Reading . Actual printed on paper books .

[Back in the fold]

The other day Gary mentioned that he was doing friends a favor in their not hooked up to the internet house and that he brought a book with him to while away the time . He also mentioned two lost hours on Facebook staring at reels that really were of no particular interest . This got me thinking and also analyzing my own habits . I don’t read actual printed on paper books as much as I used to and I think my reading comprehension skills have declined a bit as a result . The internet doesn’t encourage lengthy reads . I have lots of books and I spent the majority of today engrossed in reading “ Light on Yoga “ by B.K.S. Iyengar . There was a lot of stuff in the first several chapters on peoples personalities that was interesting reading . I noticed that reading a paper book was relaxing and the lack of glare from the screen was very welcome . So now I think it’s time to revisit “ The Monkey Wrench Gang “ by Edward Abbey and to finally get into a book I’ve had for a while but haven’t finished . “ H.M.S. Surprise “ by Patrick O’Brian . There are twenty three books in his Captain Jack Aubrey / Stephen Maturin series and this is the third . If you liked the movie “ Master and Commander - The Far Side of The World “ you’ll love these books .
Anybody else a reader here ? What are you reading ?

 

[Innesfan]

Haven't read much fiction of late but lots of biography and history. Currently reading GERSHWIN by Edward Jablonski.

 

[gimme30]

Oh man I am a huge reader, but nothing as heady as you two as I read to escape. So, besides the classics, (I still can't get through Moby Dick) it's nothing but fluff. Easier on the brain, little bits of which dribble out of my ears every night when I sleep. I'm plowing through Sebastien de Castell's catalogue atm.
I infinitely prefer paper books but mostly read e-books these days thanks to hand injuries that just makes small tablets easier to hold. Plus when I fall asleep and drop it it's easier to find my place again.

 

[connorlindeman]

I just finished reading The Gulag Archipelago by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn and am now reading Permanent record by Edward Snowden.
I hate reading online so I am an avid user of my local public library. So far this year I have saved $1000 by borrowing books.

 

[GaryE]

I grew up in a family where both my parents had grade 8 educations, as they'd gone to work young. They were both extremely intelligent people, and had a respect for education and reading. They bought one work of fiction a month, through a book club, and I read them all. Later in life I built a library of paperback second hand books - there was a used book store across the road from where I ran an offset press, and as mad as the boss got, I could run the machine blind and still produce more than the other guys who paid attention. I read all day and worked by the sound of the ink on the paper, and am a natural fast reader. Most weeks, I read three novels or history books, and had a taste for the thought provoking ones.

I ran in writers' circles and had some stuff published. I married a lit prof who came from the same sort of background I did, and we loved our books. I'm hopeless at trivia, because I didn't watch TV. It was always books with music on.

When we retired and moved east, 80% of the library was trashed. The old paperbacks fall apart with their cheap bindings, and we had to clear things out. We still kept a core of the best stuff, and I have them on shelves. I fell into a lot of popular biology/science reading for years, but am now revisiting fiction works I loved. I also keep up non fiction with science reading, and read a lot of history, especially European labour history. But fiction is back on the table, and I see have I also have a lot of catching up to do on more recent writing.

I'm a nerd. No question. My rereads of the month will be 100 years of solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez, and a history of changes in hierarchies in 14th century Europe. It keeps me amused. I want to read a lot of Margaret Atwood, as I've missed some of her stuff. She's a bright writer.

I hit the library hard. Not only does it save me money while opening eyes, but I can read there in an armchair facing a huge picture window, and when I look up I can watch the ships in the port, up close. Tugboats are very cool. At the end of her life, my mother was legally blind, but would still read novels for 30 minutes a day with a magnifier. She liked Tolstoy and Gorky, which is a lot of reading. She couldn't read longer than half an hour. I have some of the same eye issues, but with current medical treatment, will probably not go blind. But I find reading online with the backlighting really tiring for the eyes, so I still go with paper.

 

[gwand]

I usually read non-fiction but most recently finished Frankenstein by Mary Shelley. Fascinating read. Now I’m ready to watch the new Frankenstein film by Guillermo del Toro. Before that I read Bach: Music in the Castle of Heaven by John Eliot Gardiner. And before that I read the Cello Suites: J. S. Bach, Pablo Casals and the search for a Baroque masterpiece. I have been on a music binge for the last two years. These days, I listen to many books in addition to reading others. About every 4 to 6 weeks I drive six hours to North Carolina to see my grandkids. This affords me the opportunity of listening to 12 hours of audiobooks. This makes the time fly by.

