Robert E. Howard Readers discussion

A new feature has been released to allow Groups to create their own reading challenges, similar to the main 2011 reading challenge.

If this is something the Group is interested in, I can set it up and will explain in detail how it works. In brief, it will involve reading certain books for the challenge within a set time (which can be quite a long time) and setting the Read date for those books so that they lie within the dates of the challenge.

So, if anybody's up for a Robert E. Howard reading challenge, we need to decide what that challenge should be - any ideas?

So, would it be something like How many REH books we could read in a year? (I didn't do so well this year. I only read four (4): Sword Woman and Other Historical Adventures; Tales of Weird Menace; Steve Harrison's Casebook; and Spicy Adventures).

Yes, that's it, but only books that you date as read during the challenge will count.

So, it could be something as simple as, "How Many New REH Books Can You Read," or it could be something more themed: Conan, Westerns, Horror, etc. I'm open to suggestions :-)

I think it should be simple to maximize participation - or it can be more themed if you want people to buy more Howard stories. For example, if you did Western themed books, I'd actually have to go buy some. I only have two full Western books("The Vultures" and "A Gent from Bear Creek"), not counting individual stories.

Vincent, Michael has brought back monthly reads based on themes that we vote on, so that seems a bit redundant to me, but I probably shouldn't have a vote. I don't do challenges - a personal quirk. I read a LOT for work since I'm a computer guy, so what I read in my free time is for pure enjoyment - whatever suits my mood. Instead of a cocktail to relax, I have a book. Any challenge would defeat that purpose. That's just me, though.

Instead of buying Howard's books, not that I'm trying to discourage you, but a lot of his stuff is available for free if you don't mind electronic formats. Michael & I have both posted links around here somewhere about that. Ah, Michael actually compiled most of the links here:
http://www.goodreads.com/topic/show/5...

Generally when we do a monthly read, we try to post multiple links to it, too.

Oh, I know they are available online for free, but is the contest how many stories, or how many books? Does Goodreads list REH by story, or by book collection?

GR lists Howard like any other author, by book, as far as I know. The reading challenge is a new feature & you can set up your own, I believe. You'll be limited to the books, though.

I wouldn't want to view it as a contest - rather a personal challenge with support from other like-minded readers.

It might not be for this Group - many of us have already read much of his readily available work. But I did want people to be aware that the function exists and that I can set it up if there is interest.

Jim is correct that GR treats Howard like other authors, which means he's basically listed by book. But there are two qualifications to that statement. If any REH stories have ever been published (even as e-stories) as stand-alones, Goodreads may have an entry treating them as a "book." And a Goodreads author search for him will also bring up hits for each anthology that he's listed as a "contributor" to.

My reaction to challenges tends to be much like Jim's and for similar reasons. With all the books that are on my to-read shelf already, I usually prefer to pick my own reading. That said, the rare exception is for challenges to read something I do want to read sometime anyway; and books by REH qualify as that. If we do a challenge to see how many REH books we can read in 2012, I might use it as a reason to read the one Howard collection my library has. :-) But then, in 2012, I've also taken on a challenge to read six "classics." (Hmmm --maybe something by him would qualify as that, too?)

Michael have you done this challenge yet?

I will read Kane collection, re-read Conan, and others in 2012 anyway.

I usually does mentally 5,6 reading challenge of my fav for my top top fav authors. Just for fun and reminder.

No. I wanted ideas for what the challenge should be and a consensus as to whether it was actually wanted. There didn't really seem to be any strong opinions.

I guess I could set up a general "How many REH books have you read" challenge, if you want one. However, the books only count to the challenge if the date first read is within the challenge dates - 01/01/12 to 31/12/12 would seem to be the appropriate dates at this point.

Let me know what you want and if it's possible to set it up, I will :-)

That sounds good since i read him only in new books/collections.

I dont see single story collections or read the stories alone online.

The Challenge is up and running, so your New Year's Resolution can be to read more Robert E. Howard books.

