Thursday, June 17, 2010

Booking Through Thursday: Now or Then?



Do you prefer reading current books? Or older ones? Or outright old ones? (As in, yes, there’s a difference between a book from 10 years ago and, say, Charles Dickens or Plato.)

Before I started blogging I hardly ever read current fiction; for one thing, I didn't get advance copies or buy hardcovers. And hardcovers are still an indulgence. I do enjoy reading current fiction, especially by favorite authors, and it's hard not to get caught up in the hype of the latest-and-greatest from a favorite publisher or in a favorite subject. Having said that, I still love reading 20th century fiction, especially Booker Prize winners and other classic fiction. I have A Confederacy of Dunces on my TBR shelf right now, as well as The World According to Garp and The House of the Spirits, among many others. Basically, it's just really hard for me to turn down a good book!


More Booking Through Thursday here.

21 comments:

rhapsodyinbooks said...

I was probably even worse than you - before blogging I never never read current fiction! Now I read almost exclusively current books. Not only do they come my way now, but like you, one gets caught up in the hype. It has been almost 2 years of blogging now though, and I'm starting to miss the classics a lot!

Bellezza said...

It is hard to turn down a really good book, no matter what epoch it's from! I'm thinking how I'd answer this myself...and, I've been wanting to read A Confederacy of Dunces for the longest time!

Anonymous said...

I am like you.I enjoyed reading your post. Happy BTT.

April (BooksandWine) said...

I have Confederacy of Dunces on my TBR as well. And The House of Spirits.

The World According to Garp is excellent.

logankstewart said...

An excellent meme. I like to alternate between classic literature and current fiction. I find that it doesn't really matter when a book was written, if it's good then it will keep me reading. In high school, we (my two best friends and myself) would each read a classic novel and then pass it around just because we all liked to read. Now I've got Dostoevsky calling out to me, as well as Moby Dick and several others. Of course, the TBR pile for contemporary or recent fiction is quite high, too.

Unknown said...

My reading runs the gamut as well. I usually like to have one current (use this term loosely) fiction, one non-fiction and one classic going at the same time. I can then pick up whichever one suits my mood.

I definitely have more interest in classics the older I get.

Zibilee said...

I read mostly current fiction, though I do prefer classics and older works. I think that having access to the more current reads and getting caught up in the hype is definitely the impetus that keeps me away from the older books, but I am looking into finding a way to intersperse some older books in between the review copies. I do so hope you like Confederacy of Dunces. It is one of my all time favorites!!

ImageNations said...

love both. though most of the books i have read are current.

Marie Cloutier said...

Rhapsody-me too! I miss getting on random reading kicks but I do love the current stuff, too.

Bellezza- :-)

Charli- thanks!

April-Great minds think alike, LOL!

Logan- I try to alternate as much as I can. It's getting harder and harder!

Rita- me too. It's like I'm trying to catch up or something!

Zibilee- I can't wait to get to it. It will probably come with me on vacation this summer. :-)

Kristin-yes!

Nana-just like me!

Gilion at Rose City Reader said...

Our answers are a LOT alike (not that I am surprised). Here is my answer on Rose City Reader.

The Social Frog said...

There was a time that I only read True Crime books,lol. I love best sellers but it depends on what I feel like reading at the time.

www.thesocialfrog.com

Malcolm said...

"A Confederacy of Dunces" is arguably the funniest work of fiction ever written. I can't think of another book that features a character as completely hilarious as Ignatius J. Reilly. Sadly, so few books these days have matched its combination of finely-drawn characterizations and outrageous comedic situations. I have to read it again!
Love your writing -- I am working my way through your posts!

Allie ~ Hist-Fic Chick said...

Personally, I like to read a mix of it all and keep things interesting. I read A Tale of Two Cities in high school, and it was probably the first book to spark my interest in historical fiction (and hey, look at me now! Historical fiction blogger!), and I re-read it all the time.

If I know I am going to read an ARC by an author who has other titles already in print that I've not read, I like to try and read them before I read the new stuff. I just did that with Catherine Delors's books...I am reviewing her upcoming novel FOR THE KING and decided to go back and read her first novel, MISTRESS OF THE REVOLTUION before I started FOR THE KING. Even though one is not a sequel to the other, I'm really glad that I took this approach!

caite said...

I am another with CofD on my TBR pile. I rememebr I bought it a couple of years ago when someone in a book, I think it was Linda Greeenlaw whose new book I reviewed today, said it was her favorite book.
so many books...so little time...

Mystica said...

I read whatever I can get my hands on - but I do like to listen to recommendations. That generally covers a whole spectrum of reading - current, recent past, not so recent and really old ones! Since I am open to most genres (other than fantasy) my reading is quite varied.

Anonymous said...

I simply can't keep up with all the new books that flood the shelves. I do keep an eye on new works of my favorite authors.

Memory said...

I still have trouble reading current fiction, mainly due to the hardcovers-as-indulgence issue. They were expensive enough in Canada, but now that I live in New Zealand they're prohibitively so. I really only read current fiction if I can get it from the library, or if I love the author's past work so much that I'm willing to shell out the big bugs for their latest. Most of what I read was published anywhere from one to twenty years ago, with a few older titles in the mix.

Anonymous said...

It's hard for me to turn good books down, too. :)

I enjoyed The House of Spirits, and am a fan of Isabel Allende.

bermudaonion said...

Older or newer - it doesn't matter to me. I will have to say that my focus is definitely on newer books since I started blogging.

Bryan R. Terry said...

It is hard to turn down a good book just because it is from a time outside of your norm, but I have found myself preferring one over the others. My BTT is HERE

Anonymous said...

You must read Confederacy of Dunces!! It is my absolute favorite (along with Gone with the Wind).