Beyond the traditional form of the novel, what are your favorite alternative forms (graphic novels, audiobooks, webcomics, etc.)? Do you have any favorite works within these alternate forms? How do you think the changing format affects the reader experience?
At the moment my favorite alternate form to books and kindle editions is the audiobook. I take one in the car with me whenever I have to drive somewhere. I have grown appreciative of the people who narrate these audio editions. I love it when they speak clearly, even more so because I have a cochlear implant to aid me in my hearing. One of my favorites so far is an Elizabeth Peters Amelia Peabody novel. There are just so many characters and the performer is able to make different voices for all of them and keep them straight. To me that is quite an accomplishment.
I do also enjoy reading collections of comic strips. One of my current favorites is
Adulthood Is a Myth by Sarah Andersen. Another favorite is Unicorn on a Roll by Dana Simpson featuring Phoebe and her Unicorn named Heavenly Nostrils.
I haven't read a graphic novel in a long time, but I just discovered that my public library has some on the shelves that I can check out. Just not sure what to check out yet.
Different formats do affect how a reader perceives the story. If you are listening to an audiobook, you are hearing someone's version of the story even if you are still using your imagination to fill in the blanks. And collections of comic strips and graphic novels are visual so you are still imagining how the characters sound, but you have their appearance given to you. It would fire up a different part of the brain for each format. The exception might be a book or ebook, because you have to imagine both how the characters sound and what they look like.
Do you have an alternate format that you prefer? Do you have any favorites in that format? Share it with us in a comment or a link. Happy Reading!
It's time for Armchair BEA 2016. Today's blog topic is: Introduce yourself.
1. What name do you prefer to go by? Laura
2. How long have you been a book blogger? I started book blogging in 2011, but it took me a while to get to posting on a regular basis.
3. And yes, I have participated in Armchair BEA before.
Do you have a favorite book? Yes, actually more than one. And it varies depending on what's going on. Currently my favorite is Dreams Underfoot by Charles de Lint. It's a collection of urban fantasy stories.
What is your favorite genre and why? Again this varies a little from time to time. Currently my favorite genre is urban fantasy. I like the juxtaposition of things that are magical or paranormal with a current setting.
How do you arrange your books? Is there a rhyme or reason? I worked in a library before and have a tendency to group my books loosely by topic or genre. Fiction is close together on my shelf with subdivisions for genre. Nonfiction is grouped together. And I try to keep it by topic as well. Right now in my house I have very little shelf space, but I still try to keep up the arrangements.
If you could choose 3 characters to have lunch with, who would they be and why? It's tough to come up with just three. But today I would say: Jilly Coppercorn from Charles de Lint's Newford stories, Donald Shimoda from Illusions by Richard Bach, and maybe Biff from Christopher Moore's Lamb.