I've set my challenge to 5 books, but may need to buy some more to have them available. That's my excuse, right there!

I have set my challenge to 7 books since i havent read some of his genres and i havent read all Kane, Conan stories.

The books are:

Del Rey Solomon Kane
Del Rey Conan volume 1-3
Humor westerns collection
Del Rey Kull collection
Waterfront Fists and Others: The Collected Fight Stories of Robert E. Howard

I don't usually go in for 'book challenges,' but hey, this is the Robert E Howard group so I figure, 'What the hell? I can read more of the novels I loved as a kid.'

Besides, what this world needs is more barbarians and less paperwork. Just think of all the problems we could solve with a few good sword strokes...

I've set my challenge to 5 books for 2012. A few on the 'to read' shelf:

Red Nails
Cthulhu: The Mythos and Kindred Horrors
El Borak and Other Desert Adventures

This was a good idea.

p.

Peregrine 12 wrote: "I don't usually go in for 'book challenges,' but hey, this is the Robert E Howard group so I figure, 'What the hell? I can read more of the novels I loved as a kid.'

Besides, what this world need..."

Welcome aboard, Mark :-D

Michael wrote: "Peregrine 12 wrote: "I don't usually go in for 'book challenges,' but hey, this is the Robert E Howard group so I figure, 'What the hell? I can read more of the novels I loved as a kid.'

Besides,..."

Can you add Del rey Conan books to the shelfs ? I read Conan volume 1 and i wanted it to count for my challenge read. I only new quality, correct text Del rey when there is that choice. I prefer new books.

Hi Mohammed. When you joined the Challenge, you were asked to designate a shelf. Any books you add to that shelf and which you mark as "read" between 01/01/12 to 31/12/12 will then go to the Challenge.

My challenge shelf is called "robert-e-howard-2012": what did you name yours? As long as the book is on your shelf, it doesn't need to be on the Group bookshelf (although I will add the Del Rey editions anyway).

What

Michael wrote: "Hi Mohammed. When you joined the Challenge, you were asked to designate a shelf. Any books you add to that shelf and which you mark as "read" between 01/01/12 to 31/12/12 will then go to the Challe..."

Yeah my mistake now i saw that shelf i appeared when i changed the name in my bookshelf.

Good now i can see in the group home page i have i have read 1 of 7 books.

Mohammed wrote: "Yeah my mistake now i saw that shelf i appeared when i changed the name in my bookshelf.

Good now i can see in the group home page i have i have read 1 of 7 books..."

Cool :-)

Counting both exclusive and non-exclusive Goodreads shelves, I already have 36! Since I don't really want to add another one just for a challenge, I'll sit this one out; but I'll cheer the rest of you on. :-)

That made me wonder how many shelves I've got - 85.

WHOA! 85? Michael, I thought I had a lot of them, but your total leaves me in the dust. :-)

Many of my books are on more than one shelf, e.g., Film-and-TV holds, amongst others, my Conan books, which I've also shelved as Sword-and-Sorcery.

I wonder if you hold the record, Michael? I have a dozen shelves or so & also use multiple shelves for each book. I break it up some by genre, but also have shelves if there are short stories or it's an audio book. That's plenty of shelves for me. I generally look them up by author's name or date I read, anyway.

You guys mean real shelves or goodreads shelves ? I just bought 3 huge Ikea shelves since im finally big enough of reader, collector to have more than one shelf. I had tons of books in boxes too.

REH is in the top of my shelves with Lord Dunsany,Vance,Orwell,Gemmell,PKD. I shelf by fav authors :)

Mohammed, we were speaking of Goodreads shelves. (As far as real shelves are concerned, Barb and I have four bookcases at home and I have another double one used for personal books in my office; most of these don't have much or any room for expansion. Barb also has boxes of books that she gets from my cousin in Iowa.)

