Reading is a joy. I prefer it to watching movies or television. I can’t say I’ve ever been a voracious reader. Mostly because I’m slow. But I generally have at least one book I’m in the process of reading at any given moment.
Recently, I counted the number of books I read last year. The count might be incomplete because I don’t record the books I read and one or two of them might have slipped my mind. Nevertheless, as I recall, I read 25 books. Two of them were non-fiction. Three novels I started and didn’t finish. I also read at least half a dozen short stories.
Thirteen of the novels were by indie authors. The remaining 10 were by two traditionally published mystery writers. The quality of writing across the board was in the main good. The books I quit reading I did so due to my losing interest in the main character or the writing was not up to par.
I was surprised to discover I read more mysteries than anything else, 12 books. Followed by 6 science fiction novels (2 were steampunk). The remaining books comprised 3 works of fantasy, 1 horror, and 1 humor.
To satisfy any curiosity, the authors of the works I read are J Evan Stuart, George Wier, Marcia Muller, A A Fish (aka Erle Stanley Gardner), Crispian Thurlborn, Ben Willoughby, Felix R Savage, Chad Muller, Tim McBain & LT Vargus, Karen J Carlisle, Alice E Keyes, and Erik Ga Bean. The non-fiction was by James Scott Bell.
Reading, I find, exercises the imagination. Video, I think, tends to stultify it. The key word is “tends”. Video doesn’t have to chain our imaginations, it’s just that it too often does. Money is poured into special effects and little thought is given to the script.
The movie Twelve Angry Men is a study in what can be achieved with a good script and no special effects. The movie delves into the character’s psychology, it’s thought provoking, and a doggone good story.
When I read A Princess of Mars by Edgar Rice Burroughs, my imagination soared. When I recently saw the movie John Carter, while I enjoyed it, something of the tragedy in the book was lost. The special effects were great. However, the story suffered. And while the movie’s special effects made for some exciting eye candy, the book was better because my imagination made the story mine.
For the rest of the year, I intend to review at least one book a month so I can share with you some of the good reads I found last year and perhaps this year too.
Feel free to share some of the good books you read last year.
Until nest time, happy reading!
Share This!
25 books is not too bad! I’m afraid I don’t read that much, mostly because of time. I do most of my reading on the train from and to work, I very rarely read at home because there are always so many things to do.
It’s true, eh? So many films realy so heavily on special effects and give so little thought to characters and story. That’s a shame, because special effects could enhence a good story.
I will read your reviews with interest.
I’ve quitted writing reviews for my blog because those were the blogs that attracted the least interest. But I keep writing the Thursday Quotables snippets with a short review. Those seem to still keep the readers’ interest.
That’s good to know, Sarah, about reader interest. If the larger reviews don’t seem to draw interest, then I may switch to what you do.
Reading on the train, or bus as I did, is a great way to get in some reading time. Now that I’m retired, I have more time to read at home and enjoy it a lot.
I take it C W Hawes never likes to be away from his library and fireplace very long. 😉
Very true!