Let's Talk Books
So, here's the thing. When people ask about hobbies, what I like to do in my spare time, I've always wished I had something more "fun", interesting or athletic to say. Oh...I bike 100 miles every weekend or I rock climb. I'm on a roller derby team or I perform at the local playhouse. Or I make ceramics or grow vegetables that I sell at Farmer's Markets on the weekend; I paint, play piano, sing in my church choir, et cetera. But, the honest, simple answer is -- I like to read.
When you find out I got my undergraduate degree in English you're probably not surprised by that fact but reading has been my constant love since elementary school. There have been definite phases in my reading life. I think it's certainly gotten a lot more diverse as I've gotten older. Thank goodness!
I'd never read a non-fiction book (excluding school textbooks) until college but reading Simon Winchester's The Professor and the Madman permanently changed my reading style and preference in a radical way. I'd never known that in the hands of a talented writer, real life, real people, real events could be told in a lyrical, inspiring way. Non-fiction written as storytelling...love it! Ever since college, non-fiction books take up a healthy amount of space on my bookshelves.
I can be a bit obsessive in the way I read too. Late elementary and junior high reading was mostly defined by Sweet Valley Twins, Sweet Valley High and Babysitter Club books. High school was mainly required reading. Then, in college, there was my period of obsession with Anne Rice -- reading the first three books of the Vampire Chronicles and the Mayfair Witches trilogy. I didn't read the Harry Potter books when they came out but finally read the first book in October 2010 and then sped through the other books, finishing Deathly Hallows in June 2011.
I had read and was familiar with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe but had never read the whole Chronicles of Narnia series. I borrowed the whole series from a friend when we lived in Saint Louis and proceeded to read all the books in quick succession.
When we lived in Germany I worked with a lot of book lovers, which is probably not uncommon either in my chosen profession of public affairs and communications. We all read the three books that started with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the Hunger Games series, the first five books of A Song of Ice and Fire, better known as Game of Thrones. I finished book one in May 2012 and read through the other four, finishing book five - A Dance with Dragons - in November 2013. We also read the Twilight series.
So, yes, I've read a lot of popular fiction. I've also read the Divergent series and even Fifty Shades. I keep up, somewhat, with what everyone is talking about and reading.
When I discovered Isabel Allende's book Paula (which I highly recommend), it led me to reading every other non-fiction book she'd written, plus some of her fiction. I did the same with Barbara Kingsolver. I've read the majority of her non-fiction but haven't made it to her fiction yet.
Thanks to a bookstore in Arizona I was introduced to the writing of Janice Emily Bowers, starting with her book A Full Life in a Small Place. With favorite quotes like: "To open ourselves to love is to open ourselves to pain, and to open ourselves to pain is to ensure the possibility of love." And, "There's no lack of that (emotional wear and tear) for desert gardeners, anyway. All summer long my garden pins medals on me with one hand and administers slaps with the other." I read everything I could get my hands on by Bowers. I do Google searches sometimes wondering why she hasn't written anything new in a long time.
I've read all of Frances Mayes' Tuscany books...not just the popular Under the Tuscan Sun but Bella Tuscany, In Tuscany, Bringing Tuscany Home, Every Day in Tuscany, and A Year in the World. And we had the joy of finding Bramasole on a trip to Tuscany in 2011.
Last year I got a bit obsessed with Jon Krakauer after watching the documentary Meru, which I also highly recommend, reading Into Thin Air, Into the Wild, and Eiger Dreams. Virtually back to back.
So, I love books. There's genres I don't really read much...horror, sci-fi, mystery, romance, and crime thrillers. Although, when I was younger, I did read some Stephen King and Dean Koontz and I went through a phase where I read a lot of Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone books and I even went through a Danielle Steel phase.
Whenever I learn about new books I might like to read I look them up on Amazon and save them to my Wish List. My Wish List has over 200 books on it, about 40 of which are cookbooks. They're not all books I plan on buying. I sometimes keep a look out for them in used bookstores or check them out of the library. I didn't use libraries for years but in the past four years I have become a committed, passionate library card user. Tom is a supporter of this probably because it ends up saving us money!
So, here at the end of the year, I'm going to share all the books I've read this year. I think it might be fun to start doing a yearly reading wrap up. As of right now it's nearly 30 books. That may not be a lot for some people but that's a pretty steady-state number for about how much I read in a year.
You might wonder how I keep track of all the books I've read. Well...around 2010 Tom gave me a Moleskine Book Journal, where I keep track of all the books I read whether borrowed from a friend, checked out of the library or read as an e-book. I just recently started adding the books from my own library too. In the past, when I finished a book from my own collection, I'd just write my initials and date I finished the book on the inside book flap.
I really enjoy having a record of what I've read. It tells an interesting story of it's own. What was on my mind at the time? What was I watching or listening to? What was happening in my personal life? You'll see with the 2017 reading list that with this recent move to Italy that for about three months I chose reading that was light and fun and not too demanding. Thank you David Rosenfelt!
In my journal I can see where sometimes one book leads to another book which leads to another. And then there are times when the different books I'm reading have no connection and make no sense at all.
