Drowning in literature.

[tlc]

I only read nonfiction. Just about any subject. I read a lot, usually at night. Resale shops are overflowing with used books that can be had for next to nothing. Unless I'm reading online articles or forums, I prefer a real book in my hands whenever possible. I have probably 5-10 boxes of books here in the basement (humidity controlled along with my guitars).

When I was a lot younger, I read Boxcar Children and the rest of those mysteries (that was one of those collection things), and Ramona Quimby Age 8 (I was also 8). Others I'm sure. I liked it but it was more of an overall vibe. I actually laughed and smiled while reading those. I liked how the book made me feel. I couldn't remember specifics therefore couldn't do the book reports or quizzes. And when they kept pushing the fictional reading, writing, and novels, I was done. Over my head. Can't read fiction to this day, not only does it not register, but it leaves me wondering when I'll be quizzed over it and questioned whether I read it at all.

When reading, my mind has 2 processes going on, one for the work of reading, and one for remembering what I read. I'll keep reading but often the remembering part just wanders out of the book completely. I have to backtrack sometimes a couple pages to see where I last remember. This happens with nonfiction too which bothers me because that's what I CAN understand and WANT to read.

 

[nowwhat]

Alistair Reynolds, Neal Asher, Iain M. Banks, William Gibson, Neal Stephenson. Many hours of engrossing bliss there. Including some moments where I had to stop reading to marvel at where the author had led me, and the mastery with which he did so.

 

[Thinx]

I read a lot, always have a novel open could be sci fi crime humour etc. I like young adult books too often they have good story lines. Also classics in the padt I read lots by Hardy Austen Brontes Henry James Dickens Virginia Woolf etc. I also like some non fiction .

 

[Darius]

I love reading. That's probably my obsession. I mostly read speculativ fiction. My newest obsession is making a database and a website of (certain) stories from around the world. Read/watch stuff from around 200 countries and regions. It'll be in English. So I'll share.

 

[LiberationBattle]

Space Opera is a favorite pastime:
cunning alien threats hunting down humanity, the rise of nano-machine technology, and armadas of ships ready to blast each other to bits. NOBODY does it better than Alastair Reynolds. His pacing will have you gasping for air, but you'll want to continue. He's an ex-astrophysicist, so his knowledge and vocabulary are top-notch (have a dictionary ready). And his character development is phenomenal! Even before the release of SW: Force Awakens, Reynolds had an inkling of what it would it be like, and he imagines it 100-fold times more brilliantly.
In order, I suggest:
> Chasm City (prequel to the Revelation Series)
> Revelation Space (a bit of a drag at times, but it picks up)
> Redemption Ark
> Absolution Gap

and some of his other works:
> Pushing Ice
> Diamond Dogs/Turquoise Days (I am envisioning a "sentient trap-tower" in Minecraft, the likes of this)
> Century Rain (if you are in for a detective case)

I hear Slow Bullets was everything you'd imagine slow projectiles to be: like a NERF gunshot, it's all fun and games, but nobody gets hurt.

Also: try SPIN by RC Wilson, I thought it was just as fun.

 

[SameStars]

I always have a book in my bag and several books on my phone, I read a lot while travelling with public transportation. I just finished The Fountainhead and Ready Player One, and am now reading The Wonder.

 

[Mattymatt]

Well, I actually see it as a good thing to lose myself in some Proust, Chekhov or Dostoyevsky. Reading that is considerably easier than reading people around me, after all.

Currently reading The Satanic Verses by Salman Rushdie, and loving every word of it. I can easily see why some people found it highly offensive, though it obviously is all satirical in tone.

Those are all quality reads. I also enjoyed Tolstoy.

Anybody else read a lot of books here?

 

[AllanB]

I've always been a bookworm. I read both fiction and non-fiction. Right now I'm reading "Mere Christianity" by C.S. Lewis. Quite an interesting read, especially considering most of it was based on radio talks he did in the 1940s.

 

[Clueless in Canada]

I have always been an avid reader and I have an English Lit degree basically because it meant I could spend a few years at university reading and having a reason to by more books. I tend to be a bit of a literature snob but I have certainly not read everything there is that is considered a classic or an intellectual read. I developed an interest in non-fiction several years ago too. I haven't read the Satanic Verses yet though I own it. I've read other Rushdie novels and enjoyed them. At the moment I cannot recall the titles.