The Dreaded Reading Funk That Refuses To Leave

I have a confession to make. It involves you, in some way. Well if you enjoy my blog. Which I'm assuming, for the sake of my confidence and sanity, that you do.

Anyway, here it is: I'm in a reading funk.

It's a bad one, too. It's been going on since...October? September? Somewhere around there. It's my longest one yet.

Part of the reason for this is that I have been far too involved in the meaningless corners of the internet. (Looking at you, Tumblr.) The other reason? I haven't found a book that has made me it's human slave in far too long. The final reason? I have no clue.

It sucks! I miss being absorbed in a story and characters and all that jazz.

Right now I'm reading one of my Christmas presents, Raw Blue, and it's helping. I'm definitely absorbed, so I'm hoping maybe this will be The One That Fixes My Reading Woes, if you will.

If it isn't, what next? I've tried just taking a step back from reading and it hasn't helped. I've tried reading different things and that hasn't helped so far either. Do you guys have any other tips and/or tricks to get yourself out of a freak reading funk?

(This, by the way, is also my explanation for why my blog posts have been much more sparse than usual.)

Re-Reading: Thoughts?

I collect my favorite books for one reason. Well, two reasons really. The first is because I have an obsession with being able to hold them and stroke them whenever I desire. The second is because I want to re-read them. Lots. Whenever I want.

But my relationship with re-reading is quite complicated. It's not like watching a movie again, because that only takes two hours or so. (Or forty-five minutes if you're a Dr. Horrible's Sing Along Blog fan like me--which PREMIERES ON TV FOR THE FIRST TIME EVER ON OCT. 9 ON THE CW DON'T MISS IT.) Re-reading a book can take much longer, and whenever I think of re-reading something I remember a new story waiting for me to discover it that I could be reading instead.

Of course, I do love re-reading. When I was about nine or ten I read Judy Moody countless times, even when I wasn't much of a reader. Last year I re-read a book for the first time since then, and that book was, predictably, Looking For Alaska. I loved being able to focus on every tiny detail more than I did the first time around and being able to pick apart Alaska's character even more.

Then, this Wednesday I finished re-reading Jellicoe Road and found that I loved it even more than the first time I read it. The initial confusion I had the first time I read it was gone and I focused more on Taylor's character and JONAH GRIGGS because I had forgotten how delicious he is. I had forgotten how much I loved the book, really.

It is experiences like those that make me think I should set more time aside to re-read some of my favorite books. In fact, if I had it in my possession I might re-read Grave Mercy right now.

How do you feel about re-reading? Is it boring, exciting, or great but hard to find the time to do?

On Balance

Guys! I haven't blogged in what feels like forever! There are reasons for this. Well, reason not reasons, but you get the idea.

Basically, I've been writing non-stop because I need to finish my current first draft before I go away on a teen writing retreat (EEEEEP) to start a new draft. There's more about that here, but that's pretty much what you need to know.

I've found that when I write, I tend to have to kind of throw myself into it. I tried to be sane about it and write just a little bit a day throughout the summer, but that resulted in me writing on and off every two weeks. Now my draft is all disjointed and weird. So, yep, I throw myself into it. I should probably try and write it in two weeks or so now that I know this...

Anyway, this had led me to ask you guys a question I've been wondering for a while now: how in the world are you supposed to juggle writing, reading, and blogging? I've seen it done but I cannot understand how. Do they only write a thousand words or so a day? Do they schedule every minute of their day? (And how exactly does one stick with a schedule? I suppose that's a different post.) Seriously? HOW? Sound off in the comments please because I don't want to have to stop blogging and reading whenever I write something. 'Cause hopefully I'll be writing a lot.

What Are Your Hospital Books?

So, as I have mentioned, I went to the hospital in late April. It was not really a calm, rational decision. No, it required lots of my mother going, "Jessica, do you need to go to the hospital?" and lots of me going, "I don't know," until finally I said yes.

Well, then I stood and we got ready to walk out the door. My friend was with us, and she asked if I needed anything (in a slightly panicky voice because you know her friend was going to the hospital) and I said, "Looking For Alaska." That was the first thing I thought of. Then when she brought it downstairs from my room she asked if there was anything else--because she is a very good friend--and I said, "The Rise of Renegade X."

