October 26, 2015

Fundamental Reading Is

I have been for the better part of 40 years, a voracious reader. Didn't matter what the material was, newspaper, book, magazine, periodical, I read it. And for the most part, enjoyed it. Lately though, it seems that my interest in reading has waned quite a bit, and sadly, a lot of it has to do more with what I choose to read than anything else.

For better or worse (mostly worse it seems) my selections from the library has left an extremely sour taste in my mouth. It seems like for the past several books that I'd checked out of the library I have found to be wanting.

For example, out of the last four non-fiction books that I've checked out, I've only read one to completion. To whit:

John Lydon's latest memoir is just a rehash of his previous memoir, except a few extra years have been added on.
Ringo Starr's bio. This one, I got to the very end of a six page intro to find out that it was more of an unauthorized bio than anything else. Nothing worse that reading a bio about someone only to find out at the very end that it was written w/o the cooperation of the subject matter (Robert DeNiro's bio is also written sans Robert DeNiro's input).
John Prine's bio. Ditto.
Charles Dodson's (aka Lewis Carroll) bio. This one simply didn't grab me. Read through about one dozen pages of a prologue that concentrated on Alice Liddell before I cried Uncle Albert.

I've also encountered this problem with my choice of fiction as well. To whit, the last two books I've read by W. Bruce Cameron (he of 8 Simple Rules) were just phenomenal pieces of fiction (A Dog's Journey and A Dog's Purpose) that stayed with me long after I had returned them. But one that I checked out a week or so ago called The Midnight Plan Of The Repo Man, simply doesn't do it for me. I got as far as the beginning of chapter 2 before I gave up the ghost.

So from this brief sample, you can probably deduce that I've hit a serious dry spell. And for those of you who don't know my reading habits very well and think I'm being a little whiny, all of these books met my minimum criteria for selection: good title, good jacket blurb and a good random page read.

So now this leaves me in a bind for reading material. As of late, I don't bring books into work to read. Too many issues have arisen from me sitting at my desk with my nose buried in a book, so I do crossword puzzles at work. Thus, the books I pick up from the library are for when I need a temporary break from reality.



Since pickings have been categorically bad from the library, I'm now left with an option that I really didn't want to pursue: read books from fellow writers in genres that I normally don't read. Now, please don't misinterpret this, but while I'm all for supporting my writer friends when I can, I sometime draw the line at reading them, simply because they're in genres that I simply don't read. I know I sound like a snob, but before you criticize, how many books do you have in your physical/digital TBR pile that have not been touched yet? Well, I'm pretty much the same way.

But as the saying goes, desperate times call for desperate measures, and the following books I have in TBR pile are from fellow writers who I'm either friends with on FB or follow their pages on FB. All are very talented and all write in genres that I have to touch but will soon.

The Book of Frank by Debbie Marsh. Elementary teacher extraordinaire, this remains the only MG book besides Ms. Madison's that I will admit to reading and enjoying. It's a novella and it kicks ass.

Give Me Wings & Wings and Beyond by Joy Redmond. I'd first met Joy while were (briefly) stablemates with Solstice Publishing. She has roughly a half dozen high quality and well written books out, and I highly recommend her to anyone who is looking for a new voice.

Nowhere To Hide by Tracy Lynn Tobin. A Canadian writer, this is her first novel. I first met her on Facebook maybe about a year or so ago and I find her to be quite entertaining. So when she was offering copies of her novel for sale, I said, "I'll buy one." Little did I know it would be in a genre that I haven't read much in.

So this is what I have for reading material in the on-deck circle. It's not much, but sometimes, when you really feel the need to feed the urge to get lost in someone else's writing instead of your own, you feed it anyway you can. And these books by these writers will feed that need. And, if they feed it well, I'll return the favor and feed Amazon.

(c) 2015 BOOKS BY G.B. MILLER. All Rights Reserved.

20 comments:

  1. Maybe just avoid biographies for a while?
    If science fiction isn't your thing, I won't suggest mine, even though they have converted a lot of non science fiction fans.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I think that is the plan for a while. I'm seeing a slew of bios coming through the new non-fiction shelf, and they seem to be less than impressive (although the last volume of Samuel Clemons auto-bio just came out).

      I don't mind sci-fi, although I have not dipped into your particular sub-genre yet. But if I can snag pint versions, I would give them some serious consideration.

      Delete
    2. All four books are available in print! Amazon, Barnes and Noble, etc.
      I remember a blogger buddy once saying that memoirs from non-famous people are just boring. (He said it funnier than that.) Some lives just don't need more than a page of bio.

