But don't take MY word for it...
In college, I read all the time. It helped that I was an English major, but when not reading books I had to read, I read books I wanted to. Not long after college, I stopped. Started watching TV or fucking around more on the computer. My leisure reading was confined to Esquire magazine.
Then, about six months ago, I picked it back up. Sure, in those intervening five years I'd read a book here or there. (More "there" than "here.") But six months ago, I dove back into reading the way I did back then.
I used to read only novels and short stories. But since returning to reading, I've found myself not giving two shits about fictional stories, when the non-fiction book world is so ripe for the pillaging. Besides, "real life" stuff is more bizarre than made-up stuff, and only partly because it's "real life" and not made-up.
I've read:
* The Know-it-All
* The Year of Living Biblically
(These two were written by A.J. Jacobs and were decent NYT List hits. The first is far better than the second. But they're both ten-times more engaging than any Hemingway I've ever slogged through.)
* What Should I Do With My Life?
* Your Movie Sucks
(This is by Ebert, who's a funny guy. Who knew? I picked it up at Half-Price Books because it reminded me how much I used to love reading the movie reviews of Pauline Kael, who remains one of the best WRITERS I've ever read.)
* Spook: Science Deals with the Afterlife
* God is not Great
* The Moral Animal
* The Omnivore's Dilemma
I'm actually mid-way through a couple of these, and enjoy switching back and forth between books. Next on my shelf is the first half of "A Remembrance of Thigns Past," by Proust. Never read Proust, because I had it in my head that he was a Victorian-age French philosopher. Turns out he was a novelist, kids!!! But, as with much of the stuff in the pre-1900 canon, the first couple of pages of the novel were ... tiresome.
So that's it. This is a blog entry about how I'm reading again, and loving it.
But I still read Esquire cover-to-cover every month. (This month's article on Obama is fascinating, if a bit nebulous in thesis.)
Then, about six months ago, I picked it back up. Sure, in those intervening five years I'd read a book here or there. (More "there" than "here.") But six months ago, I dove back into reading the way I did back then.
I used to read only novels and short stories. But since returning to reading, I've found myself not giving two shits about fictional stories, when the non-fiction book world is so ripe for the pillaging. Besides, "real life" stuff is more bizarre than made-up stuff, and only partly because it's "real life" and not made-up.
I've read:
* The Know-it-All
* The Year of Living Biblically
(These two were written by A.J. Jacobs and were decent NYT List hits. The first is far better than the second. But they're both ten-times more engaging than any Hemingway I've ever slogged through.)
* What Should I Do With My Life?
* Your Movie Sucks
(This is by Ebert, who's a funny guy. Who knew? I picked it up at Half-Price Books because it reminded me how much I used to love reading the movie reviews of Pauline Kael, who remains one of the best WRITERS I've ever read.)
* Spook: Science Deals with the Afterlife
* God is not Great
* The Moral Animal
* The Omnivore's Dilemma
I'm actually mid-way through a couple of these, and enjoy switching back and forth between books. Next on my shelf is the first half of "A Remembrance of Thigns Past," by Proust. Never read Proust, because I had it in my head that he was a Victorian-age French philosopher. Turns out he was a novelist, kids!!! But, as with much of the stuff in the pre-1900 canon, the first couple of pages of the novel were ... tiresome.
So that's it. This is a blog entry about how I'm reading again, and loving it.
But I still read Esquire cover-to-cover every month. (This month's article on Obama is fascinating, if a bit nebulous in thesis.)