Reader Profile:
I have on one of my book shelves the following words framed:
The first step to
recovery is admitting you have a problem.
Well, I don’t think I have a problem per se, but if I did it would be
this:
Bib’li-o-hol’ism (Gr
biblion) n. (Biblio + holism) books, of books: the habitual longing to
purchase, read, store, admire, and consume books in excess.
When folks perusing my stacks find this, I often get a
glance, a raised eyebrow, and sometimes a questioning smile. My response is usually, “We’ve never missed a
meal or mortgage payment or any other kind of payment and, yes, my wife is fine
with this.”
I am drawn to a wide variety of genres. I enjoy historical
fiction, westerns, science fiction, literary fiction, spy novels, and certain
kinds of thrillers. My most recent
Authors I have read lately:
Louis L’Amour - Hondo
Wally Lamb – The Hour I First Believed
Barbara Kingsolver – Flight Behavior
Jan Karon – Mitford Series
Susan Howatch – Glittering Images
Lee Child – Jack Reacher novels. I am reading them in order and have just
finished “The Affair.”
I read fiction for several reasons.
1.
I want to be entertained.
2.
I want to escape from my present “issues and concerns”
and be engrossed in someone else’s “issues and concerns.”
3.
I want to live vicariously through a particular
character.
4.
I want to learn about myself through interacting
with the story and characters.
5.
I want to learn about a particular time period.
For the last two years, I have been keeping track of the
books I read and summarizing them and writing favorite quotes on an excel sheet
I created. My last class in the MLS
program was Youth Materials taught by Annette Lamb. She had us keep a log of our reading for the
class on either Good Reads or Library Thing.
I created a Good Reads account and am going to stick with that. I like doing book reviews and through Good
Reads people can read my reviews and summaries.
Years ago I was paid to write Book Reviews for the Dallas
Morning News. Gosh, that was fun. I earned Starbucks money AND I got to keep
the book. How cool is that!?
Hi Jeff ~I have always had the same problem; that is, being able to let go of my hardcover books. Every decade it seems I have had to let a few more go ~ I'm down to my King James Bible from grade school, my collection of "The City of God" by Sister Mary of Jesus, my two favorite cookbooks and a few Reader's Digests. What a great idea summarizing your books as you have read them. I see you like Louis Lamour - I was surprised to see in our readings that he wrote on a novel base in the 12th century Middle East - my step-grandfather had a whole bookcase of his books - all were westerns so the Middle East setting was a surprise, nice one too.
ReplyDeleteI remember reading the book by Louis L'Amour that you mentioned. I read it years ago. I believe it was set within the framework of the crusades. It was just as captivating to read as the westerns.
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