50 Book Challenge 2014 Part 2

[juneybean]

Thread 2 of the 50 book challenge. Here is the previous thread...

The idea is to read 50 books in 2014 (or more!)

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/adult_fiction/1951735-50-Book-Challenge-2014

I think it's OK that we all have different 'rules' for this. For example personally I don't count re-reads but I know that lots of you do, which is fine. It's not a competition - just a loose agreement to read (or listen to!) lots of books and talk about them

Why wouldn't audiobooks count?

You don't have to read a book with your eyes to have seen/heard every word of it.

LOL. I don't think it really matters what 'counts'. It's not as though anybody is going to get a prize at the end of the year for the most books read.

I was expecting some comments about including children's (chapter) books in my total but I've read them - some of them have been more endurance than entertainment- so I'm including them in my list. (It is only for my own interest anyway to look back on at the end of the year.)

I've been consciously making an attempt to listen to books in the car to claw back the time wasted commuted to work so I'm counting them. I've just picked up a couple more from the library today. (I've already abandoned one a few minutes in though - John Moffatt - I think- was the narrator and had a really boring voice that I thought I really can't listen to!)

Some of the recommendations on here, I've made a note of and checked whether they are available as audiobooks at the library. Timesaving and entertaining as far as I'm concerned. If people don't want to count them, please don't.

Not meaning to be derisive or controversial. I think audio books are ace and think I should look into them for the wasted hours driving as said up thread.

I guess I am seeing actually physically reading 50 books this year as a real challenge and I see listening to books as a more passive activity than reading it myself. If children are read a book at school they are not then "credited" with having read that book are they?

No it is not a competition. I am thoroughly enjoying rising to the challenge of reading 50 books this year, and loving all the books I am reading. I suppose it is just a bit galling when you feel triumphant for finishing book number whatever and then you come on here and see"book number 702' pride and prejudice, audio book".....

But people read at different speeds, so someone may have read hundreds of books whilst another has a handful of audio books on a smaller list. I don't understand how you think it is galling? It's not a competition. Also, there may be people who for a variety of reasons can't read paper books - to say audio books don't count would unfairly exclude them.

Listening to a book is still an investment of time.

Also, I disagree with your argument about books read to children at school not counting as books they've read - they're generally tested on them in some fashion, so yes, they are credited with doing the work.

53. William Harrison Ainsworth "The Lancashire Witches". I didn't enjoy this as much as I thought I would. It's a romantic story based on the pendle witch trials, and from the area I grew up, but it just didn't grip me at all

I've never listened to an audiobook but to an extent I can understand where Dosh is coming from - reading a book demands more from you, I think, than listening to an audiobook, especially if you're cooking dinner or or something at the same time. I'm actually going to listen to get one out from the library next month after reading tonights comments, as an experiment.

But ultimately I agree with tumble that we should have different 'rules' and there's also the question of where do you draw the line? Do plays not count because you can read them in 90 minutes, cookbooks, children's books and so on?

I totally agree with WednesdayNext (Jasper Fforde fan here too) and I do think Doshusallie is forgetting that many sight impaired people are avid readers. In fact, my distinction between abridged and unabridged audiobooks is due to a conversation with a sight impaired reader who insisted that they would only listen to unabridged audiobooks as the abridged ones were not the proper books!
Also, I'm not sure she reads Pride and Prejudice but Prunella Scales reads Emma wonderfully on audiobook, it's worth a listen even after reading the book as a professional reader can bring a new or different emphasis or inflection to the writing.
To my mind, claiming audiobooks don't count is akin to claiming that a crime novel counts less than literary fiction. There are books I can read twice as fast as others because their prose is simpler, should the fast ones "count" for less?

Again, agree, not a competition, and I definitely don't mean to discriminate against anyone who can only access literature via the audio medium. Just voicing an opinion.

Meant to say 'especially if you're cooking dinner or or something at the same time as listening to it'.

southeastdweller I don't think it matters necessarily about the content of the text...my argument is that to physically sit and absorb the text from a book is more challenging than to have it read to you and I think any blind person would agree with me. That isn't me saying a visually impaired person isn't benefiting from an audio book as much as a sighted person reading a book....

Southeastdweller, I have either a book or kindle set on a cookbook stand to read while preparing dinner, they are in my hand while doing the dishes and loading / un-loading the dishwasher, showering and walking the dog.

Yes Dosh I agree with you on your point on absorbing the book, as much as I can from the perspective from someone who's never listened to an audiobook.

Well I shall continue to record all books on here, whether paper, kindle or audio. If some people don't like that I include audiobooks, too bad.

But you presumably stop reading when you're doing the dishes or having a shower and so on Che? You can listen to an audiobook without stopping doing any of those things.

Just registering my opinion duchess. Audio away.

A different perspective though on audiobooks. I find them MORE time consuming than paper or kindle as I have to actively listen and concentrate harder. Whereas the written word sort of washes over me.

No, my point is, while I'm doing the dishes, I'm reading. While I'm showering, I'm reading. Not every time but most. It's easy and both those tasks are boring without a book to distract me so, why not?

34. The Republic of Love -Carol Shields. I didn't like this as much as some of her other books. The fact that it was written in the present tense really began to irritate me.

35 Joy In The Morning - Betty Smith. I loved A Tree Grows In Brooklyn so much I thought I would try another of her books but this is dire.

36. The Burry Man's Day by Catriona McPherson This is the second book in the Dandy Gilver series. I really enjoyed this, it's a gentle mystery in the Golden Age style but there are lots of reminders about how society and parenting, as well as crime investigation, have changed since the 20s. I also like how McPherson deals with the aftermath of the Great War and fore-shadows WW2.

'Into the Silence' = excellent. Read it, Cote - you will love.

How can you read while you're showering?

I read while cooking, brushing my teeth, and even (once) while driving in bumper to bumper traffic, but can't imagine how my Kindle would survive the shower.

That's why I have baths not showers!

Remus - It's already on my Wish List