On Reading
Nov. 29th, 2010 10:42 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
glitch25Reading for fun is something that really came to me later in life. It is interesting too, because I learned to read when I was 3ish, so it wasn't for lack of ability. I just never developed the passion of books that so many of my friends found. I also remember really not enjoying reading assignments in school, and it drove my teachers and I nuts trying to work through it.
Here and there, I would read a few things. I remember an early appreciation for sci-fi and some fantasy. I read several Bradbury books and that was when I fell in love with Fahrenheit 451. I also trudged through the entire C.S. Lewis Narnia series. Never could get through The Hobbit or the rest (still won't, interestingly enough).
Later, I remember trying to read Stephen King and finding that I appreciated his short stories far and above any of his novels. I also remember committing myself to reading the entire unabridged version of The Stand. Horrible novel. And this coming from the guy that loves post-apocalyptic fiction. Then again, I also read Battlefield Earth. I will never ever get that time back. :-(
I also remember developing an appreciation for Dean Koontz and Michael Crichton and read many if not most of those books.
Slowly around that time, I realized I like reading. :-) But at that time, I realized too that I was really behind from friends. That didn't stop me from finding interesting things to read. I just knew that if I was reading older things, I would often encounter the "oh yeah.. I read that back in high school" thing.
Over time, my tastes have wandered. I'm learning to appreciate non-fiction too.
Lately I go for anything, from established series (like Laurell K Hamilton's Anita Blake series, even for as much as it makes me twitch these days) to various autobiographies including lately Melissa Gilbert's story about things leading up to Little House and things after, and Carol Burnett's latest tales of the behind-the-scenes high jinks prior to and during her shows, and Howie Mandel's struggle with OCD and ADHD and how it has shaped his career and livelihood. I've also been trying to catch up on some classical literature as well, though at times I find that more difficult. And now I've found a deep abiding fondness of post-apocalyptic fiction, and am pursuing that rather heavily. I recently read The Road and was disappointed that the movie carried the book so well (while interesting, the book was a bit too slice-of-life for me and kinda left me feeling flat at the end. The movie the same.). I had also started in on two volumes of The Survivalist series by Jerry Ahern, and I really really enjoyed those, but they are difficult to find in ebook format, and most of the novels are also out of print.
And I have to say long before the latest ebook craze, I was reading books on my Palm devices, and now read most of my books on my netbook (holding out for a versatile tablet to replace it). In fact, as I was recently reminded of a certain risqué photo I took of a certain Harry Potter book, I have read ALL of the HP's in ebook format long before they were in that format thanks to dedicated fans with scanners. The photo in question shows a book that, to this day, has not been officially cracked (for those that saw the picture, I'm guessing you know which choice I made ;-) ). I bought it merely to assuage my guilt at having read it via ebook bootleg.
These days I pick them up from Barnes and Noble and using a script, reformat them so that I can read them on either my netbook running Linux, or on my phone if I'm so inclined. It's still fudging in the security sense, but I still pay for the book, and I don't redistribute it, so for me, I count it as even.
One of the things that really impressed me with the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle was the fact that they are obviously adamant about making sure the literature gets credit, and often have copies of the novels displayed along with props from movies and such. There is even a copy of Neil Stephenson's handwritten manuscript of the Baroque Cycle novels sitting alongside all of the ink cartridges and bottles of ink it took to write it. :-)
So yeah. I'm catching up. But I'm having fun. And please.. I beg you... the pile is wide and high. If you have any suggestions of any places I should start, feel free to suggest. The winter is a great time to hole up and knock back a good pile of books, and that is definitely the plan this season.
Here and there, I would read a few things. I remember an early appreciation for sci-fi and some fantasy. I read several Bradbury books and that was when I fell in love with Fahrenheit 451. I also trudged through the entire C.S. Lewis Narnia series. Never could get through The Hobbit or the rest (still won't, interestingly enough).
Later, I remember trying to read Stephen King and finding that I appreciated his short stories far and above any of his novels. I also remember committing myself to reading the entire unabridged version of The Stand. Horrible novel. And this coming from the guy that loves post-apocalyptic fiction. Then again, I also read Battlefield Earth. I will never ever get that time back. :-(
I also remember developing an appreciation for Dean Koontz and Michael Crichton and read many if not most of those books.
Slowly around that time, I realized I like reading. :-) But at that time, I realized too that I was really behind from friends. That didn't stop me from finding interesting things to read. I just knew that if I was reading older things, I would often encounter the "oh yeah.. I read that back in high school" thing.
Over time, my tastes have wandered. I'm learning to appreciate non-fiction too.
Lately I go for anything, from established series (like Laurell K Hamilton's Anita Blake series, even for as much as it makes me twitch these days) to various autobiographies including lately Melissa Gilbert's story about things leading up to Little House and things after, and Carol Burnett's latest tales of the behind-the-scenes high jinks prior to and during her shows, and Howie Mandel's struggle with OCD and ADHD and how it has shaped his career and livelihood. I've also been trying to catch up on some classical literature as well, though at times I find that more difficult. And now I've found a deep abiding fondness of post-apocalyptic fiction, and am pursuing that rather heavily. I recently read The Road and was disappointed that the movie carried the book so well (while interesting, the book was a bit too slice-of-life for me and kinda left me feeling flat at the end. The movie the same.). I had also started in on two volumes of The Survivalist series by Jerry Ahern, and I really really enjoyed those, but they are difficult to find in ebook format, and most of the novels are also out of print.
And I have to say long before the latest ebook craze, I was reading books on my Palm devices, and now read most of my books on my netbook (holding out for a versatile tablet to replace it). In fact, as I was recently reminded of a certain risqué photo I took of a certain Harry Potter book, I have read ALL of the HP's in ebook format long before they were in that format thanks to dedicated fans with scanners. The photo in question shows a book that, to this day, has not been officially cracked (for those that saw the picture, I'm guessing you know which choice I made ;-) ). I bought it merely to assuage my guilt at having read it via ebook bootleg.
These days I pick them up from Barnes and Noble and using a script, reformat them so that I can read them on either my netbook running Linux, or on my phone if I'm so inclined. It's still fudging in the security sense, but I still pay for the book, and I don't redistribute it, so for me, I count it as even.
One of the things that really impressed me with the Science Fiction Museum in Seattle was the fact that they are obviously adamant about making sure the literature gets credit, and often have copies of the novels displayed along with props from movies and such. There is even a copy of Neil Stephenson's handwritten manuscript of the Baroque Cycle novels sitting alongside all of the ink cartridges and bottles of ink it took to write it. :-)
So yeah. I'm catching up. But I'm having fun. And please.. I beg you... the pile is wide and high. If you have any suggestions of any places I should start, feel free to suggest. The winter is a great time to hole up and knock back a good pile of books, and that is definitely the plan this season.