I read a stupid amount of books. Not only am I never found without one, but I’ve been known to read while eating, while working, instead of studying, before bed, during commutes to work… you name it. Just what is a stupid amount of books? About three or four a week, depending on book thickness and my busyness. I CAN read more, but then J, my cats and my garden might get testy. I’ve read at this rate for years, in one of my few displays of intellectual precociousness I learned to read at the age of three or so, and have had my nose buried in a book ever since.
To indulge this voracious appetite, one can’t be too discriminating, or you’d quickly run out of fodder. If I so much as tried to specialize in a genre I’d rip through the best of the best in no time, and who wants to read crappy books? So I read it all – fiction, non-fiction, history, popular science, sci-fi, horror, chick-lit you name it. I used to disdain sci-fi and fantasy, but recent years have converted me. I think the genres that I leave unexplored the most are romance novels and heavy historical tomes that detail old battles and such. Otherwise anything goes. In desperate times I’ve read cereal boxes, and mayo labels. Yes, I need help.
In my quest to find the next book to read, I turn to various sources – Goodreads reviews, Amazon (whom I single handedly keep in business, I swear), blogs and friends, family and co-workers. No one is spared. Occasionally this turns up surprises – reading a great new book is like making a new friend, for life no less, and the surprises run both ways. Sometimes a fluff book that stirred female hearts is actually enjoyable to my own surprise, and other times a critically acclaimed prize winning novel leaves me bored or untouched. I don’t know how many ‘classics’ I’ve picked up only to go ‘heh?’ ‘is this what everyone’s going on about?’… shake head.
I also have an annoying habit of finishing books. Even if they’re crap, I feel compelled to finish reading them to find out how it ends. There are very few I’ve set aside permanently, and I’m sure they should have a ‘wall of shame’ spot on a bookcase somewhere. Speaking of bookcases, I need to buy more since I’m running out of room again.
So, since you’ve READ this far, and I need more book ideas, here’s a small giveaway for inspiration and because it’s Friday – what three books would you take on a desert island? (Feel free to mention more if you’re in need of intervention like me) J One entry per person please, contest closes Sunday at midnight, and winner gets a $50.00 gift card from Amazon to spend as they see fit, on books or (heresy) otherwise.
Photo by Getty from the guardian.co.uk