Years and years ago I used to read alot. But over the years, my reading has dropped off. I know why, yet I don't know if I can change it.
I really discovered reading when I was in my first year of High School. For reason I don't really know, I began reading Agatha Christie novels, and spent the rest of that school year reading them. Oh, here and there I would pick up other things, but usually I was reading them.
So, between 1977 and 1979, I read most of her books. Then in the summer of 1979 or 1980, I discovered Stephen King. I was grocery shopping with my mother and while she was at the check outs at the old Eagle Supermarket in Hoffman Estates, I was looking through the books. There, still in its box, was the mass market paperback edition to The Stand. I picked up, read the back and became intersted in reading it. But it was very thick, and went to the last page to see that this edition was 817 pages. I had never read anything longer than say 400 pages, so I knew this was a challenge.
During the 1980's, long before cable became common in people's homes, I spent many of hours and days reading. By then, thanks to Star Wars and Star Trek (though I had read some of the Bantam Star Trek line during the 1970's, most of which I still have), I was no longer reading mysteries, but sci fi and fantasy novels.
Of course, one of the reason I was reading was due to the fact that I did'nt have a TV to watch. While there was one in the family room, you were forced to watch what everyone else was. In the room that my brother and I shared had a small B&W TV (same as in the room my two sisters shared), but because it was my brothers, I could not dictate what we wanted to watch (which brings up a memory of the time I wanted to watch Battlestar Galactica during its initial 1978-1979 run. No one in the family wanted to watch it, so it became a game for me to convince either one of my older siblings to let me watch it in the bedrooms).
So, when I could not watch what I wanted to watch, I read. Of course during the cold winters in Chicago, I would just watch TV, but during the summer, when the day's seemed to gon on forever, I read way more. Plus, on my bike, I would venture to the public library and read there.
I was still living at home when Star Trek: The Next Generation came on in 1987. By then, my brother had moved out and I had my room to myself. I remember going through leaps and bounds to get my TV -I bought my first color TV just for that show - set up to watch it, because I knew my mom would not want to sit through it in the family room (plus our UHF signal was so bad, I never really saw those first two seasons clearly).
But I was still reading.
Now, after many years of living away from home, my reading has tapered off. I can put the blame on two things: cable and the internet. Being exposed to so many channels, I can always find something to watch, unlike the handful I had during my childhood and teen years. Even my young adult years, to be honest. And with the further advent of DVD's, I can pop in a movie or an old TV show.
Then, I'm also easily distracted by the internet. So, I can spend hours -I mean hours - doing nothing but looking at all the blogs I've bookmarked (ironic phrase, it seems). Or porn.
Which is why I go to Starbucks on Saturday or Sunday (depending on if I'm working on Odyssey) and read for a few hours. Som ask how I can do that, with all the people coming and going. And to be honest, these folks don't distract me as much as sitting at home, knowing I have a TV and a computer close at hand.
Anyway, here is the list 0f the books I read in 2007, which is on par to what I read in 2006. Still I remember a time when I read double of this.
BTW, I'm almost through with the Tim Powers book, but unles I devote more time to it today, Sunday or Monday, it will probably be added to 2008.
I really discovered reading when I was in my first year of High School. For reason I don't really know, I began reading Agatha Christie novels, and spent the rest of that school year reading them. Oh, here and there I would pick up other things, but usually I was reading them.
So, between 1977 and 1979, I read most of her books. Then in the summer of 1979 or 1980, I discovered Stephen King. I was grocery shopping with my mother and while she was at the check outs at the old Eagle Supermarket in Hoffman Estates, I was looking through the books. There, still in its box, was the mass market paperback edition to The Stand. I picked up, read the back and became intersted in reading it. But it was very thick, and went to the last page to see that this edition was 817 pages. I had never read anything longer than say 400 pages, so I knew this was a challenge.
During the 1980's, long before cable became common in people's homes, I spent many of hours and days reading. By then, thanks to Star Wars and Star Trek (though I had read some of the Bantam Star Trek line during the 1970's, most of which I still have), I was no longer reading mysteries, but sci fi and fantasy novels.
Of course, one of the reason I was reading was due to the fact that I did'nt have a TV to watch. While there was one in the family room, you were forced to watch what everyone else was. In the room that my brother and I shared had a small B&W TV (same as in the room my two sisters shared), but because it was my brothers, I could not dictate what we wanted to watch (which brings up a memory of the time I wanted to watch Battlestar Galactica during its initial 1978-1979 run. No one in the family wanted to watch it, so it became a game for me to convince either one of my older siblings to let me watch it in the bedrooms).
So, when I could not watch what I wanted to watch, I read. Of course during the cold winters in Chicago, I would just watch TV, but during the summer, when the day's seemed to gon on forever, I read way more. Plus, on my bike, I would venture to the public library and read there.
I was still living at home when Star Trek: The Next Generation came on in 1987. By then, my brother had moved out and I had my room to myself. I remember going through leaps and bounds to get my TV -I bought my first color TV just for that show - set up to watch it, because I knew my mom would not want to sit through it in the family room (plus our UHF signal was so bad, I never really saw those first two seasons clearly).
But I was still reading.
Now, after many years of living away from home, my reading has tapered off. I can put the blame on two things: cable and the internet. Being exposed to so many channels, I can always find something to watch, unlike the handful I had during my childhood and teen years. Even my young adult years, to be honest. And with the further advent of DVD's, I can pop in a movie or an old TV show.
Then, I'm also easily distracted by the internet. So, I can spend hours -I mean hours - doing nothing but looking at all the blogs I've bookmarked (ironic phrase, it seems). Or porn.
Which is why I go to Starbucks on Saturday or Sunday (depending on if I'm working on Odyssey) and read for a few hours. Som ask how I can do that, with all the people coming and going. And to be honest, these folks don't distract me as much as sitting at home, knowing I have a TV and a computer close at hand.
Anyway, here is the list 0f the books I read in 2007, which is on par to what I read in 2006. Still I remember a time when I read double of this.
BTW, I'm almost through with the Tim Powers book, but unles I devote more time to it today, Sunday or Monday, it will probably be added to 2008.
15. Three Days to Never -finshed on 12/30
14. A Confederacy of Dunces
13. The Book of Joby
12. Hero
11. Into the Wild
10. What Came Before He Shot Her
09. Spot of Bother
08. The Ruins
07. Michael Tolliver Lives
06. Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows
05. A Good and Happy Child
04. Soon I Will Be Invincible
03. Boomsday
02. Team of Rivals
01. You Suck
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