 

[plebian]

I read a lot when I was younger, all fiction. I remember reading "The Hobbit" because it was recommended to me by a friend. First attempt, maybe 20-30 pages. Boring. But I had a lot of time on my hands. Second attempt, maybe 50 pages. Third attempt I finished "The Hobbit", "Fellowship of the Ring", "The Two Towers", and " Return of the King" in one week. Over the years, I reread those books 3 times over.

Aside from Tolkien, my favorite books were the "Dune" trilogy by Frank Herbert and "Something Wicked This Way Comes" by Ray Bradbury. As I got older I gave up fiction. As I got older still, I read less and less.

 

[Back in the fold]

I still can't get through Moby Dick

It took me three weeks to read Moby Dick . It is tedious and laborious reading at times . Herman Melville can make ONE sentence into a whole paragraph . It finally dawned on me that he was writing the way some guys speak , they drone on and get off on side tangents and sort of eventually circle back to what they were talking about originally . Having seen the old movie all I had to do was envision Richard Basehart speaking and I got through it fine . I wanted to read Moby Dick because of Ricardo Montalban’s Khan Noonien Singh characters fascination with it in Star Trek II : The Wrath of Khan . It was worth it .
Another great Age of Sail seafaring book that is really good is David Grann’s “ The Wager “ . A story of hardship and deprivation that will stay with you long after you’ve finished it .

 

[seangee]

Most of my reading these days is on the Kindle. Mainly for the sake of space but also portability. If I need a reference for work I don't want to have to search through hundreds of physical books - even if I had the space to store them.
Fiction is reserved for holidays these days. As a compulsive reader I can't help myself from reading the entire book in a single sitting (assuming its worth reading). Have read Lord of the Rings 3 times (in the last 50 years) and it can make me a bit anti-social

I have no problem with putting a movie on pause and coming back a week later - but not a good book!

 

[gwand]

There were parts in the Frankenstein book that reminded me of Moby Dick. For about a third of the book, Dr. Victor Frankenstein is obsessed with finding and destroying the monster he created. Dr. Frankenstein travels to the end of the world finally near the North Pole in search of his nemesis. And again similar to Moby Dick, the good doctor and the monster, both die in the end.

 

[Back in the fold]

Only one book have I ever read entirely in one sitting from start to finish . Edward Abbey’s “ Good News “ . A tale of a dystopian future that turns out well . The anarchists won !

 

[Innesfan]

As many of you know, I like books. Especially well made, beautifully printed and bound books. So I'm old school and prefer words on pages bound in hardcover that I can hold in my hands.

 

[gwand]

Only one book have I ever read entirely in one sitting from start to finish . Edward Abbey’s “ Good News “ . A tale of a dystopian future that turns out well . The anarchists won !

Have you ever read, The Road by Cormac McCarthy? It is the quintessential dystopian story written by a master storyteller. The movie is fantastic too. I can’t recommend the book more highly. Unfortunately, McCarthy died in the last few years. He was a world class author. Brilliant.

 

[Back in the fold]

As one who worked for many years in the printing business , until graphics computers replaced me , I love printed books and especially , like @Innesfan , hardbound books of high quality . No Kindle or device will ever compare with the pleasure of a real book held reverently in my hands . Even paperbacks . I love old paperbacks because of the different smells the paper holds . I have an old hardcover book that’s printed on pulp type paper , “ Droll Stories “ by Honore De Balzac , that I bought from a bookstore in Massachusetts online . I get absolutely giddy smelling the paper .

 

[Innesfan]

- there was a used book store across the road from where I ran an offset press, and as mad as the boss got, I could run the machine blind and still produce more than the other guys who paid attention. I read all day and worked by the sound of the ink on the paper, and am a natural fast reader. Most weeks, I read three novels or history books, and had a taste for the thought provoking ones.

Second only to a good aquarium shop, a used book store is nirvana for me. There are fewer these days but NYC still has several iconic ones. Perhaps the most justifiably renowned is Strand Books. It not only is a place in which you could happily get lost for the better part of a day, but before the internet it also had a substantial collection of vintage aquarium literature. That has shrunk considerably since most of that stuff is sold on line now, but there's still good fishing in that aisle from time to time. It was where I bought the first edition of Scheel's 'Rivulins of the World' (for $2), Brittan's 'Rasbora' (for $4.50) and numerous editions of Innes's EAF for a couple of bucks apiece.

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