Booking Through Thursday: Speed

In answer to this week's BTT questions (What do you think of speed reading, and do you do it?): I'll say not much, and yes and no.

I do know how to speed-read. Back in the 1970s when speed-reading was a hot topic, I read one of those early how-to books. Not, I believe, Evelyn Wood; but something along the lines of Teach Yourself to Speed-Read in However Many Lessons. And it worked. I did learn to speed read, and I can still do it when necessary.

But when I look back at the books I read during the two or three years when I was actively using the system - I find that those works are mostly just a blur in my memory. I know I read the books because the titles are there on my lists of "books read" during the period. But I remember very little if anything about almost all of them. Books like Watership Down and A Wrinkle in Time and The Source (among others) - perfectly readable and probably very memorable books. But they're just gone - whoosh! Disappeared!

Bummer.

So I guess I'd have to say that I'm not really a fan of speed reading. It probably does work for some readers (or at least they say it does), but apparently not for me. I have noticed, though, that the more I read, the more rapidly I seem to be able to read. So I think, for me, the best system is to read at my own slower pace, but to just keep reading.

2010 Bibliophilic Books Challenge

And another one! I had promised myself I'd cut back on reading challenges in 2010, but so many creative bloggers keep coming up with challenges I just can't refuse! So here's yet another challenge I'll be signing up for.

The 2010 Bibliophilic Books Challenge runs throughout the coming year, and is being hosted by Lesley of A Life in Books. And it sounds like a really fun challenge. Participants will read a set number of books (fiction or non-) that focus on books or reading - basically, books on books. Now that's one of my favorite genres, and I was just recently thinking that it would make a wonderful reading challenge. So I'm really pleased that Lesley has had the same idea and done something about it - now I don't have to!

To find out more about the challenge, and to sign up, just head on over to the announcement page. The rules are pretty flexible (which I love), and there are three different levels of participation:

• Bookworm (read three books)
• Litlover (read six books)
• Bibliomaniac (read twelve books)

I think I'll play it safe and just sign up for the Bookworm level; but since I really enjoy this subject, I'm hoping to do better than that. And there's no requirement to make a list of books, but I've already got quite a few "books-about-books" tags on my TBR list, and I'm sure I'll be discovering more as the year goes on. And I'll be updating my progress on my challenge blog.

Teaser Tuesdays: It's a Crewel World

This week my teaser comes from a book I haven't actually started reading yet. But it's next up, and I'm hoping to get to it later this week. The book is Crewel Yule, one of the needlecraft mysteries by Monica Ferris (read the first chapter). I love this series, which centers around Betsy Devonshire, part-time sleuth and owner of the needlework shop Crewel World. And in this snippet, police Sergeant Jill Cross Larson is watching someone being carried away in a body bag, reflecting on the mysteries of life after death, and wondering if this life is all there is.

Though a Christian, Jill wasn't absolutely sure it wasn't the last - but, as she reflected at every death she attended, the deceased now knew. And just in case, Jill recited a very old prayer against the darkness, "May perpetual light shine upon her." [p.113]

Sometimes, as Gilbert and Sullivan told us, a policeman's lot is not a happy one.


Teaser Tuesdays is hosted by mizb17 at Should Be Reading. If you'd like to read more teasers, or do a little teasing yourself, head on over to her blog. And these are the rules: Grab your current read; Let the book fall open to a random page. Share with us two (2) "teaser" sentences from somewhere on that page. You also need to share the title of the book that you're getting your "teaser" from … that way people can have some great book recommendations if they like the teaser you've given! Please avoid spoilers!

The Art History Reading Challenge 2010

Found another one. I know, I know - I should really stop looking! But for a while there, several centuries ago, I was headed for grad school in art history (alas, never to be). So this is a subject that's dear to my heart.

The 2010 edition of the Art History Reading Challenge is being hosted by Nomadreader, and runs throughout 2010 (1 January to 31 December). You can sign up and read all about the challenge over on the announcement page, but basically the idea is just to read art-related books (either fiction or non-). There are four different levels of participation; I'm going to be very conservative and opt for Level Two ("Fascinated") - so I'll be reading at least six books, but I hope to do much better than that. Listing your books ahead of time isn't a requirement, but I've got a few that I'm thinking about:

• The Forgery of Venus, by Michael Gruber
• Lydia Cassatt Reading the Morning Paper, by Harriet Scott Chessman
• Seek My Face, by John Updike
• Stealing Athena, by Karen Essex

Plus two more. Of course, my list may change and (I hope) expand as time goes on its flight. I've got a much longer list of titles to choose from, over on my challenge blog; and I'll be updating my progress there, during the year.

