Any other readers here?

[a Birdie on a Wire]

I'm a little embarrassed to say that I've never really been much of a reader. Weird since I was a journalist for eight years while in the military and after, maintained a blog for about eight years that I posted on just about every day.

When I started going back to school to finish my undergrad degree there was a TON of reading I had to do but reading for enjoyment?... that sounded like kooky talk when my wife suggested a book for me after I graduated. I had kept up such a grueling pace while in school that I felt certain there was some assignment, some chapter or two that I wasn't up on that I needed to finish.

So she suggested a fiction book.
I was like... *blink blink blink blink*

Confession.... a guilty pleasure of mine is post-apocalyptic movies. Not sure why but I love 'em.
Well, my wife took that knowledge and guided me toward a dystopian novel and I've been reading ever since.

I just finished a trilogy by A.G. Riddle that was pretty cool and am thinking about starting another two-book work by him that is about a virus outbreak. Yeah, I know... aren't we getting enough of that in real life.

One that I read in Feb of last year that I really liked was a historical fiction novel titled: "A Transcontinental Affair" which was set in the late 1800s in the U.S. and was about two young women "whose lives intertwine in unexpected ways on America's first transcontinental train trip."

It was really... *sigh*
unexpected how much I liked it and I still think about it. Something else unexpected was being introduced to the Lakota word "winkte" which apparently is loosely the equivalent of an enby. I thought that was VERY cool.

So how about you?... are you a reader? have a favorite genre? Anything you might suggest and why?

 

[TonyaJanelle]

Hey Wren

I read some, guess my main genre is contemporary fiction. My sister reads probably a 2 books a week and sends out her favorites for Christmas every year. She's pretty good at picking things I'll like. Coincidentally last year she sent me a book about a pandemic which I started reading about the same time as covid hit the States.

 

[Katie]

I was a voracious reader in my younger years. A couple thousand pages a week, sometimes if I had a book I was really into it could be 1000 pages in a day.

When I got married and had kids life got busy and my time for reading dwindled down to practically zero. It takes me forever to read even a short book of 200 pages or less.

I used to read a lot of sci fi and fiction, but now when I have the chance to read it's usually non-fiction. The last book I read was about Ray Damadian, inventor of the MRI machine. I still read a lot throughout any given day, but not in book form. Mostly reading up on the latest advancements in science and technology, and I peruse the latest political happenings.

I also started listening to audio format a few years back. I listen to audio books while driving long distances for work. I really enjoyed Les Miserables on audio, that one really stands out in my mind.

 

[Monica]

I would like to get back to reading. I've gotten away from it. I'm a big fan of Dr. Seuss! Actually, that is reading for my voice training. No, I was into history for a while. Teddy Roosevelt biography was very interesting. He was an extraordinary guy in many ways. After the 2016 election I had to get away from political stuff though. I liked J.R.R. Tolkien's trilogy. Now I have been reading more Stephen King.

 

[a Birdie on a Wire]

Whoa Tonya!... your sister reads two books a week? I'm lucky if I finish one book in a month. That is impressive. Ok, so let's see... recommendation for you. One book I read last year that I really enjoyed last year was by *searches Goodreads to remember* it... was... byyyyyy Glendy Vanderah titled "Where the Forest Meets the Stars" It was a fun read. About a woman who is a grad student researcher who has a young girl suddenly show up on her porch one night. The girl claims she's from the stars and was sent to witness five miracles before she can go back home. You can find the link to Goodreads for more of a synopsis here: "Where the Forest Meets the Stars"

Hm. Alright Katie, I'm afraid you've stumped me. I don't do much non-fiction but I'll admit I am a bit of a poliwonk and my degree had a lot of science classes and although I don't listen to audio books I do listen to a couple of podcasts I really like that are kind of like short stories. Close? Sort of? So one favorite is sponsored by American Public Media, hosted by Nora McInerny called, "Terrible, Thanks for Asking" Really wonderful short stories about tragedy and lessons learned. You should check it out.

Hi Moni! Thanks for responding. Yeah, the political rhetoric that is going on nowadays is exhausting. And with what happened today at the Capitol... ugh, I worry for our country and like you, need to back off a little. So I've never read anything by Stephen King but have seen a couple of movies based on his books. Let's see... suspense, scary... one I read that might fit the bill is by Kathryn Meyer Griffith titled "Scraps of Paper" It's about a woman who moves to small town to make a new life after her husband left. While renovating her new house she finds scraps of paper that hint the previous owner and her children were probably murdered and didn't just suddenly leave. You can find a better, lengthier synopsis here: "Scraps of Paper"

 

[TonyaJanelle]

Thanks, I'll check it out.