So I walked into the hospital with nothing but the clothes on my person (which included Beavis and Butt-Head pajama pants, I might add), my mom, and two books in my bag.

It did not dawn on me until a week ago how interesting my decision was to me. How in a split second I picked the two books that gave me the most comfort. Looking For Alaska because of it's philosophical brilliance and stunning characterization, and The Rise of Renegade X for its hilariousness, fantastic plot, and awesome characters. Of course, I never actually got the chance to read either of these two books in the hospital due to an IV in the crook of my left elbow that rendered me one-handed. Still, it says a lot about those two books being the only things I needed in a moment of crisis. It says something about how much I love them and how I they are now with me for the long haul, because I would take these two books* anywhere. I would take them on a lonely journey; I would take them to a deserted island; I would take them to a hospital.

Which made me wonder, dearest readers: What are your "hospital books"?

Audiobooks: Yay or Nay?

I never liked audiobooks, for a couple of reasons:

• I'm too spacey. They'll begin to talk about description and I'll space out and by the time my brain has tuned back in there's a fire and everyone is dying.
• The narrators usually--sorry but it's true--suck. Their voice either irritates me or the narrator cannot do the voice of the opposite sex to save their life (if you've listened to The Short Second Life of Bree Tanner, you'll know what I'm talking about).
• I feel like I miss out on details.

But I picked up the audiobook of Sabriel at the library, mainly because it's narrated by the awesome Tim Curry (Rocky Horror Picture Show, Annie, Rocky. Horror. Picture. Show.) and I'm beginning to get really into it. Curry is doing a great job of keeping me engaged. Possibly even more than I might be if I'd just read the book (though I obviously can't say that for certain).

I'm thinking Sabriel totally has the ability to change my mind about audiobooks. What do you think of audiobooks? Are there any that are especially great? (And yes, Harry Potter is a given.)

To Rate or Not To Rate?

Lately everyone's been taking their ratings systems (1--5 stars, grading scale, etc) out of their reviews. At first, this kind of horrified me. I liked ratings. Reading them and giving them. It helped me get my thoughts together, if that makes any sense.

Now though, I'm not so sure. I mean, there are pros and cons to both sides, both for the author and the reader.

For the author:

Pros:

(If you're me) Helps you collect your thoughts about a book.

Makes it a bit easier to express your opinion on a book in a short, easy way.

Cons:

Sometimes, it's hard. 

Different genres are difficult to compare.

For the reader:

Pros:

An easy way to tell if someone liked a book if you don't have much time to read the review in its entirety.

Sums their thoughts up nicely.

Cons:

It can get confusing sometimes. Like when you see someone who had a few issues with a book but rated it five stars, when just the other day they raved about a book and gave it four.

So, what do you think? What are your favorite and least favorite things about ratings? Is there a certain rating scale you prefer? Sound off in the comments!

Question:

Do you guys ever think about just quitting blogging?

I'll explain later.

How Do YOU Keep Up With Your Review Books?

Review books are probably the best perk to running a blog. But, when you get a lot of them, or even a few that come out around the same time...how to keep up? This is my current dilemma. I feel like my review pile is taller than me and that there's just no way I could ever catch up.

Well, I have come up with a Blog Folder as a solution. It keeps track of my upcoming posts for Teen Book Scene, reviews to post, and when to start and finish books. Hopefully this will keep me much more organized than I've felt with review books lately. If not then I'll just lock myself in my room for three weeks and do nothing but read.

What do you do to keep up with review books? Do you have any special techniques that you swear by that you want to pass along?

Book Condition?

So, recently I was thinking book condition and if it matters.

I actually collect old books like the one on the right specifically because they're old and in bad condition. I never have any intention of reading these books, but they just look so cool and so loved.

However, I know that my copy of Twilight is in really poor condition from being passed around to so many people, and it kills me. And whenever one of my friends borrows one of my books (I'm basically their library) that I've read and loved, they know that they need to be extra careful with it. This also goes for my ARCs.

So, I guess I care. Especially if it's one of my favorites. But if I'm in Goodwill and I see a book that sounds good, but the cover is torn up and there are creases in the spine, then I still won't hesitate to buy it.

What about you? Does a creased spine make you gag? Or is it dogeared pages that turn you off from buying a book? Or could you really not care less as long as it's readable? And, when you win a book in a blog contest, does the book have to be in pristine condition?