Oftentimes, when people meet me for the first time, they think that I must read a lot. I guess my dorky glasses make me look like a bookworm. Well, I do like reading. I just don’t like reading most things. Here’s my story.
When I was a kid, it took me a long time to learn how to read. Why? Because I was bored out of my mind. I hated everything I was given to read. I didn’t discover books written for adults until I was 13, so I jumped right into that, but it didn’t take me very long to figure out – the authors of all these books were just making crap up. And not only that, but they weren’t very good at it.
When I read a book, I have to find the book more compelling than my every day-in-day-out life (which is actually pretty incredible), and more interesting than me just sitting around day-dreaming. To compete with those two things I think is pretty challenging. The author has to electrify me beyond my wildest dreams (literally) or I’m going to go do some laundry. I only read when I’m sick or when I’m travelling. Otherwise – I have my own fish to fry.
This last week, I threw up spinach dip five times in a row. Stomach flu - way to ruin the holidays. Sheesh! But I got some good reading in. I was reading Witch Week by Diana Wynne Jones. She’s one of the few novelists I can stand and her book The Lives of Christopher Chant is one of my favourites. So, there you have it – someone I can recommend who has regularly written books I have found palatable.
Speaking on the subject of me being sick, I’d like to tell a story. I enjoy Sophie Kinsella’s books (though not Remember Me) and I wanted to read her book Twenties Girl, but every time I passed it in the shops, this little voice inside me said no. I wasn’t sure why. Then on this particular day I was shopping and I passed it for sale in Safeway, of all places, and I had the strongest feeling that now was the time. So, I bought it and felt sick indulgent (because I feel that way whenever I buy a book I haven’t read before). Two days later I was admitted into the hospital and I had nothing to do, but sleep and read. Thank goodness I had something to read. I finished reading it five minutes before my husband came to get me. Lucky!
So, yeah, I find it excruciatingly difficult to find anything good to read. If anyone has anything they would like to recommend to me, I’d be very appreciative. I’m quite open, but if anyone suggests Love Comes Softly or Twilight, I’ll wring their virtual neck.
.jpg)
5 comments:
I hope this saves! My awesome virgin comment on the last post vanished. What's Love Comes Softly? I need to be properly able to disarm it when someone suggests it to me.
A Song of Ice and Fire by George R. R. Martin is a very good series. As is A Wheel of Time by Robert Jordan. If you get a chance, you should look into those ones :)
Hey JQ: Love Comes Softly is a series of pioneer love stories that my friends tried to get me to read when I was in seventh grade. They made some cheap movies of them lately and now everyone is reliving the magic, but I can't even say the titles of the books without gagging on my tongue.
Hey Kat: I definitely will check out the first series you mentioned, but I think Robert Jordan was effected by some kind of unstoppable verbal diarrhea. In all fairness I did try to read it - I just found it unbearably wordy for no reason without consistent effort on the main plot line just so he could crank out more books. He's the worst for wordiness. But I still love you - like I said - I'm ridiculously hard to please.
I love Jones! One of my favorite animators made a movie out of 'Howl's Moving Castle' a couple of years ago. Did you see it?
Yup. It was great!
Post a Comment