won't read because they respond very BADLY to online reviews, there are some authors whose attitude rubs me the wrong way. Sometimes, I might be tempted to relax this rule if the title interests me enough, but for the most part, it holds firm.
2) Books in a series, especially of epic fantasy, need to have an overwhelmingly positive fan reaction before I consider devoting my time.
3) An old one, but one I still watch out for: men writing SF. This isn't a hard and fast rule, because just because a guy writes SF doesn't mean I'll avoid it, but for a while, I was reading a lot of male-written SF that hit all the wrong buttons, and since I was working on my SF thesis, I started avoiding such works in order to focus on what I was trying to do, which was more in line with what women were writing in the genre (which is more than just love stories). Again, just because a guy writes SF doesn't mean I'll completely dismiss it (hello, Paolo Bacigalupi!), but it goes on a waiting list for a while until I've read a sample by the author or I read reviews that I trust. :)
4) And here's a brand-spanking new one I'm avoiding: well known historical events or mythological ones told through the lens of a woman. I'm burnt out, y'all. Just burnt out, and it's not fair for me to read such books at this time.
That's all of the criteria I can think of off the top of my head, so now it's your turn! What's your set of criteria in determining what you will or will not read? Lay it on me!
Book Club Selections
January: The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
February: Kindred by Octavia E. Butler
March: Theme: SF Hugo Winners. VOTE NOW!! Poll closes Tuesday night, so if you haven't voted yet, now's the time!
Not my giveaway, but . . . Book Love Affair is hosting a dual giveaway at her blog, and you've got multiple chances to win a copy of either Justine Larbalestier's How To Ditch Your Fairy or a personal favorite of mine, John Scalzi's Old Man's War! Interested? Just click here: here.
Book Sale: still going on. Details are here.
Upcoming Reviews: Flora Segunda by Ysabeau S. Wilce, Nocturnes by Kazuo Ishiguro, and DEFINITELY The Adoration of Jenna Fox by Mary E. Pearson
Currently Reading: Eclipse by Stephenie Meyer
2010 Reading Total: 8 out of 50 (once I hit 50, I'll move that number up to 75).
2010 Comics Total: 25 out of 365. #26 will be tonight, but my hubby's pressuring me to read multiple issues in a night, so the numbers might go up. :)And now, a poll:
For those of you who participate in the book club, you'll notice that when I announce a selection, I provide direct links to buy the selection (new or used) at various websites. So you don't just go to Amazon.com. You go to the Amazon.com link featuring the book selection. But I want to know, is anyone REALLY taking advantage of that, or can I just post a list of websites where you can buy (or swap!) books and let you all plug in the information yourselves? You tell me! NOTE: PLEASE DO NOT ANSWER IF YOU'RE NOT PARTICIPATING IN THE BOOK CLUB!!!
Poll Book Club: Where to Buy?