      Delete
    3. Yeah, that sounds about right. I think the same can be said for some famous people too.

      I will check that out over the weekend and see what I can come up with. Thanks for the tip.

      Delete
  2. I went through a dry patch but am reading footfall now, an invasion earth story, and enjoying it a lot.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That sounds like a promising premise for a story. I don't mind sci-fi/paranormal as I've hadn't read enough to become jaded about the genre. Something to look into.

      Delete
  3. Have you read the Game of Thrones series of books? I'm on book # 2 at the moment and am enjoying them.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I have not. I've heard so much about the GoT series that I'm very relucntant to test those waters. I have no intention of watching the series, but it will be hard to read the books w/o remembering the stuff with the series. The key thing for me is if the book is a separate entity from the series.

      For example "Dexter" the books series was light years away from "Dexter" the t.v. series, so I had no problem reading and watching both.

      Delete
  4. It's funny, because some unauthorized biographies go out of their way to make that known...better to be honest.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. True dat. I still would rather have it written with either the participation of the person in question or the participation of the estate. The bio of George Harrison is a fine example of having the participation of the estate as well as everyone else who knew him involved.

      Delete
  5. I can understand your predicament, if predicament is the right term. I have found that in order not to find myself in a situation like yours (I, too, am an avid reader) I try to have a variety of options. i.e., authors whose work I love but whose output I have not read completely. That always leaves space for a pleasant "surprise". Still, sometimes it can backfire as it did a few years ago with the Czech writer Milan Kundera. After becoming a fan in my 20s, especially after reading his early work I was a tad bit disappointed when I read his "French"novels. That is, works written originally in French, Kundera's cum-native tongue after he migrated there to France in the 70s.

    I wish you better luck with your library material.

    Greetings from London.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've come across that particular issue that you'd mentioned only once. There was/is a fascinating fantasy series called "The Wheel Of Time" written by the late Robert Jordan. The problem I eventually found was that it seemed to go on forever (14 volumes and counting). Each volume was roughly 800+ pages and you had to go back to the previous one to figure where he was in the current one. Got fed up and it soured me on reading fantasy for 20+ years.

      Delete
  6. You know, that's a very frustrating thing. I went through something similar last time I went through printed books at the library. I had just finished Stephen King's Dark Tower Cycle, and wanted to keep going with the same caliber of books, but...nothin'. Couldn't find a thing. And everything I found at a local bookstore (I think it was Border's, before they collapsed) was "meh" at best.

    I'm glad to know I'm not the only one, though I never did sample non-fiction. I'm a fiction guy all the way, for the most part.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. For the longest time, the only fiction I'd read was historical fiction, which was less aggravating and less disappointing to read. It was only when started venturing into other types of fiction did I experience that kind of disappointment. I found a couple of authors in the romance genre who wrote in my opinion fantastic books that got me hooked (Whiskey Road & Fashionista were the titles) but whose subsequent titles fell far short of my expectations.

      Non-fiction was my genre of choice while growing up, which was based on the sub-genres that I enjoyed then and still enjoy now, so it will always be my fall-back.

      Delete
  7. I wish I had time to read more - between long hours at my job and the long commute both ways - I'm away from home 12-13 hours a day. I've been listening to a lot of books on CD though while driving. Currently: American Wife by Curtis Sittenfeld. It's a thinly veiled fictionalized account of the married life of Laura and George Bush. I can't say I'm really enjoying it, but it is passing the time in the car.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I've always had a problem listening to audio books. To me, when I'm listening to the radio or the c.d. player, or back in the day, the cassette player, I always had to be doing something else. I could never just sit still and listen to a book. I did have my moments back in the late 80's/early 90's in the pre-cable days, when I did listen to audio books, but lately, my attention span is such that to concentrate on an audio book is pushing my limits of endurance.

      Delete
  8. I feel you on this one. I rely on books to be an escape hatch from reality, and sometimes they don't deliver.

    Have you read anything by Ken Follett? I am a fan of his, and his books are super-long so they'll keep you happy for many days, if they suit you.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I don't believe I've heard of him. I don't mind super long books (the historical fiction that I've read usually clocks in at 800+) so long as they keep my interest. That's the key.

      Delete
  9. I wish I'd read more. Internet takes up a lot of my time where I could be reading an actual book--at least I'm reading something. Reading blogs counts as reading.

    Arlee Bird
    Tossing It Out


    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. That seems to be the extent of my reading as well these days.

      Delete

These days, the written word is to die for, so please leave a comment that shows me and everyone else the real you. All kinds of verbiage will be cheerfully accepted in the spirit it was written.