Comments on: You have more time than you think: War and Peace edition

By: Deanne Williams

Deanne Williams — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 22:19:54 +0000

Because I spend over two hours commuting each day, I listened through many audiobooks over the years, including War and Peace and Les Miserables. Generally, I also keep a book in my purse that I can pull out when I get stuck waiting. Laura, your use of the Kindle app gave me yet another way to keep a book on hand. I found using the app on my phone encourages me to redirect some of the time I used to spent on social media to reading enriching content instead. Thanks for the suggested reading lists and the tips for how to incorporate more reading during the week.

By: ARC

ARC — Sat, 28 Oct 2017 04:01:23 +0000

In reply to Marcia (OrganisingQueen).

@Marcia – Amazon needs to beef up their recommendations on the Kindle device – I keep getting the same self-published, sad looking crap in genres I am not interested in reading. They have a WEALTH of information on what I pay for — I have no earthly idea why they don’t use it. I would buy SO MUCH if it just popped up on my Kindle and was relevant to my interests…

By: DVStudent

DVStudent — Fri, 27 Oct 2017 23:55:26 +0000

In reply to Ana. Good point-I think everyone I’ve polled has said the writing and translation is spot on, BUT people were decidedly mixed on the books and characters. Very descriptive, as you say, but I loved that part. I think it’s one of the rawest descriptions of the best and worst of female friendship, AND there is no missing the undercurrent of anger, both in the society and with each of the characters.

By: Kimmie Merkley

Kimmie Merkley — Fri, 27 Oct 2017 20:05:12 +0000

Nice job on the Tolstoy! I love your approach to long books- it definitely is possible to finish them even if it feels like it takes forever. I think I commented this before, but I recently read A Suitable Boy by Vikram Seth and it was 1350 pages. Definitely the longest book I’ve ever read. It took me 3ish weeks but I had a goal of 80 pages a day and in the end it was so worth it.

I blogged about some books I’ve been loving lately and there are some longer ones on that list:

https://calmlybykimmie.blogspot.com/2017/10/a-sibling-post-plus-book-list.html

By: Ana

Ana — Fri, 27 Oct 2017 14:46:55 +0000

My problem with super long books is that I like to check them out from the library and there is a 3 week limit on e-books (you can keep them longer if you turn off wifi on the kindle but then you can’t download anything else) I have no desire to purchase war & peace, but I’d like to read a little at a time until its done. And I don’t want to carry around the physical book, obviously! But I’m inspired to find a solution because there are several on my “read someday” list I’d like to tackle.

By: Ana

Ana — Fri, 27 Oct 2017 14:44:20 +0000

In reply to DVStudent. everyone recommends Ferrante, but I read the first book (my brilliant friend) and I really disliked it. I wonder if it gets better in subsequent books. I didn't like the characters and I thought the description was just too drawn out.

By: Jenny

Jenny — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 13:07:51 +0000

In reply to SHU.

The well-known librarian Nancy Pearl endorses the “Rule of 50” with one caveat…once you’re older than 50, the number of pages you read before dropping a book is the number 100 minus your current age. 🙂

https://beta.theglobeandmail.com/arts/books-and-media/nancy-pearls-rule-of-50-for-dropping-a-bad-book/article565170/?ref=http://www.theglobeandmail.com&

By: lauravanderkam

lauravanderkam — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 12:13:39 +0000

In reply to Barb.

@Barb – that’s how you can tell I’m a “marathoner” (vs. a sprinter) – I do tend to have plans like the 4% per day for tackling long projects. I wrote the draft of my most recent book at a prescribed pace of 1 chapter per week.

By: Marcia (OrganisingQueen)

Marcia (OrganisingQueen) — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 08:39:47 +0000

In reply to SHU.

My TBR list is scattered – I pick up a few here and there (Modern Mrs Darcy, other podcasts like God Centered Mom), my audible new listens, amazon’s “you may be interested in…” emails (usually I am!), new non-fiction where I’m already a fan of the author and my physical bookshelf which is now only 3 shelves so yay (I have an ongoing project to read and declutter physical books!)

By: Barb

Barb — Thu, 26 Oct 2017 04:53:24 +0000

On the day my son auditioned for Les Miserables at school, I started the novel. I read every night in bed, then added reading while waiting for water to boil or oven to heat, while waiting in the car, etc.

The intricate descriptions of sewer systems, tree-pruning techniques, factory production, Swiss clergy, battles, and battlefields, all got a little much for me, so I skipped those pages. So many pages.

My goal was to finish by opening night. I made it by the closing night (3-night run). I just relished seeing my son as Enjolras (Marius’ buddy in the red vest).

Maybe I should have had a “plan”, like 4% a night!