Since most of my Goodreads shelves aren't exclusive, I usually list books on more than one, too. It's often interesting to me to have totals of how many books I've read in different categories; and breaking the listings down somewhat by subject/genre probably facilitates browsing of the shelves. (I browse my friend's shelves at times, so I'm guessing some of my friends browse mine, too!)

I've only added one exclusive shelf besides the standard ones, a shelf called "Could-not-finish" & it's not used often thanks to having good friends here on GR. I see that I have 2 dozen shelves altogether, though. More than I thought, but no where near as many as Michael.

Real shelves are another matter entirely. I have one wall of my bedroom that is one big, built-in book shelf, except for the window. The entire foot of my double bed & over my bed hold others I've made. One big wall in our living room is pretty much all books on 3 separate shelves, one made by my great grandfather. (I built many of the others. It's handy being a carpenter.) There are another half dozen or so scattered around, too. Then there are boxes under the bed, Marg & Erin's various piles & boxes... We're a reading family with many, many books we want to keep.

Real shelves: I've got one wall of our Library (i.e., spare bedroom) fitted with shelves, which I've had to double-stack with books to fit them all out. There's a few books downstairs in a small display case, and a few more tucked here and there about the house.

I've organised my real shelves by genre, then alphabetically by author, then usually by publication date (is this interesting?). My wife would prefer me to organise by book size and colour, because it looks neater!

I'm gradually adding my books to Goodreads shelf-by-shelf, so at the moment my GR shelves are skewed to Science Fiction and Fantasy, as they're the first ones on my wall.

I have a Goodread shelf specifically dedicated to R.E.H., and it currently has 91 books. These volumes sit on the "real" shelves of my personal library at home. There are a lot of Howard books out there nowadays, and I don't see myself possessing all of them anytime soon, even though I keep at it. I don't participate in this R.E.H. Readers Challenge because I've already read most of Howard's stories; nevertheless, I love reading everyone's comments.

Speaking (writing) of "real" shelves, I try to organize my library by genre. The problem is, my bookcases are all different sizes; as such, some won't accommodate all the books of a particular genre. For instance, my R.E.H. shelves are quite full. That being the case, whenever I acquire a new Howard book, I have to shelve it wherever I'm able to find room in my library. In short, my den is a highly unorganized mass of heavily-laden shelves, and sometimes it will take me a good 25 minutes to find a book I'm looking for; in fact, just the other day, I found my copy of Howard's Waterfront Fists sitting between "Plants of Arizona" and a book about North American game animals. It's a pain in the ass, to be sure, but that is why I am on Goodreads. My mishmashed and jumbled home library was my fundamental inducement for joining this site; at least here, online, my books have arrangement and organization.

Oh my... real bookshelves... I have 17 bookcases, with four to five shelves each in my den and bedroom combined, with boxes of books of overflow tucked into closets, the attics and cabinets. I have over 2,000 volumes of various books, but probably only 1600 are unique; I have several books with multiple copies.

I organize by genre, although I have a bookcase that is for my favorites. When I have a book that belongs in multiple genres, I buy multiple copies. For example, I have copies of Dracula on my vampire shelf, my horror shelf, my favorites shelf, my classics shelf, and I keep a copy on my desk. Usually, as in the case of Dracula, I get different printings with different covers, but sometimes I have to make do with the same basic book. For example, I have a copy of "The Horror Stories of Robert E. Howard" on my REH shelf and on my horror shelf.

For REH, that means I have Lancer editions - and the later Ace editions of the same Conan stories, even though they are the same basic books.

It makes it easy to find what I am looking for.

I gave up trying to organize by genre since I wound up confusing myself. I'm terrible at genres & then there is a problem with book heights, too. Many of my nonfiction books are very tall & need special shelves. I pretty much try to separate nonfiction from fiction, but I'll lump some historical novels in with factual history books. I have some shelves devoted to a single author, a book case devoted to PNR/UF books that my daughter & I share.

IOW, it's a semi organized mess. I can always find a particular author & their books very quickly. Others have a time of it, but it makes sense to me.

