Trying to keep up

I have my "Booking thru Thursday" questions lined up. I have not been participating in this weekly meme, but I have been asking my original Friday Friend forum what their feelings are about these questions. I'll post them here. Even tho the FF's are not bloggers, they love to see their names on a blog...it's the little kid in them.

I am feeling very unorganized, and that bugs me. Yes, I have been busy, but not more or less so than anyone else. I just haven't been blogging.

I am not a book reviewer, nor a great cook...like most of the blogs I follow, I just like to read. Everything. So, I read. And I like to cook, so I cook. And I like to read blogs from Bloggers who read more than I (who knew?) and cook more than I. They review and recommend and interview and write (very well), and then they post and...well, I read them. I enjoy them.

I'm not sure I have found my blogging niche---yet.
But I will, I'm sure...someday.

Anyway, the FF's (some of them anyway) thoughts on book questions.

On October 16th, the question was:
"What tomes are waiting patiently on your shelves


and some of the answers from my original FF forum were.....

from Sally in PA:
Waiting patiently: A walk in the Woods (Everytime I hike the Appalachian Trail, I come home and a non hiking friend says: Have you read A Walk ... I own it, but no, I have yet to read it. Hillary Rodham Clinton's It Takes a Village, Eat, Pray Love by Elizabeth Gilbert, Last Child in the Woods, Broadsides from the Other Order(a book of bugs) by Sue Hubbell. No fiction. sorry. And I guess I'm spending all my free time outdoors and can't read about the outdoors. I believe Eat, Pray, Love is a book on religion. I found it in a health food store in the yoga section. One of my friends said "I" needed to read. She wasn't partial to it, but I would be!!! Whatever that means.

from Barb B in AZ:
The Mermaid Chair-----Sue Monk Kidd (I actually have many that I keep moving to the bottom of the pile, as I always find something I want to read NOW and figure those can wait when I'm really desperate).

from me/debbie....the October 25th question also came and went..
“Name a favorite literary couple and tell me why they are a favorite. If you cannot choose just one, that is okay too. Name as many as you like–sometimes narrowing down a list can be extremely difficult and painful. Or maybe that’s just me.”

from Barb in Buckeye (AZ) again:
I like two authors who are married and each write books with separate characters------they are Jonathan and Faye Kellerman.

from Sally in PA:
Katz and author Bill Bryson. A couple of schmucks hiking the Appalachian Trail. I'm half way done and I have never laughed out loud so much, or read so many portions of a book to Matt. He hardly has to read it himself. A Walk in the Woods is absolutely the funniest read.

from me/debbie:
Sally was pleasantly surprised that I had read the book.....and that I had heard or known about the Appalachian trail. She didn't know of any west coast equivalent... that would be The Pacific Coast Trail, from Mexico to Canada, the boarders anyway.
I know tons of things. LOL
Sally's right....it was a funny read. I love Bill Bryson.


from Lisa C in NV:
Okay,

I get it now, literary couple. Defined as two fictional or autobiographical couples from a BOOK. I get it.

I panicked, and here lies my true confession that I thought you wanted me to name two together-type people that WROTE books.

I was alarmed, panicked and aghast. I thought I'm gonna really have to ramp it up for this book club. Arrrrrgh. Ha!
How many literary writing couples do you know off the top of your head? I was feeling totally unenlightened, because I certainly wouldn't have to narrow down the list, I can't MAKE a list of literary (writing) couples! You, being so well-read and knowledgeable, may probably name many, but I was stumped. Masters & Johnson?? Whew, the other interpretation sounds much better.

Okay, after that diatribe - I'm too distressed to come up with a favorite literary couple. I agonize over ordering off a menu, I'll have to change my train of thought. I'm laughing at myself now, and if you really are looking for a literary couple, I'm sulking.

