Bookworm poll

[rich_jacko]

Partly because it's ages since I've posted a poll, and partly because I'm curious...

[Poll #1953616]

Comments

[longhairedhippy.livejournal.com]

Where do I read... All of the above ;)

[rich-jacko.livejournal.com]

...and yet you still haven't finished Beowulf? ;op

[longhairedhippy.livejournal.com]

Dude, I'm reading Anglo-Saxon English. It takes a while.

[grok-mctanys.livejournal.com]

I hardly ever catch the tram or train. I used to take the bus a bit, and tried reading on it, but due to the horrific state of Sheffield's roads, and the banged-up nature of bus suspension systems (likely a result of the roads) it's simply not possible to keep one's eyes in place long enough actually parse a bloody sentence.

Also, I didn't tick "Lunch break at work", because I don't read books then, and I figured this was mostly a poll about books. However, I do read articles on t'interwebs then.

Also, I ticked "I'd like to read more [books], but I just don't have the time.", because I spend all that time reading articles on t'interwebs!

[drspiros.livejournal.com]

I marked hardback copy as my preference (this is a right and durable form for a book, if rather impractical), but actually what I use is ebook for practicality/portability.

[mathcathy]

I'm sure these polls used to calculate percentages correctly.

[grok-mctanys.livejournal.com]

The percentages have been calculated correctly, it's just that the wrong percentages have been calculated.

Take Q1. At the moment, the answers are A: 6 (24%), B: 4 (16%), C: 2 (8%), D: 5 (20%), E: 6 (24%), F: 2 (8%)

6 + 4 + 2 + 5 + 6 + 2 = 25. The percentages therefore are: 6/25 = 24%, 4/25 = 15%, etc...

But yes, it would be more interesting for the percentage to be the percentage of respondants who selected the option, rather than the percentage of the total number of responses to the question.

[mathcathy]

My point exactly, although perhaps the word "correctly" should have been "usefully".

I'm sure it used to be the percentage of respondents and it seems mad that they've changed this.

[caerban.livejournal.com]

Because there are no 'splosions or swordfights in the biography of a puppeteer, I'm also reading Etiquette and Espionage by Gail Carriger and beta reading a friend's novel. I often have multiple books on the go.

[rich-jacko.livejournal.com]

I should've included a "How many books do you have on the go at once?" question!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_pinkdaisy_/]

As well as the two books I mentioned, I also have a set of MR James ghost stories on the go, and some Lord Dunsany. I tend to have a 'commute book', a 'bedside book' and an 'in case I'm not in the mood for the other two book' on the go at any one time

[rich-jacko.livejournal.com]

I'll sometimes have a fiction and a non-fiction book on the go at once, but it's rare for me to juggle more than one fiction book at a time. Short stories at the same time as a novel occasionally, but not two novels.

[longhairedhippy.livejournal.com]

I also have an M R James collection in my work bag - I blame Mark Gatiss!

[http://users.livejournal.com/_pinkdaisy_/]

That was pretty much what prompted me to get mine, combined with it only cost 50p on kindle!

[little_frank]

You missed out audio book, which is my favourite format when my hands hurt!

Also, I'd recommend the book to some people and not others, so 'meh' doesn't really cover that.

I'm also reading Moby Dick on audio book, and have already lolled inappropriately in a hospital :-D

[rich-jacko.livejournal.com]

I thought about including audio books, but wasn't sure whether they counted as "reading". Discuss!

[little_frank]

They totally count as reading, just a different format for accessibility. They're almost always word-for-word identical to the paper version. I read audio books with my ears - makes perfect sense, and anyone else who has trouble accessing paper books, e.g. visually impared, would say the same.

[rich-jacko.livejournal.com]

I get that. It is slightly different though. When you read off the page (or screen, if you must), you form your own impression of how the characters sound, and your own interpretation of where in the text the pauses and emphases fall. With an audio book you've got someone else doing that for you. So much depends on the choices that person makes. It's being read to rather than reading. The experiences are different and can leave quite different impressions of the same book.

I'm told by adult friends that they get a whole new version of Harry Potter when I read it to the goblin child! ;o)

[little_frank]

Doesn't seem all that different when you're used to it. Not as much as a radio play for example. Professional readers are very good and not intrusive. You quickly get used to voice/accent of a good reader so you don't notice it.

For me, reading text increasingly gives a very broken-up half-message because of sight/concentration difficulties, and takes a lot longer than it used to. Having someone delivering at a steady pace and not losing their place all the time gives me more room to make better pictures in my head, especially with less distracting pain, and enables me to read the book faster too :-). Rewinding to find out where I fell asleep can have it's challenges, but not as much as reading the same paragraph 10 times, followed by one on the previous page, and another random one, and nothing making any sense ;-P.

Then again, I love being read to :-D. Even better is off-the-cuff storytelling, which is why I go to Story Forge whenever I can too.

I wouldn't recommend telling a visually impaired person reading an audio book that their experience is inauthentic or inferior! Sighted disabled people can also bop you on the nose for the same suggestion ;-P. I think that actually everyone's experience of a book is different, and still counts as reading.

[rich-jacko.livejournal.com]

Not inferior, just different. Though I'd quite happily tell any e-reader users that their experience is inferior! ;o)

[little_frank]

Ooh, I think I'll leave THAT argument for someone else! :-D

[rich-jacko.livejournal.com]

Wow, 17 responses and 9 comments in 2 days - Who says no one reads LJ any more?! :o)

[little_frank]

Unsurprisingly you have quite a number of friends who love books :-)