Reading Can Be Dangerous
DON’T BOTHER ME. I’M READING. Boy, am I reading. I don’t know if I have enough time to write these words with all of the reading I have to do.
Ever since the invention of those small, book size electronic readers (Nook, Kindle, and about a dozen others) I have been reading more and my back feels better. Now, instead of lugging around a bunch of actual books with me I can carry my reader and have my entire library with me.
Last week I was sitting outside enjoying the warmth and sunshine and I reached down and took my Kindle out of my “Of Mice And Men” tote bag. I watched joyfully as it downloaded my most recent book purchase – adding it to the electronic pile in the virtual corner…my pile of “BYTR” – Books Yet To Read.
I took the time to count them. How many books do I have stacked up waiting for my eyes to devour them?
The total came to 198.
198 as of yet unread books on the Kindle.
If these had been actual paper and ink books I would be sleeping in the car because the house would be filled to the rafters.
198 books – given that I usually have three or four books in play at any given time, this “E-pile” should be consumed in a relatively short time. The only problem is that while I am gnawing away at one end of the stack I am hopelessly adding to it at the other end. It is like that old episode of “I Love Lucy” where she and Ethel are working in a candy factory. No matter how fast they are trying to pack up the candy the conveyor belt keeps delivering more, faster and faster. I am Lucy with books.
What do I read? While I am voracious I am not an Omnivore. I do enjoy both Fiction and Nonfiction. A good story is a good story. I do have trouble with most “Sci-Fi” – mainly because I find most of it poorly written or thought out. I’m not entertained by “Fantasy” works. I find it hard to relate to Dragons and Wizards. I grew up two blocks from a steel mill – keep your Dragons.
There have been some “Romance” writers who are wonderful, but in too many cases the heavy-handed formulaic layout takes away any suspense or surprise. I know that in seven pages there will be a bare-chested passion scene.
I don’t mean to condemn or discard any genre or authors with a swipe of my electronic hand. Good writing is good writing. Tell me a good story and keep my interest and I will be with you until the last page.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch – I am reading and writing. I barely have enough time to maintain myself at the molecular level. I think that I need more time in every day so that I can make a noticeable dent in that E-stack. I hate the idea of there being books left unread if I am suddenly hit by a bus or taken out by a stray meteor.
OK – that is enough. I have to get back to the book I started reading yesterday morning.
Talk amongst yourselves. I’ll be back tomorrow – God willing and the stack of books don’t fall.
Down the Hall on Your Left 
I will never live long enough to read all the books on my TBR stack, in print and digital!!
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On top of that there are all of the things that we write.
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Yes, John. A good story is a good story!
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