Then we jump to October 30th......
Are you a spine breaker? Or a dog-earer? Do you expect to keep your books in pristine condition even after you have read them? Does watching other readers bend the cover all the way round make you flinch or squeal in pain?

from Gina in NV:
Never a spine bender, can't stand that. However, I have been known to dog ear and am actually trying to get myself out of that habit. Mostly I will dog ear a paperback. I try never to de a hard bound book, but have slipped once in a while. I NEVER dog ear a borrowed book, just my own.

from Jolina in NV:
No - only from use - I broke many spines in text books.
Or a dog-earer?
OMG No
Do you expect to keep your books in pristine condition even after you have read them?
Yes!
Does watching other readers bend the cover all the way round make you flinch or squeal in pain?
I don't like it. This is one of the reasons I have to really like you to share my books - can't stand it when someone bends the corner of my books!

However, wear and tear things such as bent covers or pages - or water damage because we are reading by the pool or in the tub just means the book has been used and enjoyed. That is OK.

from me/debbie:
then it jumps to November 13th......
If you usually buy your books, tell me why. Why buy instead of borrow? Why shell out your hard-earned dollars for something you could get for free?

from Shelly in NV:
I never bought too many books until I started work. As you can guess, it was a money thing. Until then I always borrowed books from the library (and from my friends!). Now I buy books. Mostly it's easier to just order them online (it's way too easy with the "you might like this" helpful hint) and I get impatient at the library...just taking the time to look through all those books. I keep quite a few of the books I read but if I don't really like them I give them to the thrift store.

from Cherrie in WA:
Most of the books I buy are non-fiction, and craft type books. these are books I like to take my time with or refer back to. I used the library a lot more when I was going to school, for references I had no desire to keep after the course was complete.

from Gina in NV:
I only buy if its a series I have been reading and collecting, OR and this is the main reason is because most of the time I don't want to wait for my turn so I buy it instead. I'm impatient!

from Sally in PA:
Why do I buy books? Because I can't get them read in the library's allotted time. Because I will forget to read it if it is not my bookshelf, or beside my bed in a basket. (my bedside basket is smaller than yours, and includes my three journals! Because after I read it I can give it to others to read. Most people I know won't go to the trouble to get it themselves. Night and Walk in the Woods are already out of my possession. They were two great books. Night because it is so important and Walk in the Woods because it is so funny. I also buy books for my family, so they can loan them to me to read!! But if they own them, hopefully, they will, too.

from Theresa B in WA:
I have many books that have a permanent home on book shelves in my home. I bought them because I love them. Most of them are non fiction books. Crafts, gardening, sewing, cooking, doll making, entertaining, decorating, nutrition, and other things of interest to me. I worked at the Public Library in The Dalles, Oregon for a couple years. I was turned on to a lot of these books there. I'd check them out, read them, return them, and go to the local book store. I would have them order the book for me, they ordered from Portland and I would have it in 2 days. I don't read fiction books over again once I have read them. But over the years, I have discovered that owning non fiction was great, because no matter how many times you read it, you learn something new that slipped by the first dozen times. I love fiction books and read many of them. but when I read one over it is the same every time. I don't pick up any new knowledge for them. We go to the library every 3 weeks and each check out books, I get all of the fiction that I can for free there. The ones that the Library doesn't have, I order from the book club, or buy at Barns and Noble

from Bev (also my mom ) in WA:
Well, I have a Bible that I bought. Your father and I both buy books instead of going to the library, but sometimes they are used books.

from Jolina in NV:
this is the eternal question at my house. Why buy when you can borrow? Since Mike's mom worked at the library, he never understood why I bought books. He's quit asking! Before book club, I wouldn't have said anything specific, except I love to own books. I like borrowing yours, Debbie, but don't like to borrow much from our library. Seems they never have what I want. Now, I buy because it's the book club pick.

from Diana in NV:
I usually go to the book store and get books from the .20 cent table. Then I pass them on to my parents who pass them on to Battle Mountain.I read the cover of the book and if it looks interesting I buy it.