Michael wrote: "I've organised my real shelves by genre, then alphabetically by author, then usually by publication date (is this interesting?). My wife would prefer me to organise by book size and colour, because it looks neater!..."

Oh, man. You're scaring me a little bit, Michael. Genre - alpha-author - publ date? REally? Oh, dude, my books just go wherever.

Well, I have 2 shelves for PB sci-fi in my office and the top shelf of the living room bookshelf is dedicated exclusively to my Tolkien collection. Then there's the 'outdoors/exploration' shelf... okay, come to think of it I am a little organized, but nothing like you guys. And the number of books you have! Massive book envy right now...

This is a great discussion thread. I've often wondered what real book lovers' shelves must look like. I come from a non-reading family and they're just baffled at my collection of 500 or so books on the wall where the TV's 'supposed' to go.

Great posts! Thanks guys.

Jim wrote: "I gave up trying to organize by genre since I wound up confusing myself. I'm terrible at genres & then there is a problem with book heights, too. Many of my nonfiction books are very tall & need ..."


Heh, heh, heh, thanks for pointing out the "problem with book heights", Jim, I forgot to make mention of that. Verily, those books that measure a foot from top to bottom do prove to be banana peels on the steps of home library organization.

My bottom row of shelves is fitted extra-height to accommodate taller books.

P-12: Be afraid: Be very afraid! Actually, my organising is a work in progress, so the shelves to the far right are still a bit muddled!

I've got my CDs (remember those, from before iPods?) organised alpha by artist and then release date, moving clockwise around the house. My DVDs by genre and title. I did try to (pretentiously) organise by director, but apart from the biggies like Hitchcock and Kurosawa I could never remember who that was!

The top shelf in the bookcase Barb built for me has nothing above it (well, the ceiling, but no shelftop :-) ), so we use that one for an "oversize" shelf. Luckily, though, most of our books are normal-sized and fit in any shelf.

With the above exception, at home I organize my books (and the Westerns, which are mostly Barb's), by fiction and nonfiction. Within the latter category, I have a rough subject arrangement; in the former, it goes by genre and then alphabetically by author and then title, except that I do shelve series together. (TV and movie spin-offs, like Star Trek books, are alphabetized together by the show.) At my office, it's fairly similar, except that multi-author fiction anthologies are separated from single-author works, and instead of organizing by genre, I separate American and British fiction in different shelf sections --it's a double bookcase). (The few books I have by authors of different nationalities than these go after the British ones, grouped by country of origin.) Books I haven't read yet are stacked in piles on the bottom shelf/shelves. (BIG piles! Taaaall piles! :-) )

Werner wrote: "Mohammed, we were speaking of Goodreads shelves. (As far as real shelves are concerned, Barb and I have four bookcases at home and I have another double one used for personal books in my office; m..."

Good to know you guys was scaring me, i was trying to imagine how big house you need to have 60-80 shelfs :D

If some 21st century techie type-of-person reads these posts, he'll proclaim the lot of us Luddites and tell us to get an E-reader.

As handy as the ereader is, it will never provide the satisfaction I get from laying in bed, & being able to look at the spines of my books, dreamily contemplating what is in them. It's like a whole bunch of really good friends.

Jim, man, I was beginning to wonder if I was the only one to think that way. A familiar book is like an old friend and, well, sometimes I just sit and gaze at the book spines and recall what's in each one.

It's like my version of television after a hard week of work - only quieter and with fewer commercial interruptions. My friends just wouldn't understand, I don't think.

PS) I can't see the e-reader ever replacing real books, at least not in my house. REal books have heft, texture, and best of all that booky-book smell. Especially the old paperbacks. Can't get that from a digital file!

Like Michael, my bottom rows of shelves also are fitted extra-height to accommodate taller books.

And, as some of you have mentioned, my books are like old friends to me, and just looking at their spines makes me happy. And the heft, tecture and "booky-book" smell (thanks, Peregrine 12 for that)... ah, wonderful, wonderful.

