Very random question - I need suggestions!

[speechfan222]

Im a huge bookworm and love to read. Once I finish a book, Im always excited to start another one. I will be starting a Masters program this Fall and once that begins, reading for leisure is over. I have about 6 weeks until school begins and am trying to enjoy the rest of my summer. 

The library (Yes I still love going to the library. Go ahead and laugh now) has a few books available from my to read list. One of them is 600 pages and I really want to read it. I know I cant finish it before school starts and wont have time to read much throughout the semester. 

I need your help. Should I start the book anyway and enjoy it for now, or should I choose another shorter book that I may be able to finish before school starts? 

Thanks for the help. I need everyones suggestions. Im a bookworm and just love to read!! 

Edited July 1, 2017 by speechfan222

[St Andrews Lynx]

Start reading the book. During the semester simply read for 10-30 min each night in bed before you go to sleep. You'll get it finished.

 

[rising_star]

I read for pleasure during the semester and did throughout my PhD. I typically just read a chapter (or a short story) before bed 3-5 nights a week as a way to relax. It's also a good way to keep from using one's laptop or smartphone in bed.

[Eigen]

I made sure to prioritize pleasure reading during school, by making reading goals my main New Years resolution. Started out small (40-50 books per year), and slowly built up as I met my goals. Having it be something that I made a yearly priority helped me make time for it every night, and I feel like it helped keep me rested and relaxed long term. 

[speechfan222]

2 hours ago, Eigen said:

I made sure to prioritize pleasure reading during school, by making reading goals my main New Years resolution. Started out small (40-50 books per year), and slowly built up as I met my goals. Having it be something that I made a yearly priority helped me make time for it every night, and I feel like it helped keep me rested and relaxed long term. 

Oh wow. I like this idea. And 40-50 books a year is impressive. Thanks! 

[Eigen]

I was up to 120 books last year. My goal was 125 this year, but first year teaching has taken a toll on my reading time... Half way through the year, and only at 35.

[speechfan222]

1 hour ago, Eigen said:

I was up to 120 books last year. My goal was 125 this year, but first year teaching has taken a toll on my reading time... Half way through the year, and only at 35.

That's impressive! I probably shouldn't be calling myself the bookworm then. When I'm not having to study, I read as much as I can. Of course there are other things to do like my Cinderella chores around the house and walking the dog, but I don't read nearly as many books a year as you do. Wow!! 

Since you're such a heavy reader, would you mind sharing some of your favorite books/authors? I would be interested in adding some more books to my huge to-read list. Thanks!

 

[cowgirlsdontcry]

9 hours ago, speechfan222 said:

Im a huge bookworm and love to read. Once I finish a book, Im always excited to start another one. I will be starting a Masters program this Fall and once that begins, reading for leisure is over. I have about 6 weeks until school begins and am trying to enjoy the rest of my summer. 

The library (Yes I still love going to the library. Go ahead and laugh now) has a few books available from my to read list. One of them is 600 pages and I really want to read it. I know I cant finish it before school starts and wont have time to read much throughout the semester. 

I need your help. Should I start the book anyway and enjoy it for now, or should I choose another shorter book that I may be able to finish before school starts? 

Thanks for the help. I need everyones suggestions. Im a bookworm and just love to read!! 

I found some time to read for leisure during my MA. You will find that it's a good stress reliever. Taking 3 grad level lit classes per semester, I found out rather quickly I was reading upwards of a thousand pages per week for classes and I don't expect it to be any less in my PhD program. It's important to continue doing some things for the pure joy they bring us. We cannot exist completely without them. I don't watch TV and I seldom go out with friends, but I do find time (usually when I'm in bed) to read for pleasure and allow myself to come down off the adrenaline rush in order to sleep better. It doesn't matter if you start the long book or one you will finish before semester begins, it just matters that you continue reading for pleasure.

[speechfan222]

7 minutes ago, cowgirlsdontcry said:

I found some time to read for leisure during my MA. You will find that it's a good stress reliever. Taking 3 grad level lit classes per semester, I found out rather quickly I was reading upwards of a thousand pages per week for classes and I don't expect it to be any less in my PhD program. It's important to continue doing some things for the pure joy they bring us. We cannot exist completely without them. I don't watch TV and I seldom go out with friends, but I do find time (usually when I'm in bed) to read for pleasure and allow myself to come down off the adrenaline rush in order to sleep better. It doesn't matter if you start the long book or one you will finish before semester begins, it just matters that you continue reading for pleasure.

This is very helpful, thanks! 

I don't watch tv or go out with friends much either. If i'm not studying, I'm normally reading for pleasure. I may start the longer book soon. I'm excited! *nerd*

Would you mind providing some of your favorite authors/books, so I can add more to my to-read list? 

[cowgirlsdontcry]

15 hours ago, speechfan222 said:

Would you mind providing some of your favorite authors/books, so I can add more to my to-read list? 

I have eclectic personal reading habits. I read literature every day for class, then thesis or now dissertation, so I tend to go with more popular contemporary authors for my personal reading. If you are looking for more literary novels, I can guide you in that direction also.

Right now I'm reading The Blood of Emmett Till by Timothy Tyson. It's a look at the murder of a 13-year old black boy in the mid-1950s in Mississippi. I had read Anne Moody's Coming of Age in Mississippi in a Southern lit class where Moody discusses the fear Till's murder created among black people in Mississippi and wanted to read further about it. One of my literary interests is the way class/race are connected and necessary to keep propping up the planter-aristocracy illusion of the Old South. 

