I'm Busy Reading....

[giraffe]

I read quite a few Dickens as a teenager, but got to Little Dorrit and just couldn't read it. Tried several times, but never got beyond about chapter 3. I've not read a Dickens since. Loved Bleak House. Hated Our Mutual Fiend.

[SparkOut]

Dickens has a different starting point for everyone. Pickwick Papers was the first book I found enjoyable to read (as opposed to seeing TV dramatisations etc) after never getting more than a little way into others. Everything else since then that I've read by Dickens has been less inspiring again, but I've read some more all the way through. I'm definitely not a huge fan though.

[Bunnylump]

I just find they require too much concentration for evening "brain dead after a long day at work". Also, of course, they HAVE to do Dickens at school, so I feel like it's connected with work. Same problem with Shakespeare. In fact, anything I read at school when I was young, or anything I have read since at work has just been absolutely ruined for me.

I haven't been reading for ages and ages, simply because since the advent of stupid energy saving light bulbs, I can't SEE to read in the evenings. Now I have my marvellous Kindle Paperwhite (which is backlit, and has a choice of font size and style) I can see again. Loving it. The trouble with me reading is that I get totally absorbed, no food gets made, people get ignored, until I've finished!! The slightly annoying thing is that I have a big pile of paper books which I have been given which I can't read. So I'll have to buy them again on Kindle. The other annoying thing is that, of course, you can't "lend" the books you have read to anyone else, which I normally would.

[eirian]

I think there is a way of lending books from Kindle. The other person has access for 2 weeks, during which time you can't read it yourself.
I haven't investigated about how it's done, but I do remember reading that it's possible.

[Bunnylump]

Oh -that's interesting. I'll have to investigate. Unfortunately the only other person I know who has a Kindle is Dibble. And he doesn't read unless his life depends on it.

[eirian]

that's ok - I've got one

[Bunnylump]

Good point!!

[LAT]

I've been wondering if I can justify the expense, I like the idea, but like you have loads of paper books I haven't yet read. I'm wondering if I should work my way - slowly and increasingly painfully - through some more of them first.

[SparkOut]

You can "try out" the kindle "idea" with a free program you can install on a PC or smartphone if you want to see how it suits, before buying. Additionally, you can synchronise your books and reading between any devices you use (you can read 3 chapters on a kindle in the office during lunchbreak, read another chapter on your smartphone on the train, and at home you can read more on your laptop or PC, with each device knowing what you're currently reading and where you are up to in the book).

(There are other products and apps besides Kindle of course, too)

[Wulfruna]

Hated Our Mutual Fiend.

Well, if you thought he was a fiend, that could explain a lot.....
Interestingly, this was the book that won me over to enjoying Dickens, as there are such wonderful and funny characters in it - . There is definitely a secret to learning how to skip the apparent "padding" in order to get to grips with the exciting stories - but then going back to those pages in order to appreciate the superb social comment that was the second strand of his contribution to literature.
So I confess that I have been enjoying the Dickens puzzles, as a reminder of the stories - well worth a revisit

[giraffe]

I was forced to read Our Mutual Fiend as a child. (It wasn't a typo) My mother kept telling me how hillarious it was, and I just didn't get it. The bit about the person described as a dinner table was one of her favourite bits.

[Scurra]

I heard somebody once claim that everybody would love about four of Dickens novels, but not necessarily enjoy the rest. Unfortunately there's no way to know which those four would be beforehand.

[MBH]

I'm still on the crossover fan fiction. Just into one where Willow from Buffy is the long lost daughter of Gibbs from NCIS. Very interesting... And free

[Laura]

My entire knowledge of Dickens comes from these puzzles and Muppets Christmas Carol. I'm so cultured!!!

[Bunnylump]

That's my kinda girl!

[katsmom]

I mainly switched over to ebooks about a year ago. Mainly because the cost of books here have a mark up of about 20% over the cover charge. Add to that the 10:1 exchange rate and the cost is prohibitive. Being the devourer of books that I am, I went to a kindle reader for my iPad.

Reading this, I thought I'd let you all in on a website I found. Pixels of Ink. Every day they post about 20 free ebooks! Some of them are pretty good, most are well, free. And you can't go wrong with that.

[Scurra]

Twelve wonderful short stories by Neil Gaiman.

http://keepmoving.blackberry.com/assets ... tories.pdf

Do yourself a favour and find five minutes to read any one of them (yes, they are that short.)

[Bunnylump]

...The Cuckoo's Calling, by "Robert Galbraith"

I actually read this out of curiosity but actually quite enjoyed it.

[giraffe]

I read it on holiday. I quite enjoyed it too.

[Scurra]

I actually read this out of curiosity but actually quite enjoyed it.

Why, were you expecting it to be terrible? I understand the author is a pretty decent writer.