My Reading Update: 8/16

Lately, my reading hasn’t been with the same fervor as it had previously. I finished the Stephen King Dark Tower series, and like its author, I’m glad to have it behind me! This seven-volume science fiction/fantasy series was good, but not among my favorites of his. I then began reading another ultimately disappointing King work titled Rose Madder. What bothered me the most concerning this novel about a battered wife who decides one morning to leave her abusive husband and strike out on her own is the way I could predict what would happen. And that is not the Stephen King I’ve come to know! After finishing Rose Madder, I began reading his more recent thriller (at least I hope it’s a thriller) Cell. So far, it’s starting out like a story reminiscent of his epic The Stand. At least it’s more interesting and unpredictable than Rose Madder (to me).

I read one of H.P. Lovecraft’s short stories titled The Picture in the House. Lovecraft’s descriptive language is very intricate though macabre. I just recently read Jo’s (another blogger) short fictional account of a similar wandering to an old house titled Summer Episodes. But with this tale, the very descriptive language conjured up feelings of wonder and joy, not fear and revulsion. I like reading both types, but they are vastly different from each other in their affect. Both differ from more standard prose fiction in that they implicitly invite the reader to slow down, take each phrase one at a time, and exercise his or her imagination to create mental visions.

I need to step up my reading, but seeing that my day has a built in time limit to it, and I must spend a good portion of it either working or unconscious, the remaining time needs to be allocated wisely. And that means that my family gets a large section of my time, as well as various home projects and some self-improvement activities (like running, writing, foreign languages, and piano). I’m thinking of just wearing one of those fanny packs that I can carry a paperback in, so that I will be able to create reading opportunities during times (like standing in lines) when I normally wouldn’t be reading. And I will be increasing my short story reading as well.

I’ve always done a lot of what I call casual reading (such as newspapers or magazine articles), and have dramatically increased this type of reading with my excursions into the blogosphere. There are some pretty good writers out there, and their interests span a wide range of topics. I’m especially impressed at the number of scientists, engineers, and mathematicians who use blogs to help educate the general public and spur interest in their sometimes very technical fields.