Yesterday it was my birthday and as well as books D gave me a new camera. I’ve been trying it out today: here are a few photos I took in our garden and
of the front garden
and the field across the road where the rapeseed was being cut this afternoon.
(Click on the photos to enlarge.)
from Should Be Reading by MizB
This week’s musing asks:
Can you read amidst distractions? (tv, others talking, sporting events, etc)
I used to be able to read through most things. When I was at school I had to do my homework downstairs in the winter – my bedroom was too cold (no central heating) and as my grandparents lived with us and had the front room I had to do my homework with the rest of the family who were watching TV and talking. It never bothered me. I used to lie on the floor reading or writing, oblivious to the noise all round me. My sister could be chattering, playing the piano and generally messing about and I was still absorbed in a book. I used to walk around reading and could read anywhere.
But these days the sound level can affect me. I can read with the TV on, but the sound level has to be just right – too high or too low can be a distraction – but a programme that interests me can intrude sometimes. Music is great for reading by, I rarely hear it. I can read in waiting rooms, but people sitting next to me talking loudly (both the old and the young can do that) can be distracting. And children playing are very distracting. I was waiting in the hospital for my husband recently and a small girl was playing very quietly on a little rocking horse, well she was quiet but the rocking horse wasn’t and it kept moving nearer and nearer to my feet.
So, I do read with noise all round me and it’s not distracting if it’s just background noise, but anything more and I can’t do it.
The Weekly Geeks’ question is about book trailers:In the last year or two a new entity has arisen in the publishing world: the book trailer. Apparently every self-respecting book has to have one these days so it seemed a good time to have a chat about them. Feel free to answer as many (or as few) of these questions as you like.
My answer
I enjoy deciding what to read, sometimes it’s better than actually reading a book – not every book’s a winner. So anything that helps me decide what to read next is welcomed. At the moment as I’ve just finished one book I’m wondering which one to read next and this time I want to read a book for the pure joy of the reading experience – not to accomplish anything, or to learn something, nor to cross a book off a list of to-be-read books. I want to read a book I’m going to enjoy that entertains me, holds my attention and intrigues me.
So when I came across this question I realised that here is another source of information on books and it’s one that has somehow escaped my attention until now. I scour book blogs for inspiration and browse my bookshelves, library shelves and bookshop shelves. I scan on-line book sellers and get information from family and friends, from newspapers, and from radio and TV programmes about books, but I’ve never watched a book trailer before today.
My starting point was the link above to the Moby Awards site, where I looked at a few trailers and was disappointed. Nothing there to hold my attention, nothing to excite me or make me want to read the books. I looked for more and found a trailer for a new ghost story by Susan Hill – The Small Hand. It’s so-so, some spooky-type music and black and white images, but it doesn’t make me want to read the book any more than a written description would. In fact I prefer the written description, for one thing it’s a lot quicker than watching a trailer and for another it’s the words I want, not sounds or images, as I can supply those myself from my imagination.  Book trailers just don’t appeal to me.
But although they’re not for me, I think that anything that gets people reading books is a good thing.
IÂ don’t think I qualify to write a Weekend Cooking post this weekend as my attempts so far have been a bit disastrous. First of all on Friday evening we decided to have an easy meal and bought a Chinese style meal for two from the supermarket. Simples!
But no, when I opened up the egg fried rice this is what happened to my finger, because stupidly I left it in the line of the escaping steam – painful and not a pretty sight! D sprained his ankle and tore a ligament two weeks ago and is still limping about painfully – we’re hoping there won’t be a third accident!Â
 Mt second cooking disaster was last night’s meal. I cooked pork in cider, topped with a layer of sliced potatoes. The potatoes hadn’t browned nicely so I put the casserole under the grill and left it too long. Result – a burnt offering of potatoes (I couldn’t bear to take a photo!). Luckily the meat and vegetables underneath were OK. I dread to think what I’ll do for tonight’s meal!
Weekend Cooking is open to anyone who has any kind of food-related post to share: Book (novel, nonfiction) reviews, cookbook reviews, movie reviews, recipes, random thoughts, gadgets, fabulous quotations, photographs. For more information, see the welcome post, and have a look at some better efforts than mine.
Today I’m featured on Scene of the Blog over at Kittling Books, so if you’d like to see my blogging space head on over there.
I’ve seen this meme on a few blogs, the latest being Geranium Cat’s Bookshelf. Do have a go at this if you haven’t already done so.
Do you snack while you read?
Not usually, although I many eat a biscuit, but I have to read if I’m eating a meal alone.
What is your favorite drink while reading?
I don’t have a favourite drink and will drink tea, coffee, water, wine, whatever when I’m reading.
Do you tend to mark your books while you read, or does the idea of writing in books horrify you?
It was instilled into me from being a small child never, ever to write in books, but when I was doing OU courses I wrote in pencil in the margins in my Shakespeare plays, underlined in biro and highlighted passages too in the course books.
How do you keep your place while reading a book? Bookmark? Dog-ears? Laying the book open flat?
I use bookmarks of varying kinds, proper bookmarks, or tickets, receipts, the latest ones I’ve used are vouchers for coffee from the local garden centre – very useful. Folding over the corner of a page is absolutely awful. I may sometimes lay the book down face open – never pressed flat – for a short time if I get interrupted and have no bookmark to hand.
Fiction, nonfiction, or both?
Both but I read more fiction than non fiction.
Are you a person who tends to read to the end of a chapter, or can you stop anywhere?
I like to read to the end of a chapter. If the chapters are long I like to stop at the end of a paragraph, but I can stop anywhere.
Are you the type of person to throw a book across the room or on the floor if the author irritates you?
No way! I’ve never thrown a book.
If you come across an unfamiliar word, do you stop and look it up right away?
I rarely stop to look up a word. I might make a note as I read (in a notebook, not the actual book) and look it up later. I’ve been doing that more recently because of the Wondrous Words meme on Bemudaonion’s Weblog.
What are you currently reading?
The Holly-Tree Inn by Charles Dickens and Ben Goldacre’s Bad Science.
What is the last book you bought?
I bought three secondhand books yesterday – The Mystery of Edwin Drood by Charles Dickens, Dumb Witness by Agatha Christie and Elizabeth Gaskell by Jenny Uglow .
Do you have a favorite time/place to read?
I like to read any time, any place – but I can’t read travelling in a car or bus, it makes me feel sick. I like reading in bed or a comfy chair best.
Do you prefer series books or stand-alones?
Both.
Is there a specific book or author you find yourself recommending over and over?
I can’t think of one specific one, there are so many I like. In any case I hesitate about recommending books because it all depends on what you like to read. I read a variety of genres, but I usually go on a bit about the latest one I’ve enjoyed – recently that was Wolf Hall by Hilary Mantel.
How do you organize your books (by genre, title, author’s last name, etc.)?
At the moment I have fiction shelved by author’s last name in two sections, those I’ve read and the to-be-reads, although as I read them they do tend to get mixed up. We moved house 6 months ago and the non fiction has got muddled up, but it’s roughly arranged in subjects, slotted in wherever the books will fit on the shelves.
BooksPlease 
