Reading, not my favorite hobby
I must admit that I love literature, but as a rule I hate to read. I love books, but hate to read.
Don’t get me wrong, I want to have a passion for reading, but I supposed it is more that I have a difficult time reading. I’m not sure if it is a reading disability or what, but reading is not a hobby. I am a SLOW reader.
In high school we had to read Charles Dickens’ Tale of Two Cities and William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet. I LOVED them both. They were “page turners” for me.
Back in the “dark ages” (junior high school), I forced myself to read Herman Melville’s unabridged Moby Dick. YUCK! YUCK! YUCK! It was over 900 pages of pure YUCK! All I remember is there was this dude (Ahab) who was hunting and a whale (Moby Dick). That’s it… it was a stupid-a$$ book. After that I didn’t read unless I was forced to.
In college I was required to take Fiction. UGH! We read Red Badge of Courage and Where the Red Fern Grows. Classics… still have the books. Again, don’t remember much about them… Remember Red Badge of Courage being good, but that’s it.
I remember “way back when” (early 1990s) I went to a first Star Trek convention. YEP you read that right, I’ve been to a Star Trek convention… actually, I’ve been to three. My last one was in 1993… I bought a reserved seat because the speaker was none other than William Shatner and I was I was hugely pregnant with The Offspring and wanted to be sure that I was guaranteed a place to sit. But you’re not here to read about me going to a Star Trek convention… well, I supposed you are since that’s how this paragraph started…
…Anyway, at the aforementioned convention one of the dudes emceeing mentioned Peter David’s book titled Imzadi. It’s about Star Trek: The Next Generation’s Will Riker and Deanna Troi had a love affair on Betazed long before they were on the Enterprise. People were raving about it. So I, the one who hates to read, went to the store and bought it… my co-workers were stunned that I brought a book to work to read at lunch… they knew I hated to read.
Well… I finished all 300+ pages in less than 7 days! That was a MAJOR feat. Yep, me… the one who hates to read… I couldn’t put it down. I loved it! I couldn’t stop reading it… it was a “page turner”. Go figure…
When I got my first audiobook I was ecstatic! I have more audiobooks (CDs, tapes, MP3, etc.) than I even know. I wish I could get them all listened to. Some of the books I like so much I bought the hardback or paperback so I could follow along or have to go back to reference.
I have seven books (I think) sitting on my night stand… I have one sitting here next to me on the sofa… it’s just calling to me… so it is now time for to close my computer and curl up and read a chapter before I go to sleep. Yep, read… not listen, but read… There is hope for me yet… 😉
What is your favorite book? What book is sitting on your nightstand?
Well written. One sign of a latent reader.
Passion for something is related to pleasure.
Don’t be afraid to skip through or check the ending in fiction to see if you will have pleasure with the story.
When I found someone to read aloud to it was a great benefit. My friend has a vast vocabulary so helped me with words I didn’t know or didn’t pronounce correctly. One word which I knew, but didn’t recognize written was epitome. I messed it up more than once with her. A lot of pleasure in that reading relationship WAS relationship! Book sharing and referring to it years later.
I am sure your friend really appreciated listening to you read. 😀
I absolutely LOVE Janet Evanovich’s Stephanie Plum series. One for the Money, Two for the Dough, Three to get Deadly, Four to Score, High Five, Hot Six, Seven Up, Hard Eight, To the Nines, Ten Big Ones, Eleven on Top, Twelve Sharp, Lean Mean Thirteen, Fearless Fourteen, Finger Lickin’ Fifteen, Sizzlin’ Sixteen and Smokin’ Seventeen comes out this summer. Although I am 2 books behind. I read the first 11 books in less than 2 months and like you, I’m not a reader. I read book 9 in one day.
Stephanie Plum is a bounty hunter… but she’s horrible at it. She’s been locked in cars, coffins, with dead bodies, blown up buildings, cars, expensive cars, and with the help of Grandma Mazar they burned down a funeral home. Yeah, it’s fun 🙂 And now they are making One for the Money into a movie staring Katherine Hiegel.
Right now I have to read 15, 16, Julie & Julia & finish the Pioneer Woman’s book.
I wondered if Janet Evanovich’s books were any good. I bought audio CDs of some… but not sure which ones. They’re packed up right now due to our preparations for Remodel Phase 3.
Have you ever read Pride and Prejudice?
I started Pioneer Woman’s book… in fact it’s one of the ones on my nightstand. I have it in audiobook form, too. 😉
I love to read! I started reading young and would burn through over 100 books every summer (I know, nerd! lol!) I read Lord of The Rings, the first time, in fourth grade, and still love to revisit the series. I have so many books that I read over and over again. My first “favorite book” was one I read when I was 6 or 7, “A Dog called Kitty”. It is just a cute book. Another one that I loved when I was young was “Bridge To Terabithia”. I loved reading Shakespeare in school, was lucky enough to have a class that went on a trip to Ashland to the festival there.
I love that you have gone to a Star Trek convention! I never have been to one, but still have a desire to get to comic-con in LA. 😉