The Joy of...Reading
Okay. Confession: I'm reading this book at the moment...and...I'm not completely loving it. I don't hate it--it's not a "throw the book at the wall" or "well, that's X hours I'm never going to get back" scenario. But I'm not carving minutes out of a full day to keep reading. I'm not filtering out the world to stay in the one the author created. I'm just not invested. Know what I mean?
Here's the thing, though: Now that I know how much effort goes into writing a book, I feel like I ought to give an author a second, third and fourth chance. Read all the way through to the end and take what I can from the experience.
Too accomodating? Possibly. It certainly got me thinking about more positive reading experiences, which was so much fun, that, well, here are some of them, (if you're familiar with my Muse Fuel page you'll know I love writing "favourite lists"):
Reading Joy... Sitting at the kitchen table aged three, reading out loud to my mum, while she did the washing up. Not wanting to surrender my new Enid Blyton books long enough for the sales assistant to process them. Being allowed to read anything at the dinner table! My first Judy Blume. Getting to grips with Shakespeare, Austen, Dickens, Orwell and Huxley. Lying in the tall grass on a summer day reading Agatha Christie. Sitting in a rickety old armchair with my first Violet Winspear romance. Hardy Boys books under the bleachers at school. Collecting Nancy Drew mysteries in hardback. Deciding one math textbook equaled getting to read three Sweet Valley High books. Giggling with my best friend over the names of heroes and heroines in 70's and 80's romances. Skipping piano lesson to finish the latest Ann Rule. Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone, in a caravan, on a stormy grey day. Vowing to stop reading Stephen King books late at night while on my own. Continuing to read Stephen King books late at night while on my own! Snatches of the latest Harry Potter in between meetings at work. A pub in Bath, a crackling fire and a dog-eared copy of Our Mutual Friend. Bridget Jones being responsible for making me laugh out loud...on public transport! The year I made my entire Christmas present list Nora Roberts titles. Holiday suitcases containing more books than clothes. Buying an eReader and having more suitcase space for clothes! Filching a Lee Child book off hubby and one chapter in, knowing I had to read them all. Reading the weekend newspapers over brunch.
It's all about: the joy, the thrill, the escape. The knowledge gained. The more questions asked. The pounding of your heart, the turning of the page. Time passing unnoticed. The speed-reading as you devour. The slowing down when you don't want to reach the end. The worlds you get to visit. The sigh when dialogue speaks straight to your heart. Lyrical prose. Words blurring on the page just before tears fall. And the feeling when a writer says the thing you've always secretly believed, but thought no one else did!
Then there's the one exquisite and unchanging truth: There will always be a TBR pile!
So what are some of your favourite reading memories? Eve
Here's the thing, though: Now that I know how much effort goes into writing a book, I feel like I ought to give an author a second, third and fourth chance. Read all the way through to the end and take what I can from the experience.
Too accomodating? Possibly. It certainly got me thinking about more positive reading experiences, which was so much fun, that, well, here are some of them, (if you're familiar with my Muse Fuel page you'll know I love writing "favourite lists"):
Reading Joy... Sitting at the kitchen table aged three, reading out loud to my mum, while she did the washing up. Not wanting to surrender my new Enid Blyton books long enough for the sales assistant to process them. Being allowed to read anything at the dinner table! My first Judy Blume. Getting to grips with Shakespeare, Austen, Dickens, Orwell and Huxley. Lying in the tall grass on a summer day reading Agatha Christie. Sitting in a rickety old armchair with my first Violet Winspear romance. Hardy Boys books under the bleachers at school. Collecting Nancy Drew mysteries in hardback. Deciding one math textbook equaled getting to read three Sweet Valley High books. Giggling with my best friend over the names of heroes and heroines in 70's and 80's romances. Skipping piano lesson to finish the latest Ann Rule. Wilkie Collins' The Moonstone, in a caravan, on a stormy grey day. Vowing to stop reading Stephen King books late at night while on my own. Continuing to read Stephen King books late at night while on my own! Snatches of the latest Harry Potter in between meetings at work. A pub in Bath, a crackling fire and a dog-eared copy of Our Mutual Friend. Bridget Jones being responsible for making me laugh out loud...on public transport! The year I made my entire Christmas present list Nora Roberts titles. Holiday suitcases containing more books than clothes. Buying an eReader and having more suitcase space for clothes! Filching a Lee Child book off hubby and one chapter in, knowing I had to read them all. Reading the weekend newspapers over brunch.
It's all about: the joy, the thrill, the escape. The knowledge gained. The more questions asked. The pounding of your heart, the turning of the page. Time passing unnoticed. The speed-reading as you devour. The slowing down when you don't want to reach the end. The worlds you get to visit. The sigh when dialogue speaks straight to your heart. Lyrical prose. Words blurring on the page just before tears fall. And the feeling when a writer says the thing you've always secretly believed, but thought no one else did!
Then there's the one exquisite and unchanging truth: There will always be a TBR pile!
So what are some of your favourite reading memories? Eve
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