Making Time
So I was at the doctor's today, and we got into this discussion of how little he reads (one book in eight years). He's too busy reading up for Boards and assorted other things and pleasure reading falls way down the list.
Same was true of another busy physician I know. He's plowed through one book in the last couple of years. In his case, he made it worth it--an 800-page beast that is full of insights on life.
I am reading this novel. Without a DOUBT, the most ambitious, complex and challenging novel I have read in a LONG, long, long time. It was chosen FOR me, in a sense, by a friend of mine, who has loaned me his copy.
So once again, I wonder . . . what do you make TIME for? In your vast TBR piles, what makes the cut and what lingers on the TBR for ages?
Lately, I find, I don't read to escape. I read for it to "count." By that, I mean, if I am going to find time to read, I search for the challenging novels.
I choose biographies a lot. Still gravitate toward science (nonfiction) and occasionally math. Physics.
But novels? I think I look less for escapism and more for things that make me THINK.
How about you?
25 comments:
I read a lot, so there's kind of a wide variety of what I'll make time for. It's the one thing I won't give up. Over the past few years I've added more titles to my tbr pile that I've chosen because they're YA or middle grade and I want to stay up on what's out there - but also because I enjoy reading those - which is really kind of funny, because I skipped right past most of those when I was the age to read them. I've also made a habit of buying my blogging friend's new releases when I can.
Right now I'm reading two books, Cold Mountain which has been on my tbr forever. And my daughter and I are reading Neil Gaiman's The Graveyard Book together.
My daughter is 12 and one of the assignments her teacher gave this year was for a parent to read a book out loud with their child. It's so much fun and something I never would've thought of on my own (she's been an independent reader for a long time). What's amazing though, when we started the book, she hated to do the outloud reading. So I took over a lot of it at first, but Gaiman's prose in this one don't really roll off the tongue. It's really well written, but he fluctuates back and forth between the different dialects for different time periods of the ghosties and the narrative itself is written in a very different voice. So you wind up tripping over words here and there. When my daughter noticed that I had to stop and think about a word or phrase before continuing, it kind of bolstered her own confidence, which was kind of fun to see. Plus it's just nice to cuddle up with a book and we're trucking through 20 - 40 pages in a sitting without really thinking about it.
The reading along thing struck such a chord with me, I actually wrote an article on it and sold it to a local parenting magazine. I'm thinking of writing an essay on the experience after we've finished the novel, too.
Hi Merry:
My son is reading The Hobbit. It sort of inspired me to maybe revisit a couple of classics that I love.
E
I gravitate back and forth. Right now I am reading fluff. But within the last two months or so I've also read heavier stuff.
Just the act of reading itself is regenerative for me.
I read a lot of contemporary YA both to keep up on what's out there and because I love it. I also read a fair amount of non-fiction, mostly stories of people over coming incredible odds. And, I'll spend some of my reading time on fiction that is set in Alaska.
I try to read things that challenge me and over the past couple years I've made an effort to read more classics. After each one I've needed to read complete fluff to shake out the cobwebs. If something takes too long for me to read (over two weeks) I stop enjoying it and reading a comedy or mystery puts me back in my groove.
I read for a love of language and story. If I get lost in a book I want to figure out why. If I need to put it down and walk away, I want to know why that happened as well. I make time to read both commercial and literary work because I like each one for different reasons. I don't think I could ever be too busy to read, but there was a time I could not concentrate long enough to read, my mind was so busy I wasn't even distracted, I couldn't focus on more than a paragraph, so I read magazines and catalogs only for a few years.
When I read I want it to resonate with me in some way - and that can happy with a light and fluffy novel or an epic. I'm easy. ;)
I read every day, though sometimes only for a few minutes before bed. Mostly fiction but now and again I crave learning something so grab a bit of nonfiction. I don't enjoy reading little bits at a time as it doesn't allow me to enter the author's world as fully as when I can dedicate 30 or 60 mins at a go. I love character-driven novels that share a new world or a new view of the old one. I also appreciate a well-constructed story and authors who don't skimp on plot for the sake of either beautiful language or characterization.
Escapism all the way. I like the way certain books or movies make me feel and I look for that feeling over and over and over again. That's why I re-read and re-watch particular favorites. It's the addict in me.
And then there are the ones that just intrigue me. Some non-fiction, some not.
I actually think I should read more romance since I seem to be in love with chick flicks (especially period pieces), but I just don't gravitate to that part of the bookstore.
Either way, my attention span seems to be getting shorter these days. I've noticed that I start books and then they sit there at various stages of completion. Some sit there for a very long time.
I'm all over the board, but I read a lot. I'm typically reading a novel and a nonfiction book simultaneously, although the NF takes me forever to read--a couple pages a day.
I also get Smithsonian (about a year behind), Archaeology (a couple months behind), Time (ridiculous, usually a couple weeks behind), Acoustic Guitar (about a month behind), numerous newsletters, USA Today, and whatever crosses my computer screen.
I have my favorite authors, but I've been trying to consciously expand into genres I used to read (like fantasy and SF), but moved away from toward mystery/thrillers.
I read to escape, and to keep up with the YA and MG genres. But I'm also reading Origins-- a fascinating scientific read. And recently, I've been reading books from my childhood. What exactly compelled me to love those particular books? I'm trying to explore that answer.
I read several books at once, so that no matter what mood I'm in, happy with my reading material.
My reading tastes have changed, and to be honest with you, I'm having trouble knowing what I like now. I love John Irving, and I'm reading his newest, Last Night in Twisted River, now. Before I got out here, I revisited a ton of my childhood favorites. I loved Brom's retelling of Peter Pan (pretty much for adults), The Child Thief Talk about vivid writing! Wow!
I found a couple Thomas Hardy novels I never read. I don't know, though. I just can't seem to find what I love, lately. I'm re-reading a lot. And so many books seem to lose their lustre for me around the middle or the end. I don't know what's wrong with me.
I finished reading The Exorcist for the first time this morning. Good, but I don't think it would have caused near the stir if it hadn't been for the movie. Next up is another book by Blatty, Legion, the follow-up to The Exorcist. I'm in the horror mode and trying to visit or re-visit some of the classics in that genre. Also reading some new stuff like Jack Ketchum.
Lately I've been reading to keep up with what is hot - the books people keeping talking about, etc.
But if a book doesn't grab me within the first 50 pages, I put it down. Life is too short to read something I don't enjoy.
Joe:
I do crosswords when I need a recharge. I guess they use that part of my brain, but they are a game. :-)
E
Paul:
I love contemporary YA and especially humorous middle grade--love some of the fresh voices.
E
Melanie:
LOL! Yeah . . . I think a lot of people switch off like that.
E
Amy:
I think sometimes I read character-driven thriller or crime ( not often) for that--but I like humor in it . . . and like you, I like to analyze why I like the book so much.
I had said I like Mike Lawsen's books a lot. It's the character all the way for me.
E
Colleen:
Character-driven for me, too. :-) E
Sarah:
I used to re-read Jane Eyre periodically, or Little Women, or Dickens, for precisely that--they were escapism for me in childhood and I still find that soothing.
Natasha:
LOVE John Irving, though I have heard some personal stories about him from a friend that make me not like HIM so much.
E
Heather:
I haven't read that one--will check it out!
E
Jude:
I tend to think sometimes it's hard to judge genre without contemplating the era. It was radically different and creepy for its time.
I think of the Fletch books. His kind of humor and so on, I don't know that it would hold up quite so well in 2009--but for its time? FUN.
E
Nadine:
Me, too, abot the first 50 pages.
I do enough thinking when I'm working. I read to escape into another world.
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