The image above represents my current active reading queue. Such a sight should not be all too surprising to fellow readers - juggling multiple titles at a time is rather common practice when you get down to it. And technology has only opened more doors in terms of reading options and thus both my Kindle and my phone provide other reading possibilities.
Each book is taking one of several "reading slots" that I maintain as part of my day-to-day routine. My Kindle and my phone provide reading options during dark cab rides or during idle moments at work. A paperback can always be found in my work bag to be read on the MRT ride home or sometimes daytime cab rides. The larger paperback stays at home at either helps me while away time in the bathroom or helps me off to bed. And the larger coffee table type book is there for free periods when I can sit properly at a table to just marvel at the beauty of the book itself.
And despite the respective "roles" each book plays in the pecking order of books, every now and thne there's the one book that just takes up more time. Admittedly a lot of what I read is in support of the Geeky Guide in order to keep my book review queue full of things to write about. I get a fair number of book review requests that make up most of my Kindle-based reading. But every now and then there are those authors or those books that just take up more of my time.
Haruki Murakami is definitely one of those authors. I have a copy of his latest work, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage, waiting in queue right now after a dear friend gifted me a Kindle copy for my birthday. I'm making sure that when I start reading it, I have more than enough books in queue for reviews since I know that I'll abandon all other reading slots and favor that book. And books this important take up enough reading time such that I find that my blogging queue becomes a little dry as the other "fluff" pieces get cast aside.
Terry Pratchett's Discworld novels are another key priority. I'm still in the process of finishing Raising Steam and is has already defeated a few other books for most important read of the period. And it doesn't help me at all that the man doesn't believe in chapter divisions - the words create scenes and the scenes just flow from one to another and suddenly several hours have passed and I'm still reading. That just represents what a good author he truly is - or at least how much I love his work.
I feel a little bad for Michael Chabon's The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. I had spent quite a bit of time looking for the book and when I finally found it, well, the reading has been a little slow-going. To be fair, it's not exactly light reading between the way the story is told and the size of the print. It's not a bad title, but it's one that I sort of wish I had on my Kindle so I could tweak the settings to make things easier for me. I've long sworn on the value of reading on a Kindle or other similar E Ink devices. Being able to control font size and line spacing goes a long way towards improving one's overall reading rate. And I think I need a little help with this book.
But things are certainly a bit more complicated when a new Discworld novel is competing for attention.
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