So here's to books and the authors who write them! Thank you for the many hours of pleasure, relaxation and enlightenment you bring into my life. Here's to my favorite hobby!
When you find out I got my undergraduate degree in English you're probably not surprised by that fact but reading has been my constant love since elementary school. There have been definite phases in my reading life. I think it's certainly gotten a lot more diverse as I've gotten older. Thank goodness!
I'd never read a non-fiction book (excluding school textbooks) until college but reading Simon Winchester's The Professor and the Madman permanently changed my reading style and preference in a radical way. I'd never known that in the hands of a talented writer, real life, real people, real events could be told in a lyrical, inspiring way. Non-fiction written as storytelling...love it! Ever since college, non-fiction books take up a healthy amount of space on my bookshelves.
I can be a bit obsessive in the way I read too. Late elementary and junior high reading was mostly defined by Sweet Valley Twins, Sweet Valley High and Babysitter Club books. High school was mainly required reading. Then, in college, there was my period of obsession with Anne Rice -- reading the first three books of the Vampire Chronicles and the Mayfair Witches trilogy. I didn't read the Harry Potter books when they came out but finally read the first book in October 2010 and then sped through the other books, finishing Deathly Hallows in June 2011.
I had read and was familiar with The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe but had never read the whole Chronicles of Narnia series. I borrowed the whole series from a friend when we lived in Saint Louis and proceeded to read all the books in quick succession.
When we lived in Germany I worked with a lot of book lovers, which is probably not uncommon either in my chosen profession of public affairs and communications. We all read the three books that started with The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, the Hunger Games series, the first five books of A Song of Ice and Fire, better known as Game of Thrones. I finished book one in May 2012 and read through the other four, finishing book five - A Dance with Dragons - in November 2013. We also read the Twilight series.
So, yes, I've read a lot of popular fiction. I've also read the Divergent series and even Fifty Shades. I keep up, somewhat, with what everyone is talking about and reading.
When I discovered Isabel Allende's book Paula (which I highly recommend), it led me to reading every other non-fiction book she'd written, plus some of her fiction. I did the same with Barbara Kingsolver. I've read the majority of her non-fiction but haven't made it to her fiction yet.
Thanks to a bookstore in Arizona I was introduced to the writing of Janice Emily Bowers, starting with her book A Full Life in a Small Place. With favorite quotes like: "To open ourselves to love is to open ourselves to pain, and to open ourselves to pain is to ensure the possibility of love." And, "There's no lack of that (emotional wear and tear) for desert gardeners, anyway. All summer long my garden pins medals on me with one hand and administers slaps with the other." I read everything I could get my hands on by Bowers. I do Google searches sometimes wondering why she hasn't written anything new in a long time.
I've read all of Frances Mayes' Tuscany books...not just the popular Under the Tuscan Sun but Bella Tuscany, In Tuscany, Bringing Tuscany Home, Every Day in Tuscany, and A Year in the World. And we had the joy of finding Bramasole on a trip to Tuscany in 2011.
Last year I got a bit obsessed with Jon Krakauer after watching the documentary Meru, which I also highly recommend, reading Into Thin Air, Into the Wild, and Eiger Dreams. Virtually back to back.
So, I love books. There's genres I don't really read much...horror, sci-fi, mystery, romance, and crime thrillers. Although, when I was younger, I did read some Stephen King and Dean Koontz and I went through a phase where I read a lot of Sue Grafton's Kinsey Millhone books and I even went through a Danielle Steel phase.
Whenever I learn about new books I might like to read I look them up on Amazon and save them to my Wish List. My Wish List has over 200 books on it, about 40 of which are cookbooks. They're not all books I plan on buying. I sometimes keep a look out for them in used bookstores or check them out of the library. I didn't use libraries for years but in the past four years I have become a committed, passionate library card user. Tom is a supporter of this probably because it ends up saving us money!
So, here at the end of the year, I'm going to share all the books I've read this year. I think it might be fun to start doing a yearly reading wrap up. As of right now it's nearly 30 books. That may not be a lot for some people but that's a pretty steady-state number for about how much I read in a year.
You might wonder how I keep track of all the books I've read. Well...around 2010 Tom gave me a Moleskine Book Journal, where I keep track of all the books I read whether borrowed from a friend, checked out of the library or read as an e-book. I just recently started adding the books from my own library too. In the past, when I finished a book from my own collection, I'd just write my initials and date I finished the book on the inside book flap.
I really enjoy having a record of what I've read. It tells an interesting story of it's own. What was on my mind at the time? What was I watching or listening to? What was happening in my personal life? You'll see with the 2017 reading list that with this recent move to Italy that for about three months I chose reading that was light and fun and not too demanding. Thank you David Rosenfelt!
In my journal I can see where sometimes one book leads to another book which leads to another. And then there are times when the different books I'm reading have no connection and make no sense at all.
So here's to books and the authors who write them! Thank you for the many hours of pleasure, relaxation and enlightenment you bring into my life. Here's to my favorite hobby!
 |
| Books I hope to finish before the new year. |
I've never thought about the journey my reading preferences for any given year tells, what an interesting concept. I will need to record my meandering reading list to see the story it tells.
ReplyDelete