I never feel like I have enough time to write, and I never feel like I have enough time to read. The two things go hand in hand, I think, whether I’m doing research for a project, checking out markets, or just looking to activate my imagination. Sadly, my relationship with books followed a typical trajectory. I read constantly through school and college then sloughed into literary semi-detachment. Polls show that readership in America is declining. One quarter of adult Americans don’t read books at all. Men seem to be especially lazy in this regard. They only account for 20 percent of fiction readers. E gads.
I purposefully set forth to read more when I started taking my writing seriously. Now I’m always reading something and have three or four books in my reading queue. In the past two months, I finished two great books: Gregory Maguire’s Lost (I’ve now officially read everything by him) and Jeffrey Eugenides Middlesex (yeah, I’m playing catch-up on the modern classics). I’m now reading Scott Heim’s Mysterious Skin. Holy cow. The book is frickin’ dynamite! I’m simultaneously reading a novel manuscript by a member of my writers group. Next up will be Eric Mays’ Naked Metamorphosis, which just arrived at my door from Amazon. Then, I’m looking out for two books: Scott Heim’s We Disappear and Gregory Maguire’s Matchless (just released).
I read Middlesex and loved it…I’m catching up too. I’ll take a look at someof the other ones you are reading. Do you ever read anything by women?
Guys like stuff like Clive Cussler novels.
You know, you should subscribe to be a book reviewer. Books get dropped off at your mailbox with a dateline to send review.
That way – you could get free books, and be forced to read within deadline AND write about it.(True, you want to focus on your stuff and not other peoples but . . . )
“Lost” was wonderful. I realize not a lot of people liked it, Andy, but I did. Middlesex was great, too.
I’m glad you’re reading…reading anything. The leisure of reading has been replaced with tedium and I feel that our society has gotten dumber for it. Also, the language is being replaced by a bastardized form – texting, email, instant messenging. All of these are accepted forms of language (Webster’s has even accepted the “words” LOL and WTF).
Terry Pratchett once said, if you want to write, then you have to read more than you write. I completely agree.
Douglas Clegg launched a challenge to read 100 books this year – that’s, like, 2 per week! Egads! I’ve stepped it up to do that too, but sadly I’ve not finsihed two per week.
Thank you for posting this, Andy!
Besides, your plate if full with reading/writing material.
Thanks everyone for your comments. Yay! My post has started a discussion.
Liz – Sadly, I am a bit of a sexist reader. This subject actually just came up on an Absolute Write message board. There are books by women I would enjoy out there, I’m sure, but I tend to gravitate toward books by men. I do read Joan Didion and I read every Agatha Christie mystery in my formative years. What female authors should I be reading? Oh – and of course J.K. Rowling is great.
Eric – I could go on and on about Gregory Maguire. I’ll control myself! I loooved Lost. But my honey-bunny is reading it right now and really just choking it down like cough medicine. I’d say Wicked is my favorite by Maguire, Son of a Witch and Confessions of an Ugly Stepsister close seconds, then Lost a close third. And yes – the decline of reading for pleasure is deplorable, and strangely, technology is making us more stupid. Good luck with getting through your 100 books!
Gravy – I’m thinking of posting some book reviews here. We’ll see if anyone in cyberspace notices.