I know I am a bit eccentric, but I wondered how many of you read the lat page in books before reading/buying them.

Ooooh no !!! - I wouldn't bother reading the rest if I did that :D :D :D

Daisy

I don't like who dunnits, but love the Fantasy Genre which tend to have series of books.  Now some series are stand alone stories, but some end at a crucial point in the story, and I don't like having to wait for the next instalment.  If I don't like the ending then I can't be bothered to read the book :D

I've never read the last page 1st, the challenge for me is to get through the book as quickly as possible to see what happens :)

On the fantasy topic though have you read the Belgarion/Mallorean books? I rad them years ago and loved them and have just recently been giving a related one...it's next on my list to read after the new Roy Hattersley Busters Diaries book :)

No who are those by?  I have read most of Terry Brooks, Ann Macaffrey, Feist etc.  Never could get on with the guy who wrote the Discworld etc stuff.

The Belgarion Series and the follow up series The Mallorean are by David and Leigh Eddings and are a must read I have read them at least 3 times over the years also read all the other books they have written. Have also read Terry Brooks but like you not into the discworld books.

Belgariad and Mallorean are by David Eddings - similar to Terry Brooks and easy to read - 5 books in each series, the Mallorean is the 2nd series, with the same characters.  2 fill in's afterwards too.

(I like them)

It seems that a lot of dog people are into fantasy, or do lots of people in general like the genre?

I won't read the last page - but I do dip in and out and round about - just to see if I like the way the author writes .....I'll stand for about 15 minutes choosing a book :D

I don't really buy fiction :) Usually just read books that I'm given or recommended by family/friends :) So no problems choosing books :D :D Really prefer non-fiction history :)

Daisy

Oh no the whole point of reading for me is escapism.  Though of course I do read lots of books on things that interest me (lots on dogs Rabbits and other animals).  Don't like anything contemporary, or about real people.

HEATHEN!!!!

(That would be a NO I don't :D :D )

(My mother in law says she does this though)

Ooh she isn't a Pisces is she?

No but *I* am :D

I too might dip into a book to see where it's going, if I start getting bored, I will then know to not bother with it any more.
Karen

Oh no!!! It would spoil all the fun. I just read the blurb on the back if it isn't one of my usual authors. I have all the dates for new book releases by all my favourites marked on my calendar so I know what day I need to get hubby to take me to ASDA or Tesco. :D

ooh Goldmali I am a tight wad.  I prefer to ask the Library to get my books in for me, only costs 80p.

I'm tight too :D I limit myself to buying a new book for a holiday (unless I had been given one that needed reading). The rest of my books come from our bookshelves at home which my OH keeps stocked from second-hand book sales etc :) :) :) I never let my children buy fiction, unless it was a 'classic'. Both were enrolled at the local library before they could walk :D :D :D

Daisy

I had pretty well read the whole ficiton section of my school library at 10. 

I go through stages of not reading for months and then read several a week in bed rather than watch TV.

I can't read in bed any more - I just fall asleep :D :D :D

The best place for reading, for me, is to sit in the garden in the shade on a warm summer's day :)

Daisy

I love reading, it always was a bed thing mostly, but now needing glasses to pursue the habit....it's just not so comfortable. I always feel a bit guilty too at sitting reading, my housework is pretty minimal as it is!
Karen :-D

I always read in bed before putting the light out .....I would find it very difficult to go to sleep without a read first :D

> I always feel a bit guilty too at sitting reading

Why I tend to mostly only read on holiday :D :D :D

Daisy

Oohhh noooo Never!!  i have been a bit late into getting into Harry Potter and all my friends said to get them as i'd like them (not my usual cup of tea) but i thought oh what the hell so i bought order of the phoenix and loved it and last week bought half blood prince......
My recent convo with my friend (no friend of mine anymore)

kaz: hiya sarah how are you
me: good thanks i went into bangor and bought half blood prince i just started reading it.
Kaz: yeah its a good book i have read them all.
Kaz: *laughing*
me: whats so funny
kaz: oh i was thinking of that video from youtube about those kids lined up outside the bookstore.and a bloke drives past and shouts ***** is killed by ****.

me: YOU *BEEP* IDIOT YOU JUST *BEEP* RUINED IT FOR ME NOW I CANT BELIEVE YOU *BEEP* WELL JUST DID THAT!!!!!

I couldn't bear to give a good book BACK! :)

Oh I don't ever read a book more than once.

If I don't want to read a book again it's on my 'rubbish authors' list! Most of my books I've read upwards of a dozen times.

I judge 'rubbish 'authors by whether I'd read their next book - but I rarely read a book twice :) :)

Daisy

John Wyndham books .....read them over and over and over ......

I never read the last page but often stand in shops reading the first few pages, sometimes i get so into a book i forget where i am :)
I keep all the books by my fav authors and pass any others onto friends and family.
Paula

I read around 8 library books a week I read very quickly and use all those odd "wasted" minutes to read in - while I am waiting for the kettle to boil, or the potatoes to come up to the boil or for the dog to come back in from the garden from his last excursion before bed time :)

I only ever buy books to take on holiday with me but also take a supply of library books as well :)

I too can read a good book several times.

I read on the bus :D

Ive been known - if its particularly gripping...

To read on the loo.....

Now i KNOW other people do this, ive been to houses with a stack of magazines by the loo, even in a few places, a bookcase IN the loo....

But why do loads of people go 'arrrrrr nooooooo nonono' and look all shocked at it? Its not like your eyes are busy?

>But why do loads of people go 'arrrrrr nooooooo nonono' and look all shocked at it? Its not like your eyes are busy?

