So this past decade I lapsed in to decadence and my book reading really suffered as a result. I felt that my writing and English have suffered in these days of autocorrect and spellcheck, too. I partly attribute it to Kindle and e-books. I've learned that they're not my speed and despite their convenience, they don't force me to read and I don't find reading on them enjoyable. The result? I'd amass a lot of books on my kindle but didn't read them because it's just another tech device and I didn't have an urge to take it with me everywhere. There was one year I read 40 books in a year but it was an anomaly. So the past few months, determined to get back to it, I decided I was going to read one book a week minimum. It's been really working for me. Recalling a Warren Buffet quote about how he reads up to 500 pages a day, I knew that if I was to reverse the effects of my idleness that I'd have to read more, and read faster. I knew I couldn't read 500 pages a day but I felt that 100-200 pages would be a comfortable number for myself at least. I knew that with my old reading speed it'd be tedious so I researched ways to read books faster. Turns out I always read every word in my head to visualize the story or what I was reading. I started using my finger as a pointer and using my peripheral vision to read the sides of the text. I found my reading speed double or even triple and reading one or two books a week has become a simple task.
But more relevant to the thread is how much I've enjoyed it, reading books regularly again. The touch of the paper, and having a fresh, new book always around has been really great. I'm also quite spirited by the artistry of modern book covers. They almost always scream,"grab me!" which makes it easy to partake. I've hazarded to use my phone less in waiting times, and now pull the current book I'm reading out while waiting for something. This has helped me read 100 pages or more a day with surprise. One thing that reading more has also done is help be reacquaint myself with classical music. Another passion I had neglected. Schubert, Beethoven, Chopin, Bach, and Glass fill my ears as I read. While driving, I listen to Podcasts like NYT's Book Podcast. I've never really gotten into Podcasts for whatever reason, opting instead to listen to music while on the road. But through my book podcasts I've also started to listen to NPR, WaPo, and NYT podcasts which have another layer to being informed in the world.
My simple but implicit goal of wanting to read more somehow is upending bad habits and re-establishing good ones.
Among the things I've read are some Philip K Dick, Isaac Asimov, Steven King. These are authors I've always wanted to get into but didn't. I honest found Dick to be...disappointing but King and Asimov have been a delight. I've also re-acquainted myself with love for fiction of the Bronte sister, Jane Austen tradition which I've found more to my taste than the aforementioned science fiction and horror, as I am currently reading House of Gold which can be summed up as a Jewish Downton Abbey.
More than anything though is how much I'm surprised book lovers propagate trash. Like, when I was looking for lists of books to read I found on Goodreads for instance, so much of it was stuff like Harry Potter. While I have no large issue with Harry Potter I just don't understand why or how it could possibly be levied on the same level as say, To Kill A Mockingbird. People are offended when I make this observation as well and truly consider Harry Potter on par with Brave New World or Lolita. So to my surprise, I found that book readers were just as trashy as any other consumer and that finding reliable testimony on what's good takes a fair amount of research. In the end though, I think I've settled on a nice medium.
Sorry for writing so much. Anyone else start reading again with more regularity?