I'm in agreement. Devil take the Kindle, the Nook, and the rest of them E-Readers; they are useless. Think on it...when you get down to it, carrying a book around - especially a paperback - ain't really a great inconvenience anyway.

I tend to get a fair few ARC & first reads that make my ereader very handy. I also love it for carrying around a bunch of old, free stuff. If I'm reading something an author gave me that I just can't deal with during lunch, I flip over & re-read an REH story or something. Like I said, they're handy. For people that travel a lot, I'd imagine they're very handy. But, they won't ever replace my beloved paperbacks.

Ó Ruairc wrote: "If some 21st century techie type-of-person reads these posts, he'll proclaim the lot of us Luddites and tell us to get an E-reader."

I would tell him/her rude things i cant write in goodreads comment ;)

The first thing i did when i moved in a new apartment two weeks ago was buy 3 book shelfs and make room for my books.

I only put in my shelfs books i will keep long time. I trade or give away one time reads.

E-readers are here to stay, and serve a great purpose to keep the written word alive and in an economical matter. I'm pretty well read, but have never been one to keep books on a shelf. They take up a lot of room I don't have. And for the price of a few paperbacks, I can load 10x as many ebooks.

No, my Kindle is power. It is the next generation of reading.

Sure I like paperbacks, but have a limited budget. I'd much rather read it fresh on a kindle than go to the used book store where the binding it wrinkled or cracked and the pages yellowed.

E-reading is to books what email is to hand-written or even typed letters. Sure, you can still write a letter and send it off via USPS or its worldly equivalent, but when is the last time you did?

E-readers do have a place, particularly when travelling, but it's those wrinkled, yellow pages for me every time.

Plus, you can't replicate books like these electronically:

While I don't use the E-reader, etc, I know they're here to stay. In my own opinion, making books cheaper and more accessible will likely increase worldwide readership, which is a good thing.

(I mean, if Twitter and FB can help start revolutions in the Arabian countries, what will happen when *everyone* can get copies of REH? Huh?)

But, like every other advancement in the age of humankind, parts of an art will surely be lost. Well, into that brave new world - but I've decided to grow my library rather than cutting it back when it overflows, as I've done in years past.

These posts have really made me see that having over 500 books in a house isn't (total) insanity! I'll be moving into a larger house this spring so guess what that front 'bedroom' is going to be. Mmwahahaahaaa...

I have a Kindle, but I tend to use it for books I know I don't care to reread or keep on my shelves. Largely because I am running out of room in my house for books. I've read several books on my Kindle - and it isn't the same. I don't get the same connection as I do with a physical book. It's similar to the difference between having a friend you know on FaceBook or Goodreads or email, but never meet - and the friend you hang out with in person. It's a different experience.

But it's okay. I like talking to you guys here, I like commenting on posts on FB to people I barely know... but I also like hanging out with the people I hang out with in person. Some books are okay to have that distant relationship with, while others you want to have that personal relationship with.

That's the way I view it, and how I decide if I am going to buy a copy as a bound, printed friend, or as a downloaded distant friend.

John wrote: "E-readers are here to stay, and serve a great purpose to keep the written word alive and in an economical matter. I'm pretty well read, but have never been one to keep books on a shelf. They take u..."

E-readers is good for people like you that dont want to their books around them or read books in their hands. You compare 1000s years of history of written word,literature to emails, letters that was not art, billions of billions dollar market,everyday activity like reading paper books.

You dont even need shelfs to read paperbooks. Most people trade,give away and buy new books. Why second hand stores are around. I have read twice as many books as i have kept.

Paper books are not dated technology like CD discs. The day all books are e-books is the day we all have been dead for a 1000 years. Humans might die out before paper books are excint.

I don't think any one of us believes ereaders will do away with paper books, Mohammed.

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I think ereaders are going to bring back the penny dreadfuls - or maybe they already have.

Free books + ereader = cheap & horrible writing

Luckily, I'm able to find plenty of good stuff, too.