Jan 28, 2011

Does Size Really Matter?

Does Size Really Matter?

I've been noticing how much my reading has changed over the years, and boy has it changed.  One of the biggest things I have noticed is my aversion to big books.  As a teenager and well up to a couple of years ago my motto was "the bigger the better". 

InheritancePaloverdePrior to PBS (paperbackswap) or the discovering of "chick lit" I didn't have a book collection/library.  I joined PBS in 2007, and when I joined I only had a couple of books here and there that I would buy because my local library didn't have any "chick lit" books.  Before my discovery of chick lit I would go to the library (really small, and crappy) and get books that were fat.  I loved really big books because I wanted to stretch the reading experience out.  I would check out Jacqueline Briskin books because they were big, and about strong women, or Judith Michael.  These books were epic stories spanning decades in the lives of the chacters.  I loved them, sadly I don't read them anymore..

I discovered the genre of chick lit after picking up Bridget Jones Diary at a library.  After that I couldn't get enough of it.  Of course, I swayed towards the big books.  Anything less than 400 pages I didn't want. I was use to my Briskin's and Michael's size.  Even when I joined PBS I would look at page count, and if it had less than 350 pages I just wasn't going to order or WL it even if it sounded great.  Wierd, I know but that was just my preference.

Now for the last probably 2 years I can't get myself to want to read a really big book.  I still have Stephen King's Under the Dome and Duma Key in my TBR, as well as other popular big books.  Don't get me wrong I want to read them but now they seem so time consuming.  I think because now I have so many books I dont' want to spend so much time on just one. 

I kind of miss the days of old when I was just glad to be reading.  I wasn't worried about all the books I haven't read, but was concentrating on what I was reading at the time.

Jacqueline Briskin, Judith Michael I think back on you with fond memories.  I don't miss getting made fun of though because of those crappy covers, but your stories were magnificently weaved, and your heros were to die for.

I also want to add that I kind of outgrown the chick lit phase.  I read them every now and then, but it use to be all I read.  My local library now has a wonderful collection of chick lit books thanks to yours truly.

What do think about size?

5 comments:

  1. I've been staying away from big books too because I feel so much pressure (both external and internal) to read more in quantity, lol!

    And I also no longer read much chick lit.

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  2. I think the size and genre of books are a matter of personal choice. As we grow older we learn to place importance on different things. See this as a growing pain!
    jbdownie5@yahoo.com

    ReplyDelete
  3. What a good question.
    Size does matter.
    Seeing a big book is intimidating. I think I have to be in the right mind set for it.
    Great question!

    I'm with Jenny, I don't do chick lit much either. But I did recently enjoy Remember Me? by Sophie Kinsella.

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  4. I'm in awe of big books though i don't gravitate towards reading them too often! I loved Judith Michael as an early teen myself! i just did a post about my love for jackie collins. !!

    I'm trying to go for more quantity this year.

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Thanks for commenting!