Virtual meets reality

I joined the latest 'real' Devon Book Club event at the weekend in Crediton. Deliciously entitled, The Indie Bookshop and Cake Crawl, it's the fourth one which has taken place since the idea took shape earlier in the year.

The original concept for the Devon Book Club was that the club be a virtual one, where people could join via the readers website Goodreads, to share books and chat over the internet. But it has now taken on an additional dimension when one member asked the club's founder, Ian Hobbs, "so, where do you meet?"

Ian's immediate response was "online!" But then he thought, why not do both? Now at regular intervals, authors and readers meet together to talk books and eat cake (and a cuppa too, of course - we are in England, after all).

On a wet and grey Saturday morning we met, initially, in Crediton Library where we learned a little about the new initiative for Devon's libraries - that of the creation of Libraries Unlimited, a mutual 'not-for-profit' organisation which comes into being from April 2016 to run Devon's libraries instead of Devon County Council.  Under the new arrangements, the mutual will be eligible to access grants and other funding options and, as a charity, will also benefit from changes to their tax status, That can only be good news if there's more money available for buying books! You can read more about the new arrangements, along with the team's enthusiasm for the future,  HERE.

Then it was time to meet the four guest authors, Kathy Shuker, Virginia Baily, Elizabeth Ducie and Michael Jecks . Each gave a short speech about themselves and their writing, before we donned our coats and headed off in the rain, with Andrew Davey, from Crediton Community Bookshop, acting as 'Pied Piper' as we trooped up the high street to the bookshop proper for coffee, cake and good old natter.

It was a very enjoyable way to throw a bit of sunshine on what would otherwise have been a very dreary day!

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If you live or work in Devon, or even if you simply love the county, why not pop over to the Devon Book Club Facebook page or Goodreads group page and join us. Then, having got 'virtually' involved, next time we have a Bookshop and Cake Crawl, you might be able to join us for real!

The creaking TBR list

All through January I kept getting prompts from reading websites suggesting I set a reading target for 2015. Are you kidding? I put myself under enough pressure as it is, conscious of all the wonderful reading matter around me waiting for attention - family history magazines, novels, non-fiction books (novel writing research), gardening magazines, interesting blog posts...

But book bloggers and other avid readers seem happy to give themselves targets.

Jo Barton, on her book blog, Jaffareadstoo, has set herself several challenges, with the intention, I imagine, of ensuring she encounters a wide variety of reading matter.

There is The Eclectic book challenge (e.g. an autobiography, a debut novel, a romantic comedy), a Round The World Challenge (books set in different countries) and a Just For Fun Challenge (books from her own bookshelf).

But I particularly liked the concept of her 50 Books Challenge, a list which includes; a book set in the future, a book from childhood, a book that was originally written in a different language or a book based on a true story. Why not pop across to her website (later - when you've read the rest of this post!) and get some ideas.

Books galore at the Cullompton Book Festival last year.

Lots of Goodreads readers set themselves targets. There's even a group called Novel Books & Reading Challenges which describes itself as a "one stop, multi genre all-you-can-read book club."

It occurred to me that to be so prolific these readers must have some sort of clever strategy (unlike me!) which keeps them focused.

I wondered if they worked religiously through a list without deviation, whether they alternate fiction and non-fiction, crime and romance, literary and genre. Do they read one book at a time? Or have several on the go at once?  Do they read specific reading matter at particular times of the day?

How do they fit reading around 'life'? Does cleaning the loo 'earn' an hour's indulgent read? Is lunchtime sacrosanct reading time? When they curl up with a book do they take the phone off the hook and pin a DO NOT DISTURB sign on the front door?

If I do have a target for 2015, it must be to make more effective use of my reading time as I'm starting to feel inadequate!

So - how do you organise your reading? Go with the flow? Or follow a plan?

Have you set yourself a target for 2015? Do you have any reading challenges? Do you belong to a book club, either online or in person?

Have you any helpful suggestions of strategies in tackling your TBR list which have worked for you?

If so, I'd love to hear them.

To read... Or not to read...

There was a time when I would consider it an obligation to finish a book once I'd started it.

But as the years have gone by my perception of time has shifted. I've decided that life's too short to waste it reading a book I'm not enjoying.

Little wonder then, as I compiled the list of books I've read on GoodReads that none of them score lower than 3 stars! (I suppose I could recall a few which I metaphorically threw over my shoulder in order to redress the balance but that seems a bit mean...)

As far as I can tell, there are just three categories on GoodReads : 'books I have read', 'the book I'm currently reading' and 'books I want to read'. I have a suggestion for another. How about 'books I've read more than once'?

Some books are too good not to be revisited every once in a while. The book in my 'currently reading' category is one of those  - Rebecca by Daphne du Maurier. It's a joy to lose myself in its pages. Oh to be able to write so beautifully!