Because who wants to sit in their own stink? Reading in the loo was i thought a man thing to do,women tend to get in and out as quickly as possible.My OH does it,and what should only be a 2 minute toilet trip turns into a 20 minute one because he's reading,honestly it makes me sick and a little angry

Well,you asked :D

I always have a book in the loo, but it's got to something that you can just read a chapter of at a time, at the moment it's Busters Secret Diaries (Roy Hattersley). I can just see my dogs thinking the same things Buster does - laughing in the loo is common in my house as visitors read it too :)

I keep most of my books - those that I have enjoyed - let friends have the others  :D - and I do love "dipping in" from time to time.   I buy far too many books - it seems that I have read most of the books on a !top ten list" - be they light fiction or nn fiction - think I'm one of Amazon's favourite customers :D .   And I do have to have my own copy - I love the smell of new books and I do try and keep them "nice" - well-read but never with pages turned over - or worse still - spines curled back - in fact I won't let OH near my favourite books - I'd rather get him his own copy to fold back !

I go on and off authors - I loved the R F Delderfield books and have all of his - but now they seem far too "much of a muchness" - but I do still like finding a favourite character.   Margaret Drabble is another - and Anita Shreve.    I   I've also enjoyed Philippa Gregory's historical novels - which are in fact well-researched of their time - and well worth going back to - as, for the same reason, are Georgette Heyer's regency novels (if you can get over the love interest :D).   And of course, Jane Austen and Charles Dickens and Wilkie Collins.

I also enjoyed the research of my english lit degree (well - I got half way there at Birkbeck) and found fascinating the 17th and 18th Century women writers ....once you get round the english of their day.   

Atually, writing this post has reminded me of just how much space I must leave for books when we move....... :D

Margot

I don't have a particular favourite genre; I loved all the Brother Cadfael books; I have all Cynthia Harrod-Eagles' Dynasty series (I've even had an input into the one she's currently writing apparently! :D :D) which are brilliantly researched; Terry Pratchett; Michelle Spring's well worth a read; then of course there's Jane Austen, the Brontes, Agatha Christie, Nevil Shute, John Wyndham, Catherine Gaskin, Barbara Erskine ... the list goes on!

Ah it is Terry Pratchett I just can't get into.

I love Terry Pratchett. Have you read any Robert Rankin? If you like Terry you would probably like him too. Start with the Brentford Trilogy (5 books in all)

I loved Georgette Heyer's  books and had nearly all of them when I was a teenager, that level of Romance was about my speed at 13 to 15 :D  Always liked historical as fascinated by it.  Watch the History channel a lot.  social History interests me the most.

Found the program about life in rural Britain before the War really interesting.  Think ti was called Green and Pleasant Land, which often it was far from.

I keep most of my books - those that I have enjoyed

I'm the same - I tend to collect authors I like too. Into crime fiction at the moment - Linda Fairstein, Karin Slaughter, Tess Gerritsen, Alex Kava are favs at moment. I'll read almost anything though (although Fantasy of the Terry Pratchett ilk never really grabbed me).  I buy most of my books at charity shops now as you can get a few books for the price of one from the bookshop and they have lots of newer books now. Bestsellers I tend to get at the supermarket as they are cheaper even than Amazon. My main problem is getting the time to read as much as I would like. When I retire I shall sit in a comfy chair and read (or re read) all day - bliss! (only 21 years to go :-( )

My father used to call the loo the library. :) He'd spend ages in there reading. TBH he was probably sitting there fully dressed, it was just the only room in the house where he could lock the door and have some privacy. :-D

I can't bear to read in the loo (nor other people reading in the loo!); your bottom gets sore if you sit there too long and once you've 'been' (and it doesn't take long!) why stay there, selfishly preventing other people from using it? No, it should be in there, do the necessary and out in the shortest possible time, so that it's clean and sweet for the next person. :)

I'm happy to say it's not a trait my father passed on to me. :-D I much prefer to read in the conservatory and have never considered reading in the loo.

Definitely a man thing :)  I can't sit there for a minute longer than I need to :D :D

Daisy

We deliberately bought a house with MORE than one loo so that hubby could occupy to his hearts content LOL

My favourite reads are:

Patricia Cornwall
Tom Holt
Terry Pratchett
Peter James
James Herbert
John Wyndham
Tess Gerritson

and a zillion others :D :D

The best fantasy novel i have read and am still reading as it is a masive 7 big books long! Is the Stephen King 'The Black Tower' series, Stephens kings take on Lord of the Rings, so you can imagine what its like!
Brilliant read though, absolutly brilliant, im on book 3 not too far to go!!
If you want fantasy you just have to read these books! :)

Read the laast page???

NEVER

I may read the first page if it's an author I've neer read before tho ;)

I've read all sorts and love a good fantasy - total escapism! - but Steven King has never really been on my radar for fantasy - i've always felt he was more a Horror writer - and that's one whole genre I completely avoid ;)  not my cup of cha at all ;)

One of my absolute favourite authors is Shirley Jackson (The Lottery, The Haunting of Hill House (made into the film The Haunting) etc.  Not commonly found these days as she was writing in the 40's and 50's and a long wait from Central Library System (months ) but well worth it :) :)

I have my own Library, I generously allow other people to borrow from there, but it's actually mine ;) :) :)  It's in the town centre for everyones' convenience as I'm such a generous and philanthropic person :D :D :p

Modest too :p :p :D :D

:p :p :D :D :D

If it was REALLY mine I would be the only person able to read a new book, everyone else would have to read them after me and they'd stock ALL the books I wanted.  No such luck, it just feels like mine as I've been a member since I was about 6 months old ;) but it also feels like the staff are rebelling now, they're trying to make it more like a bookshop but with fewer actual books and no older books (some of the older ones are real gems) they draw the line at a coffee machine tho.  And I never gave them permission to put 6 computers in!!!