I just read this dire article at yahoo saying that
only one in four Americans read a book this year
Can't say this is a surprise of course, but just as I was set to cluck my tongue at the ignorant masses, I thought to myself...
"wait a minute, I haven't read a book this year either."
I am one of them!
Typically, I use the summer to read, since the rest of the year is so reading-heavy for me. I haven't gotten around to it this year, however.
Looking down beside my bed right now, however, I see a pile of books stacked up a few feet...but no fiction. Fiction is what I think of when I think of "reading a book," and it takes an effort these days to read fiction...just too much effort.
So these books in my mind, don't really count.
Anyway, I see below me, a snapshot of my monthly reading. There's:
Now you see what the picture up there has to do with all of this. (bet you were wondering, weren't you?)
The World of Ancient India (pictures and text, all I need in a book)
The Law of Attraction (yes, I do read this sort of crap.)
The First Time: Innovations in Art (Drat...should have looked at the second part of that title.)
Figure Painting Today (not quite Figure Skating Today, but it'll do.)
Food in Medieval Times (for work, honest)
Furnish: Furniture and Interior Design for the 21st Century
And, last but not least,
Valentino: A Dream of Desire (not well written, but it goes into some detail about his homosexuality, and that's the hook)
Pretty hot, no?
So, what about the rest of you, what are you (avoiding) reading?
8 comments:
I surrendered to mindless science fiction years ago. I’m re-reading The Curse of Chalion. Aisde from crap, the only things I’ve read this year were Wise Children by Angela Carter and Middlesex by Jeffrey Eugenides. I liked the crap better. And I Liked Un Lun Dun by China Mieville. Do you know him? Not only is he a bizarre and interesting writer, he’s humpy, too.
Because I have been lucky (?) enough to have jury duty this month, which really involves a lot of sitting around, I have actually read about 10 books so far. I will miss that part about jury duty the most.
I just picked up two books from a doorstep in the quarter on Monday: "Cows, Pigs, Wars and Witches" and "The Autobiography of Malcolm X."
The former seems interesting but since it was published in 1974 is probably horribly outdated. The latter is something I've wanted to read for a long time, but never got around to.
Non-fiction. "Under the Banner of Heaven", by Jon Krakau. It's about two fundamentalist Mormon brothers who kill their sister-in-law and her infant daughter, and claim it was God's will. A well-written and researched look at fundmentalist Mormonism. It's monstrous what people in this country get away with in the name of "faith". Tax evasion, welfare scams, child brides, incest.
I haven't read fiction in a long time, but like you, I always associated reading (as in "what are you reading now?") with fiction.
But I'm currently reading (in bed, on the swing, at Cox, at the bank, here and there):
Cesar's Way (The Dog Whisperer guy)
The Other End of the Leash
The Atlas of World Archaeology
It's Me or the Dog
Ultimate Visual Dictionary of Science
The Art of Raising a Puppy (Monks of New Skete).
thanks all!
Mrpeenee: Humpy, eh? I will have to check him out...at least the dustcover.
Veronica: must be Orleans....at least Jefferson Parish will get you in and out pretty quickly...and all you have time to do is catch up on Readers Digests from 1970.
Vincent:
I loved the Autobiography of Malcolm X. It's been a while however since I've read it. The part about him conking his hair is the best part, by the way.
Miss Janey: Wow...Mormons are hot right now aren't they?
Jason:
Gee, are all those dog whispering books helping? :)
The books ARE helping, Jason. And the shows. I'm learning a lot and putting it all into practice. And things have gotten so much better around here!
Well, as far as the fighting thing goes anyway.
There's still the matter of "how long does it take to destroy a new couch" and stuff like that. ;)
I'm reading crap. Silly little murder mysteries and lots of British Jackie-Collins-esque novels. I feel a bit less craptastic if my smut is from the UK -- its more dignified somehow.
Am about to read Ken Follet's The Pilars of the Earth, though. It's on the nightstand, ready to go.
Post a Comment