I don't know that I'll hit 100 books this year, which is fine. (I'd have to do a helluva lot of reading for the last half of the year, that's for sure!) The important thing is that I'm reading more than I would have otherwise, and I'm happy with that.
I've read 13 books as of May 31st, which totals 5,214 pages. I'm happy with that.
I hope to get a lot more reading done in the second half of the year, particularly as I expect things will normalize a little better than they have so far. And, if not, well, I read 13 books in 2012.
Right now I'm reading The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield. It's one I read quite some time ago, and it's one of those books I knew I'd want to reread. It just has that kind of story. So that's what I'm doing.
And I'll try to get past reviews up soon.
What are you reading?
Gosh, I think I would hit at least a 100 books a year if I could count the number of times I re-read a book.
ReplyDeleteRight now, I'm sifting my way through "Black Elk Speaks" - an incredibly powerful exploration of the minds and cultures of the plains Indians. I've read it before, but each time I pick it up it affects me differently.
Oddly, I STILL can't bring myself to read the chapter on the massacre at Wounded Knee. I've only been able to do that once, and once is enough!
Before that, I read "Lords of the Horizon", a fairly disjointed narrative of the Ottoman Empire. Lots of worthwhile images there, but burdened by the author's (apparent) determination to display his own knowledge of the subject, as opposed to improving mine.
Before THAT, I read "John Dies At The End": a story which originally circulated on the net, and gained so much popularity that the author was encouraged to expand and publish it commercially. This book was as transformative an experience as I have had reading fiction since LOTR.
Its hard to explain why, especially for a long time S/F nut like me, but, the author takes some unusually original approaches to explore S/F themes which I previously thought had been sucked dry.
Which may be a worthwhile lesson for any budding author. Every time we think a subject has been mined out by generations of artists, along comes one who opens stunningly original vistas!
I agree.
ReplyDeleteI took a writing class in college, and the professor presented the idea that all stories are variations of the archetypal hero myth. The challenge for writers is to make readers think their stories aren't.