Chunkster Reading Challenge 2010

Here's another challenge I'm joining for next year. The 2010 Chunkster Challenge runs from February 1, 2010 to January 31, 2011 and this time it's being hosted by Wendy of Caribousmom (and A Novel Challenge). Most of the rules and reading levels are the same as last year, but you can read all about that over on the challenge blog.

Once again, I'm playing it safe and just committing to three books (the Chubby Chunkster level), and I might just try to make one of those nonfiction this time around. But there's no requirement to list books ahead of time, so let's just see what emerges, OK?

Unfinished Friday: Test Flight

Marie over at The Boston Bibliophile is testing a new Friday meme this week. It's called Unfinished Friday, and asks us to share a few words about books we've started but left unfinished. As she says: "I know most of us endeavor to finish everything we read, but we don't have to, and sometimes it's impossible - it just doesn't work for us, for one reason or another."

And that's certainly true for me. I could probably come up with quite a list if I sat here and thought about it, but for now I'll just list the two that come immediately to mind. Both came highly recommended by readers whose taste I trust, so I'm sure they're good reads. Just not for me.

The Memory Keeper's Daughter by Kim Edwards. I know everybody says it's not, but I just found this one really, really depressing. Couldn't stick with it past the first couple of chapters. For a while, I thought I might go back and give it another try, but I've come to realize that's just not gonna happen.

The Time Traveler's Wife by Audrey Niffenegger. Same with this one; didn't make it beyond the first hundred or so pages. I found all that jumping back and forth between Clare, Henry, Clare, Henry really irritating. And I also had trouble believing the whole thing about his clothes not traveling with him. I mean, why not? If you're going to accept time travel, why limit it to the naked body? I could see that going through the whole looking-for-clothing routine every time was going to get pretty tedious, so I finally just threw in the towel (so to speak).

So, how about you? Left any good (or bad) books unfinished lately?

Booking Through Thursday: Mark the Spot

I love this week's question! BTT asks: "What items have you ever used as a bookmark? What is the most unusual item you've ever used or seen used?" I love it because I love bookmarks. I've collected or, more precisely, accumulated them since I was a child. Most of mine aren't terribly old or rare or anything – just things that have caught my eye or that have been given to me over the years. Some of them I inherited from my mother. Some I picked up while traveling – bookmarks make excellent souvenirs.

I like to make my own bookmarks, too. The computer and home printer have made that really easy – you can have a new, unique bookmark for every book you read. And I love finding bookmarks in the used books I buy. On our trip to Texas last year, I bought a copy of Ellery Queen's Blighted Dwellings in a used book store, and inside I found this homemade marker – pressed flowers someone had laminated and tucked away. Very sweet.


I'm not sure I've ever used anything extremely unusual as a bookmark. But I've certainly used all kinds of things to mark my place in the books I read – not just "official" bookmarks, but slips of paper, Post-It notes, pieces of yarn, feathers, Metro passes, old dental appointment reminder cards, nail files, paper dolls, wine labels, candy and gum wrappers, playing cards. My aunt used to cut the pictures off Celestial Seasonings tea packages to use as bookmarks, and I still have a number of those.


Right now, I'm reading a couple of Christmas themed books, so I'm using two vintage Christmas bookmarks. One appears to be from about the 1930s and says it's from "Miss Groves and Miss Staudt." Possibly a gift to an honored student from two admiring teachers? And the other is a home-made marker with a drawing of Santa and a "Merry Christmas" greeting – it was in a batch of old ephemera I bought years ago.


And one of my very favorite bookmarks, and one I use quite a lot, is this one. Not sure where I got it, but it has some wonderful advise:


If you're looking for more info on bookmarks, I've got a little list of links to favorite websites on my sidebar (just scroll down – OK, farther down). I always especially enjoy the Forgotten Bookmarks site, which has photos of some of the strange and "heartbreaking" things people leave in books.