for simple beauty and truth i prefer reading food wrappers (non-fiction only of course). "may contain: mechanically separated beef and/or chicken and/or pork." oscar myer - "Low Fat Smokies", 2003. Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! *sniffs, brushes tears from eyes* God ... its frigg'n beautiful. makes people like Shakespeare sound like 2 bit hacks with a speech impediment.
I read daily, for long hours (my life allows me). Recently, I got into the habbit of reading history books like one would read a novel.
Buffy: the best I ever read was on a packet of Sainsbury's Salted Peanuts: DANGER! Contains Nuts! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
I'm a reading addict. I read the ingredients and packages of EVERYTHING. I read the Nutritional thing on all foods all of the time. I like to watch tv with the captions on so I can listen and read at the same time. I also read about a chapter a day of whatever book I'm currently interested in. I'm very jumpy too. I have about 30 books which I'm reading now. I'll start them, and then halfway through start another, and when I think about them next, I'll read another chapter or so. And to think...I plan on dedicating my life to the written word as well.
Red Devil, thats a great one, id love to hear about the law suit that brought that warning to the package - i bet the story behind why they have that is even funnier than the warning DarkEyedBeauty, OMG i could cry, EVERYONE i know hassles me because i insist on watching movies/tv/news with the captions on (so much information is lost in mumbles or behind sound effects). I seriously thought i was the only hearing person on the planet who did that. Ive even e-mailed my favorite movie makers imploring them to have close captioning for the dvd commentaries - sort of sad in a "holy shit am i ever a geek" kind of way. I also juggle books in a way similar to what you mentioned. i usually have 5 or 6 that im actively reading, floating around and jump between them depending on my mood. its the only way i can keep from getting bored (with most books there is a point i just need to step away from them for a while to rebuild my enthusiasm). Once in a blue moon ill find a book so compelling that ill lock myself up until its done but thats pretty rare.
I found that once I figured out what genre's and authors I really like, it was easy to find really compelling books. Examples: There was one book that I was eagerly anticipating for about a year and it finally came out....I got ahold of a copy and read it in an hour! Lots of times I take the book to work with me so I can read on my 15 min breaks!
Usually, its not the fault of the genre or authors i read its just my nature to prefer having more than one thing going on at once. Even with my work i tend to start numerous projects at the same time so i can move from one to the other so if (when) i get stuck creatively or i simply get frustrated i can do something useful instead of just pulling my hair out. A chance to step away and focus on something completely different is a very effective way of problem solving for me. Its the same for me with books (actually every part of my life), i just naturally gravitate to that way of doing things. Oddly, the "compelling" books that i devour in one sitting are usually not the ones i enjoy the most in retrospect or end up rereading. My favorites are usually the ones i had to struggle through at some point. Perhaps i said it poorly in my earlier post, "book juggling" is my preferred method of reading, i enjoy doing it that way.
No, not a law suit but a lot of people can be killed by the substances contained in peanuts, its more of a health warning!! I have finished The Poison Master by Liz Williams, excellent read. Now back with David Eddings and starting (again) with Belgarath The Sorcerer............
i realize substances containing nuts can be lethal to some but its not like we're talking about something fried in peanut oil or food with nuts as a hidden ingredient. either you don't know you're allergic, in that case the warning won't help you or you know you're allergic and in that case you wouldn't eat a bag of them to begin with. The only reason i can imagine they'd put it there is because of a silly law suit. Like the people who successfully sued mcdonalds for having coffee that was hot. Imagine ... hot coffee? how could mcdonalds be so irresponsible! but i digress, back to books! books, in my opinion, are good.
It depends upon what you're reading, how you read, and why. I tend to read that way too although 30 seems a bit too many to keep track of, I usually have 3 or 4 going at any given point which is also the number of books I tend to finish in a week. But I try to mix the genres up and some days I want something for pure entertainment while on others I'm ready to tackle headier topics which results in having several going at once. ~Raithere
Gendanken: Yes and no. I usually have two or three books unfinished at a time, simply because I'll work through some of it slowly. I've been reading "Being and Nothingness" for the past two months. Generally I'll bury myself in a single work, though.
The reason that it is 30 is because I will start a book for one of the two literature classes I schedule a semester, and then I won't end up finishing. And then I will have to start another. So I'll end up during the week after finals, finishing about 10 books. Plus people send me books often, friends from other states. Friends request that I read other books. And I'm currently reading Fellowship and The Silmarillion at the same time. Less than reading The Silmarillion, yet more than simply referencing. And sometimes I will read through smaller works that my younger brother is reading to help him with his homework.
DEB - my love! I do the same thing. I am in the middle of 14 books right now, not counting all the programming books, computer books, etc I am partway throguh for work. I start one, get about halfway through, begin another, go back and read some of the first, start a third, read some of the second, start a fourth, read some of the third, read some of the 1st, etc,etc. I thought I was the only one! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image! I feel so connected to you Please Register or Log in to view the hidden image!
Xev: Yes, but she said thirty. Sounds like barhopping. Imagine dipping into particle physics, glossing on Hegel, pouncing on Hume, dabbling with Rand, flirting with Dickens, Dumas, Burgess, and Swift only to leave it half done. I'd be raving mad to do that to myself. Pause. Agh. Insanities! Godamn how I hate that book, you have no clue. That book can singe eyebrows just looking at it. Its a motherfucking tedious little piece of shit. Did you read spiel about "acteron complex"? Ha-ha.
I'm thinking of making a t-shirt that says " I hate books. ", because it would be so politically incorrect. I usually have no patience with fictionary books. I always end up disliking the author for having a unsympathetic outlook on life, or that the story is too predictable. I feel like I'm wasting my time reading about someone elses fantasy when I should be making my own fantasy a reality instead.
When I find something I enjoy, I love to read. Fact is, I rarely find anything that interests me enough. I did enjoy the book about Napster though.
whoa that's a lot to keep your mind on at once. maybe 2-3 for me but 15? 30?? one of these days you're going to finish the last page of every one of them and then you can tell people "i just finished 15 books today".
