Filling my tank. With free books.

[vampthenewblack]

I'm trying to read more. I'm a crap reader lately, for a lot of reasons. There's the habit I have of avoiding recently posted works on AO3 while a season airs (because I got spoilered to fuck by AO3 tags before 3a even started), I don't see recs since I flounced tumblr a while back and don't watch my home timeline on twitter during a season either.

I have a couple rarepair feeds bookmarked, but most of it is OOC and uberkinky, which isn't my bag. The odd fic that is relevant to my interests tends to be quickies, short things that I kind of eat, bookmark, and then I'm out of stuff to read again.

Then there's time. I tend to think of reading as a leisure activity, whereas writing is enjoyable while also feeling productive. And I might be a stay at home mum with both kids at school, but holy crap, there's always something I 'should' be doing.

The lack of reading isn't helping my current writing situation. Nothing in, rubbish out, or whatever. Or fill the tank. Or something. I need to fill my goddamn tank.

What I have done, is resurrected my long-neglected Kindle account. Mostly I think Amazon is a bag of dicks for many reasons, one of which is the fact that I have books in there I frickin paid for but can't migrate to a preferred ereader and format (epub, because freedom), so I'll certainly never buy another kindle book. What they do do, though, is make it really easy to find free (as in beer, not freedom, because Amazon) original works.

I now have a kindle (app) stuffed full of original m/m fic. The quality of which will vary, but so far I haven't been too disappointed. It's the same with fanworks, the quality varies, and it's not like I'm out of pocket if I have to flounce something for crap grammar.

I'm making an effort to review things, too. It makes me think and it's kind of a thank you to those authors whose work is free to read.

Comments

[thraceadams]

Good for you! I've only been reading rec lists lately...and some of those aren't always to my taste (you know me I avoid the uber dark stuff like rape and non con and MCD so...there is that) and you're right, I've seen a lot of majorily OOC stuff - which if it's well done - is fine, I just treat it as Original Characters? but if it's badly done? I give it a pass.

and YES OMG stay at home mom and there's ALWAYS something to do, even when the child is at school...like laundry, or taking the dog out, or watering all the plants or cleaning the toilets - something yanno? So yeah, I don't want to feel like I've wasted the time alone on just reading /o\

And good for you for finding the free reads! I've been doing that a lot lately too - or the ones that are just $.99 I figure you can't even buy a cup of coffee for a buck and I might find a book worth way more than those ninety-nine cents...

If you get to a point where you think you can? I'd love a rec list :D

[vampthenewblack]

A rec list is a good idea. I've actually scheduled reading time into my weekdays (I'm totally OCD and block out the hours for all the things I have to do, it works for my productivity because I'm a procrastinator), so hopefully I won't lose whole days, but still get through a good few books over the next couple weeks. I'll go back through my goodreads once that happens and pull out anything that stands out :)

I like free books because #1 - I'm poor (yep, sometimes .99c doesn't even fit into my personal entertainment budget) and #2 - I have very specific tastes. I can name one pro author who ticks all my boxes almost every time. Traditional romance doesn't often satisfy me, and in MM, that's what most of it is. I'm not risking anything except for time with the free books, and if I like an author's style, then I'll check out the rest of their stuff.

As for the OOC fic... There's a couple of rarepairs I would eat like candy if there was a bit more serious fic around. It's all really, really OOC though. I read fic because I love the canon characters, so if the sheriff is fucking his son, I want an appropriate level of angst, and a little lot less fisting ;) I can't read OOC fic as original characters, though there was an AU that came highly recommended that I considered downloading and search & replacing the names just so I could read it as OF. Because I can't read AU for the same reason - I ♥ the canon too much.

[(Anonymous)]

OH wow, scheduled reading time. Good for you, especially if it works for you.

I get that, sometimes even .99 is too much. I can appreciate having very specific tastes, that's awesome that you found one author that ticks all your boxes most of the time. And yes, I agree, I will often take a chance on an unknown book if it's free - figuring the only thing I've wasted is time.

And this is why I'm happy there is so much fic out there and so many books, because we can't all like the same thing - so I say the more the merrier :D

[thraceadams]

Test - I left a reply, my login cookie disappeared and then it said my comment was screened.. *sigh* so this is a test...

[vampthenewblack]

Argh, and for some reason, DW didn't email me. *kicks DW some more*

But yes. All the fic/books, for all the special snowflakes XD

[thraceadams]

UGH *kicks DW* so I'm gonna try again.

YAY for rec lists :D Good for you for carving out some time for yourself - even if it is scheduled...whatever works bb, yanno?

I totally understand, even .99 is too much sometimes, totally get that. I will often pick up an unknown author/book for free because I'm only risking time.

And this is why I'm thrilled there are so many different fics and books out there, so there's something for everyone :D