Monday, July 27, 2009

Countdown: July! Contest

(side note: I just realized this is my blog's 300th post!)

EDIT: CONTEST CLOSED!!!

This month's Countdown Contest is a simple one, inspired by an email conversation I had last week with my crit partner, Nancy. I couldn't decide on which book from my massive TBR pile was next for consumption. So many choices, so little time, and I didn't know what I was in the mood for.

She emails me back: start from the left and count over five books. Read the sixth.

To which I promptly replied: which shelf? There are three.

Her answer: Third shelf (damn woman!)

Ha!

Usually, it doesn't take three emails for me to pick a book. If I just bought something new I've been waiting for, it gets read. If I'm in the mood for a particular type of story (romance, werewolves, vamps, other...), I pick one of those.

What does this have to do with the contest? The contest is a simple drawing from the comments section. In order to enter, please Comment and tell me how you usually decide what to read next. Do you keep all new purchases in order and read them that way? Do you close your eyes and pluck a book off the shelf?

How do you choose?

The prizes for this contest are two books releasing this week that I'm eager to read:

DESTINED FOR AN EARLY GRAVE, Jeaniene Frost (okay, so eager isn't quite a powerful enough word for how much I want to read this)

THE THORN QUEEN, Richelle Mead (2nd Dark Swan book)

Contest is open until Wednesday 7/29, Noon EST.

14 comments:

Bill Barnett said...

Congratulations on the 300th post, Kelly!

What I read next is usually dictated by three factors: favorite authors, what’s and who’s hot in urban fantasy, and my interests in specific sub-genres.

For example, I’ve just finished reading two Dean Kootz novels, and so now I am going to break that up with Caitlin Kittredge’s newest. After that I plan on reading Mario Acevedo’s The Nymphos of Rocky Flats.

After that, I will probably swing back to an author that I’m very familiar with, maybe Neil Gaiman, for example.

Melanie Hooyenga said...

Yay for 300!

Like Bill, I try to vary what I'm reading and I'll rarely read two similar books back-to-back. For instance, right now I'm in the last 100 pages of Anna Karenina so you can bet your @ss I won't be reading more Tolstoy anytime soon (or historicals, or anything in Russia...).

I have a dozen books to choose from right now, and if there isn't one that I'm dying to read, I'll read the first page until one grabs me. It really depends on my mood.

Anonymous said...

If I have a new book that I've been waiting to read it goes to the top of the pile. Otherwise it depends on what I'm in the mood for.

Most of the time I like to change so I'm not reading similar books right after one another. But there are times when I'll read several books in a series.

MIchelle C.

P.S. I'm looking forward to your book.

Mardel said...

It all depends on the mood.of the day. Sometimes I have five books going at a time. One will be funny, one dark, one darker. After a while I just settle on one and finish it. The exception is when a book is out from one of my Auto-Buy-Authors (to be read in a amplified, deep voice - *g*)

Melissa nance said...

You usually throw a book at me. :-p

And by the way, you don't have to count this in the contest... ;)

Tez Miller said...

I'm an obsessive listmaker, so I indeed have a reading system. Actually, several ;-) I switch between systems depending on my mood - and there's a lot of mood swinging ;-)

If you want to get as many books read in as short a time as possible, read in order from books with the least amount of pages to the most. Publishers have different font sizes, and I'm pretty sure penguin shrinks the font size to have the least pages, but whatev ;-)

ARCs and books you've been given come first. Ones you've bought yourself come after.

And this is just a tiny sample of my lists and reading orders ;-)

MrsMixx said...

Congrats on the 300th post =)


I usually read a few books at a time,so i have different genres ready to be read depending on my mood.

I have a small pile of books waiting for me next to my bed
i take a few books from the pile, i read the first 2 pages...and one book usually stands out.

Sometimes i chose my books depending on what's going to be released soon...if a sequel is soon to be out i'll re-read the last installment

Still i often find myself struggling to choose which book to read next.

Jamie D. said...

Go 300! Woot!

With my romance ebooks, I just sit and stare at the titles for several minutes, then force myself to just pick one already. I have two subscriptions to category romances, and if there are books with "baby" in the title, I get those out of the way first (not a fan of baby-themed books). The romance ebooks are largely my lunchtime reading, so I can't really give *too* much time to waffling.

Print books to read at night are another story (uh...so to speak). Sometimes I'm so excited about one that I know exactly what's next, but sometimes I have to read the back cover of every book in the stack, then go through them again before finally, not-quite-happily settling down with one (once I get into it, I'm good).

And I flip between genres too...romance, thriller, suspense, horror, etc. Urban Fantasy has caught my interest recently, so that will probably join the rotation as well. ;-)

Unknown said...

Hi :)
Congratulations on the milestone of your 300th Blog Post Kelly.
Also thanks for holding this fun contest.
:)
I have so many books ToBeRead I usually go from oldest to newest book (unless it is a burning desire to read a certain book - which happens too frequently *grin*)
:)
Love and best wishes
twitter.com/RKCharron
xoxo

Sara M said...

I have all of my books in alphabetically order. One bookcase has hardcovers and trade paperbacks, the other has mass market paperbacks. I don't know why I started sorting them like that though... When I buy a book, it gets placed immediately into it's alphabetical place. Alphabetically by order and then by series. The titles are in order of series, not alphabetical (or else I'd get confused...)

Anyway, when it's time to read a new book, I either know exactly what I want to read for whatever reason (it just came out and I've been dying for it for months, or it's due back to the library in three days, etc) or I have no idea. If I have no idea, I sit in front of my bookcases until something pops out at me. But the one that pops out at me doesn't always stick. Sometimes I have false starts and have to sit in front of my bookcase for 20 min and read the first couple pages of 4-5 books until something sticks. I think my subconscious always knows what it wants to read, but doesn't always let the rest of my consciousness in on it.

I also sometimes go through phases where I'm all about faeries, or werewolves, or vampires, or magic and I'll read a bunch of books centering around the one opic until I "burnout" (I use quotes b/c the burnout doesn't last more than a week or two).

Blodeuedd said...

Sighs, oh how I have tried to have order in my way of reading.
One time I tried to read those that were the oldest first, then the newest. Then all YA at once, all fantasy, all romance.
Right now I am back at new books first, with exceptions.

Cos when everything comes around, sometimes I just crave a different genre and read it

Tracy Sharp - Author of the Leah Ryan Series said...

I decide by what mood I'm in. I really does depend. I may be in the mood for Dennis Lehane's 800 page epic, or I might be in the mood for tons of action, or for hair-raising horror. It really just depends.

The horror (Richard Laymon's Come Tonight) won out last time :) Good book, btw. Suspenseful!

Kelly Meding/Kelly Meade said...

Thanks to everyone for participating! I'll announce the winner later in the day.

I really loved reading how everyone else picks books. Funny that it never really occurred to me to read a page or two. Usually I stare at the spines of the books on my TBR shelf until one seems more appealing than the other.

(And I don't actually throw books at Melissa. I hand them over with minor force and demand she read them.)

alanajoli said...

Aw, I'm so sad I missed this one! Great contest, and great prizes. Congrats on hitting #300!