There are always 2-3 books lying around or open on my Kindle app. After seeing the movie Me Before You, I had to read the book. JoJo Moyes is a contemporary British writer who has been discovered over the last few years in America. I have now read three of her books and they are all good reads. Zadie Smith is a British writer whose post-modern offerings present great form and a look at immigration and post-colonialism. I like Elin Hilderbrand's ability to touch upon familial issues, but her writing is always connected to the beach/ocean. Her new release The Identicals: A Novel does that in a post-modernist way of going from one character's POV to another's. Dean Koontz's mysterious, slightly supernatural novels have always fascinated me. His new publication The Silent Corner: A Novel of Suspense is just that with the new protagonist Jane Hawk, since he has killed off Odd Thomas. Very good read. I recently went back and reread one of his novels from the 1970s--Twilight Eyes--discovered his books are timeless as one does not get any sense of a time period. Jenetta Penner is writing a YA trilogy in the vein of The Hunger Games, but I find her protagonist-heroine to be somewhat whiny and irritating. I love whodunits and the writing pair, Jefferson Bass with their Body Farm novels are the best. I used to read everything James Patterson wrote until he started pairing his name with unknown writers. Although those writers' offerings are OK, they have never been the caliber that Patterson's own early novels were.

My MA thesis was on three novels of Cormac McCarthy. My work on McCarthy's texts continues, as I begin reading for a dissertation that will expand my thesis to include all of his work. I have begun reading The Orchard Keeper this summer. McCarthy's writing is difficult. I have to think about it and reread it several times. Sometimes I read scholarship on a text in order to better understand it, then go back and reread the book, thinking about all of things other scholars have written, which I may or may not agree with. He is a controversial writer and I find him fascinating. I know this is not light summer reading, but the truth is a literary scholar never stops analyzing texts even when they are reading fluff. Yes, I admit it--I read fluff and I like it. It releases my mind from thinking about Cormac McCarthy or some other writer.

I am packing to move this summer and my breaks include reading a few chapters of some books. During the summer, I read at a slightly more leisurely pace (haha). This past week I read both the new Koontz novel (464 pgs) and Hildebrand's novel (432 pgs), as well as reading on the Till murder.

[rising_star]

Yea, I don't get anywhere close to 125 books a year. Granted, in the social sciences, I end up reading lots of books (monographs) as part of my research or teaching, but I also don't really count those toward my reading goals. My goal is 24 books per year (so two per month on average) for pleasure. I'm already behind on that for this year (April with its thesis defenses always gets me!). 

Here's a great thread of people (mostly in history but not all) talking about what they've been reading: 

 

[cowgirlsdontcry]

1 minute ago, rising_star said:

I'm already behind on that for this year (April with its thesis defenses always gets me!). 

Here's a great thread of people (mostly in history but not all) talking about what they've been reading: 

I just did the MA thesis thing this spring and while it was super intense for me, I also saw how inundated my thesis advisor was with work, as well.

 

 

[rising_star]

@cowgirlsdontcry, yep! It's one thing to prepare for your own defense. But another to chair a handful and be a reader for another handful. The amount of work definitely increases when you're a faculty member.

[Eigen]

7 hours ago, rising_star said:

@cowgirlsdontcry, yep! It's one thing to prepare for your own defense. But another to chair a handful and be a reader for another handful. The amount of work definitely increases when you're a faculty member.

Immensely, yes. That's one of the reasons my pleasure reading has really been taking a hit this year- lots more papers to read and provide feedback to students, on top of the normal research and teaching related reading. Getting a new puppy didn't help things either!

[cowgirlsdontcry]

I guess because I get to read as part of my career path it's like breathing, and I take for granted the pleasure I get from reading any book, whether it's for class or personal. The spring semester was difficult. I had one class, wrote thesis and worked as a TA to a professor working with all of his undergrad students in four literature classes, as well as teaching my own section of 1st year rhet/comp. I was still reading though, for class and scholarship for my thesis, and a small amount of personal when I could squeak it in. Yes Eigen, puppies and dogs take a lot of time.

[speechfan222]

Thanks for all of the helpful responses everyone. I know it's a silly question, but it's hard to ignore books when you're such a huge bookworm, like myself. 

I started reading the book a few days ago and am already having a hard time putting it down. It's really good!! 

[AlexaBarret]

On 01.07.2017 at 5:28 PM, speechfan222 said:

Im a huge bookworm and love to read. Once I finish a book, Im always excited to start another one. I will be starting a Masters program this Fall and once that begins, reading for leisure is over. I have about 6 weeks until school begins and am trying to enjoy the rest of my summer. 

The library (Yes I still love going to the library. Go ahead and laugh now) has a few books available from my to read list. One of them is 600 pages and I really want to read it. I know I cant finish it before school starts and wont have time to read much throughout the semester. 

I need your help. Should I start the book anyway and enjoy it for now, or should I choose another shorter book that I may be able to finish before school starts? 

Thanks for the help. I need everyones suggestions. Im a bookworm and just love to read!! 

Such an interesting question...Don`t you know what you want?...If you want to read a book, you do it, if you don`t want - you don`t. It`s the main life rule in any situation. You haven`t done anything that should make you feel uncomfortable. Good luck!