Whoa Tonya!... your sister reads two books a week?

In the Winter for sure. She lives in Alaska, doesn't do social media. Not sure if they even have cable/satellite TV.

 

[TonyaJanelle]

You can find the link to Goodreads for more of a synopsis here: "Where the Forest Meets the Stars"

I went to check this one out and turns out I already have it on my kindle. It's in my library backlog of stuff I've been meaning to get to.

Here's a book I enjoyed. Not the best thing ever but an interesting take on the subject.
It's not about anything trans but was written by a trans woman before she started transitioning. She took her name from her lead character. She's a fairly popular Twitter trans activist.

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twitter.com

The Gospel of the Font

Archaeologist Faith Meade has always held belief in science, not God. However, when her team journeys to a mysterious cavern in the Egypt...

www.goodreads.com

 

[Madrhode]

Not as avid of a reader as a kid but still and up and coming writer I hope. Hey we have to start somewhere. I am currently balancing, Songbirds and Snakes, To Sleep In a Sea of Stars and Impact. a-thought provoking nonfiction reader about asteroids and comets striking Earth.

 

[Lexxi]

I used to read two books per week on average. I've always been a big reader. In fact when I was in 6th grade my teacher started out the first day of school by telling us kids that he was going to have a contest that would run throughout the entire school year. He said that the student who read the most books...and did a good book report on them, would win a prize. He didn't tell us what the prize was though. Guess who read the most books and won? It was me. I don't remember how many I read, but it was a LOT. My prize was a check for $50 and a vinyl book bag, which I still have and cherish. The letter he put in the book bag to me still has the power to bring tears to my eyes.

Now that was back in 1980 and let me tell you...$50 was a lot of money back then. Especially for a 10 or 11 year old kid from a poor family. I've never forgotten how good it felt to win that. But as nice as all that money was, I suppose the biggest "prize" I received was everything I learned while reading all those books.

Heck I even turned my love for reading into a semi-career back in 2017. That year I became a "trashy" political writer churning out up to 11 articles per day for an online political website. So I guess one could say that I'm a published author. haha

Sadly I don't have enough time to read as much anymore. I'm fairly certain that I've read those A.G. Riddle books that were mentioned. I know for a fact I've read a lot of his books so those were probably among them.

Not I'm going to do you all a favor. I'm going to recommend the very best book of all time. It actually touches on some of the things that have been mentioned in this thread.

My all-time favorite book is The Stand by Stephen King. I think it's only about 1100 pages or so, so you can make your way through it in a day or two if you're really dedicated...and have good eyes. I've read it 5 times and never get tired of it. The reason I've read it 5 times is because that's how many copies of it I have. I have two copies of the original book and three of the unedited one. I highly recommend you get the full book if you're going to read it though. I think it's best to read everything King had to say on the subject.

About 9 or 10 years ago I really got into post-apocalyptic literature. I really fell in love with that genre because of The Stand in fact. My second favorite post-apoc book is called The Last Tribe by Brad Manuel. That book has everything a post apocalyptic book should have...even love. I don't remember how many pages it is, but it's WAY less than The Stand.

 

[Mim89]

I've been an avid reader since my childhood. Meanwhile, I even have a German book blog where I review books, but this almost ruined my love for reading. As a book blogger, you have a lot of competition and I quickly found out that my competition is reading way more and faster than I do. I tried to keep up and this killed the fun about reading, but last year I stopped this madness because I wanted to enjoy reading again as I did in the past. I accepted that I will never become one of those readers who read 10 books a month. I'll only read 1 or 2 books a month if at all. But that's okay.

 

[Lexxi]

I've been an avid reader since my childhood. Meanwhile, I even have a German book blog where I review books, but this almost ruined my love for reading..

Hi Mim,

I know how easily something like that can happen. I used to LOVE to write. Heck I even wrote a book once. But I tell you what...after writing all those political articles, I came to abhor writing. I mean I wish I still loved it as much, but I just don't. I can't even force myself to sit down and write anything substantial. Maybe my love of writing will come back one of these days and I'll pen the world's next great novel though. I sure hope so.