Booking Through Thursday

Do you plan ahead for your reading? Work off of a to-be-read pile? A reading list? Or do you wing it, choose whatever you're in the mood for?

I have a huge to-be-read list. Whenever I get one of my book magazines, or get the ads for the different book clubs, I go through them carefully and add any books that pique my interest to my to-be-read list. Periodically I check the books on my list to see if any of them have been purchased by my library. Those that are available at the library then go onto my to-be-checked-out list. Eventually I get around to reading them. I also choose whatever I'm in the mood for. I go to the library about every other Saturday, and get some books from my list as well as anything that I'm currently passionately studying. A few weeks ago I was looking at the history of fashion, and had a huge stack of books on that subject checked out, along with a bunch of Anne Perry novels.

If you do plan ahead, how far ahead? Do you have two or three books waiting in queue? Or are you backed up by dozens of volumes waiting their turn?

I have a large list, to be sure; those that I can't get from the library yet are waiting in queue. The books I bring home from the library usually get read within a few days. I read *really* fast. For example, I read 2 and 1/2 Anne Perry novels (Thomas and Charlotte Pitt) on Sunday. I really could go to the library every Saturday and get a huge bag of books and have it read before the next week.


If you do not plan ahead . . . well, never? What about if you're reading a series? Or someone gives you a book for a present?

Almost no one ever gives me books as gifts. My mother will send me e-books, or give me a CD full of e-books, which I love. So that's a non-issue. If I'm reading a series, whether I stay with it depends on how interested I am in the series.