Booking Through Thursday: Book Preference Influences

Do other people influence what you choose to read? When a family member recommends something, or a friend says they hated a book you were planning to read … does it affect your reading choices?

It is hard not to be influenced by others in picking a book to read.  This does not mean that I would automatically read it or love it just because everyone else is loving it.  No.  In fact I have read a lot of gems that I normally wouldn't have read had it not been referred to me.  On the otherhand, I have also found duds.

Books referred to me are not a guaranteed automatic read, though.  Most of them go to my TBR file to be considered at a later time.

What about you?  Do other people influence your book preferences?

Booking Through Thursday: Do you lend your books?

It's Booking Through Thursday and the question this week is something that I have pretty bad experiences with.

Do you lend your books? Are any out on loan right now? Do you have any that have been loaned to you? Do you put a time limit on these? Do you think people should make an effort to read the loaned book quickly?

I love to share my books.  BUT I have learned to lend them to ONLY people I trust.  Yes, I learned it the hard way.  In fact, I've probably lost a few books from people who either did not give it back, or ruined it.  As a book lover, I think that it is a travesty.  Even if I am letting them borrow my books for free, that does not mean that they have free reign over it.  In fact, I expect them to take care of it as I would take care of it.  Based on previous horrible experience, I have learned to ALWAYS state my expectations before they borrow my books.  I let them know right off the bat that they are MINE and not theirs. 

Even if they are not paying for it and they can return it whenever, I regularly check up on it.  Say, if they took out a book from me and it's been a month, I give them a quick message or call them up and let them know that I want my book back.  I have had horror stories wherein my books were returned waterstained or in disrepair.  In which case, I asked them to pay for it retail price or buy me the same book.  Seriously.  Some of my friends have tried to talk their way out of it, but I have been pretty firm about it - you return it in the same condition as when you borrowed it.  I haven't lost my friends over this though. Fortunately, I don't have any books out on loan right now.  After all that craziness, I have decided not to let anyone touch my books.  EVER.

 

So, have you had any horror stories with your out on a loan books?  Leave a comment below!

Booking Through Thursday: Soundtrack

Do you ever try to pair music with the book you’re reading? Play the movie soundtrack while reading the original book? Find mood music that fits with your story?

This is the first time that I will be joining Booking Through Thursday so I will give this a shot.  I'm not really a fan of reading and listening to music at the same time.  To me, this just ruins the mood and prevents me from immersing myself in the world I am reading about.  I love music but pairing it with reading just does not cut it.  I may like the songs/music in the soundtrack and I may hunt them down and listen to it obsessively for about a few days but that's it. 

 

Thinking about the soundtrack while reading the book is another story, though.  For example, while reading Harry Potter, I tend to imagine the sounds, and this includes the theme music by John Williams, and basically see the movie in my head while reading.  I think this is a more fun thing to do and actually adds drama to my reading.