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Musing Mondays

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Musing Mondays (BIG)Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about mid-year reading…

Now that we’ve come to the middle of the year, what do you think of your 2009 reading so far? Read anything interesting that you’d like to share? Any outstanding favourites?

I think I’m getting there with my books. I’ve noticed that this year especially, my tastes have become more narrow, which is unfortunate, but it means that I’ve read a lot of different books to get to this stage. I think.

I’ve reread a few books, including Jane Eyre recently, which, when you’re working through a list of books you want to read, can be seen as wasting time. But I could never, ever think that reading Jane Eyre is a waste of time.

Thanks to blog’s like Matt’s and Mae’s, I’ve found new books to read and love, and The Master and Margarita by Mikhail Bulgakov definitely stands out here.

I’ve also started reading more about the Beats, which made Junky so much more rewarding, and I’ve started dabbling in comics and graphic novels, which I never thought I would.

Interestingly enough, when I first started this blog I would pretty much review every book I had written. Now I review only a small fraction of the books that I read, because, dabbling into new genres, and moving more towards literature and away from airport fiction, etc., I’m finding it more difficult to keep up with the original intentions of With Extra Pulp.

Now that I’ve begun reading Proust, I am not sure what the rest of the year will hold for me, reading-wise. Maybe Sydney will have a different effect on me as well.

What books have you read so far this year? Anything worth mentioning?

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June 29th, 2009Monday MusingRead More >12 Comments


Musing Monday

musing_mondays_big_thumb31Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about reading time…

Do you have a set reading time (before bed, perhaps)? Do you read more at night or during the day? Is there a day of the week, perhaps, that you set aside to catch up on reading?

Considering I don’t have anything pressing (i.e. a JOB!) to wake up early for, I’m in the habit of staying up late reading, and then grabbing one off the pile in my groggy morning state to wolf down for an early breakfast (reading breakfast! I don’t eat the books).

I find it hard to read during the day because I usually feel guilty, so I try to fill my days with more productive activities - catching up on other people’s blogs, writing my own blog, applying for jobs. I can still manage to fit in a fair bit of reading in between all of this though…

Now that I’m cracking a 9-5 on myself in order to get my own work done, I’ll probably have less time to read. This might possibly be a good thing….

Also, being cooped up at home all day makes it a rare treat when I take myself down to a cafe/restaurant and can just chill with a book. When you know the right place, the atmosphere can be great, and there’s often good coffee involved, minus awkward conversations about my ongoing unemployment or arguments over who will pay. Reading has definitely increased my, um, loner tendencies…this might change now that I’m back in Brisbane with actual friends.

Does anybody else have a reading schedule?

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June 8th, 2009General Monday MusingRead More >11 Comments


Monday Musing

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Today’s MUSING MONDAYS post is about gift certificates…

Do you give gift certificates to book stores as presents? If so, do you give for actual stores or online stores? Do you like to receive them yourself?

I can see the real logic in getting somebody a gift certificate for a book store, but I think books are the best gift you can give someone, and I usually seem to find a book for even my most un-bookish friends (for example, a book full of cute kittens, called Kitten Wars). I always feel that gift certificates are a tad impersonal, and I like hunting around for the perfect book. Plus it’s fun writing inscriptions inside the front cover.

If any of my friends are reading this, they will know about my little “obsession” with buying everyone books as presents.

Receiving gift certificates is a double-edged sword: I love the choice, but the freedom of it all drives me insane in the end. I can never choose what to buy. It usually drives me to the brink of insanity…and then over it.

Do you agree with book gift certificates? Would you have a panic attack, like me, if someone got you one?

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May 25th, 2009General Monday MusingRead More >5 Comments


Monday Musing: Childhood reading

Monday MusingThis week’s MM

Do you remember how you developed a love for reading? Was it from a particular person, or person(s)? Do you remember any books that you read, or were read to you, as a young child? (question courtesy of Diane)
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My first memories of life involved my nose being in a book. As I mentioned in a previous post, my only friends were my books. My big brother was apparently the one that infected me with the reading bug as a small child, and maybe this had something to do with me learning to read at an early age…… we’re the only ones in our family that were big readers.

As for what I read, this ranged from Nancy Drew to the obligatory Australian childhood: Paul Jennings and Morris Gleitzman, to the Sweet Valley series, and I devoured Roald Dahl: The Witches is my favourite. Enid Blyton was also one of my childhood “friends”.

I loved my scary books, Margaret something..Collins i think? She judged a story competition i entered and i got a letter when I got runner up critiquiing my work. So she was at the top for a while.

But the first book I ever read all by myself was Bambi. How depressing. What about all you lovely folks out there?

What got you hooked on books?

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May 18th, 2009General Monday MusingRead More >8 Comments


Monday Musing

Monday MusingHave you ever finished a book, then turned around and immediately re-read it? Why? What book(s)?

I can’t say I’ve ever done this. It’s too fresh. The soonest I will come back is at least a month, and with many books in between. It’s the same with a lot of movies, but opposite with albums. I usually listen to an album about 50 times in a row before I find something else.

I re-read many books, but could never do it immediately after finishing. I love the newness, the zing, of devouring a new book, and even if I come back months later, I’m guilty of skipping the parts I don’t like and going straight to my favourite passages. Which isn’t the ideal reading experience.

Also, my next post coming up shortly features my first guest review! It’s exciting, so stay tuned.

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May 11th, 2009Monday MusingRead More >3 Comments