Yay, the Literary Blog Hop! I feared that it might not be back this year after it wasn't up on The Blue Bookcase on Thursday (as is the norm) but it is, it is! Phew! Thanks, as always, to The Blue Bookcase for hosting.
So, this month's question is:
Do you like to supplement your reading with outside sources like Sparknotes, academic articles, or other bloggers reviews? Why or why not?
Well... I used to read articles that related to the books I read at University, which has possibly put me off doing so for life! I would say that, in general, after I've finished a book, I don't automatically go rushing off to find more information about it, BUT if I like it and then see someone has written a blog post about it, or see an article about it posted on twitter, then I'm pretty much guaranteed to read it. So I guess it's more of a lazy supplementing of my reading- if it's right there in front of me, I'll read it; but if I have to search for it then chances are I won't. The only exception I can think of to this is actually reading Shakespeare (which I'm doing a fair bit this month, see sidebar) because in my copy of plays there are little introductions to each of them, which I read after the play (I don't want to spoil it!) but which have been helping me understand stuff better. This is such a rare occurrence for me though- I rarely read even introductions to books I love, probably from some aversion to learning stuff, and if not that then because I'm lazy. It's probably just that, actually...
How about you? Are you all smart and wanting to learn things, or are you a bit of a lazybones like me?
Yay--I'm off to check out the Blue Bookcase 'cause I didn't think it was happening this weekend. I mostly don't supplement my reading. Guess that makes me a slacker.
ReplyDeleteHehe. I'm lazy most of the time ... I probably read supplemental stuff for one out of every 4 or 5 books I read (besides goodreads and wikipedia.)
ReplyDelete@Crowe- I know right! Excitement! We are both slackers, clearly :)
ReplyDelete@IngridLola- Can't believe I forgot about Wikipedia! I basically allllways look at that to write the ole blog posts, I'm so scholarly! Hehe
It depends on the book for me too. Books I really loved and want to know more about I'll look into more - and books where I think I missed something, I'll sometimes read more to see what I didn't get. But usually I'm in a hurry to get to the next book.
ReplyDeleteYes, lazy supplemental reading. I like reading articles and whatnot about a story but unless it's right in front of me, I probably won't read it either.
ReplyDeleteI will look up more info on a book if I loved it, or if it's a translated work I'll look up different editions to see which is considered the best. I'll also look at other reviews of a book that I've just reviewed. But I wouldn't ever touch Sparknotes. I feel like that's cheating.
ReplyDeleteI'm super lazy. The only things that I look up are reviews on goodreads to see what others thought, and I use the book blog search engine to read reviews of the book. I'm a spoiler avoider so I never read reviews of books that I'm reading in the near future. I like to know as little about a book as possible before I begin.
ReplyDeleteOh my. I've found a kindred spirit! First up, I love your description lazy supplementing. Next, I am also a fan of Brothers and Sisters, although sadly it is no more. And then what do I find below your literary blog hop post. Buffy! Joss Whedon is a god. I have also rhapsodised about Buffy and also own all the DVD's. I recently found out that a bound version of his comics that were dubbed as season eight is due out in May. Highly excited. New follower :)
ReplyDelete@Susan- That's a good way to put things! I'm usually in a hurry to move onto the next book too, I guess unless I've been sort of blown away by a book and want to learn more about it.
ReplyDelete@Red- Go lazy extra reading! That's what I say!
@Jenn- I've never really been bothered about translations of things, but all bloggers seem to think it's super important, which I get.Not that I read that many translated books anyway lol. Know what you mean about sparknotes though :)
@Kristi- THERE IS A BLOG SEARCH ENGINE?! That sounds like a very useful supplementary reading device, must investigate further!
@Scribeswindow- Awww- I kind of love you! And Joss Whedon *is* a god. For sure. Also, from what I've heard about the graphic novels, Dawn turns into a giant, which sounds MENTAL, and also EXCELLENT, so that is exciting news!
Here is the link.
ReplyDeletehttp://www.google.com/cse/home?cx=017997935591651423304%3A5fpbgt6-tou&hl=en
You can also visit Fyrefly's book blog and your blog can be added to it. The link with info about it is below.
http://fyreflybooks.wordpress.com/about/book-blogs-search/
Thanks Kristi! I'll definitely check it out :)
ReplyDelete