The book rec post !
Here is a post about why I want to start reading again on a regular basis.
The exposition took a little long, so I decided to put it under a cut (tl;dr: I'm an English major who doesn't read. This is deeply wrong. Please send help!)
I. The Sad State of Affairs
Since 2009 I've virtually stopped reading.
Of course, I read what I have to read for classes, most of the time. To my shame I have to admit that I didn't finish Great Expectations, which we studied in British Lit in the second semester of last year. And I'm not done with Moll Flanders yet either, which I have an exam for in 10 days.
The last book I read cover to cover was The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, in July. I bought it in a charity shop while visiting Inverness, and in a day and a half I had finished it. So I don't think it's completely hopeless, either.
II. Why It Matters
Well. First off one of my majors is Literature. It's a bit preposterous for a Lit major not to read AT ALL.
Second, I want to be a literary translator. MOAR preposterousness
Third, there was a time when I actually enjoyed reading, immensely. I miss it, immensely.
Fourth (?), I have noticed recently that my writing style isn't so good. It's great for short pieces, but for short story or novel length, it's far from being consistent enough. I've also forgotten a great deal of what constitutes the structure of a story, which sucks a lot. I need to get my act together. If at all possible.
III. What Can Be Done About It
Essentially I just need to kick myself in the arse and stop with the perpetual being stuck to my laptop. I'm bordering on addiction -- no, if I'm being honest, I'm completely hooked. Which is bad enough on its own, but also a huge annoyance, since I can't really read on a screen for very long lest my eyeballs fall off. Basically: more reading and less laptop for bedtime.
What you can do is recommend me some books! I'm not usually very picky about reading, though I'm usually more of an escapist than a realist as far as my fiction is concerned. Just tell me about your favourite books!
If you need more specifications, I like urban fantasy and steampunk best (my favourite writers are Susanna Clarke, Neil Gaiman and Philip Pullman, to give you an idea.) At the moment since I'm a little brain dead I'm looking for rather quick and/or easy reads. Maybe children's or YA books? I love children's literature dearly and I don't read quite enough steampunk, so, YA steampunk would probably be the thing I'd most likely read? I'd love to hear about anything, though, really.
This entry was originally posted at http://rapunzelita.dreamwidth.org/705.html. Please comment there if you can!
The exposition took a little long, so I decided to put it under a cut (tl;dr: I'm an English major who doesn't read. This is deeply wrong. Please send help!)
I. The Sad State of Affairs
Since 2009 I've virtually stopped reading.
Of course, I read what I have to read for classes, most of the time. To my shame I have to admit that I didn't finish Great Expectations, which we studied in British Lit in the second semester of last year. And I'm not done with Moll Flanders yet either, which I have an exam for in 10 days.
The last book I read cover to cover was The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time, in July. I bought it in a charity shop while visiting Inverness, and in a day and a half I had finished it. So I don't think it's completely hopeless, either.
II. Why It Matters
Well. First off one of my majors is Literature. It's a bit preposterous for a Lit major not to read AT ALL.
Second, I want to be a literary translator. MOAR preposterousness
Third, there was a time when I actually enjoyed reading, immensely. I miss it, immensely.
Fourth (?), I have noticed recently that my writing style isn't so good. It's great for short pieces, but for short story or novel length, it's far from being consistent enough. I've also forgotten a great deal of what constitutes the structure of a story, which sucks a lot. I need to get my act together. If at all possible.
III. What Can Be Done About It
Essentially I just need to kick myself in the arse and stop with the perpetual being stuck to my laptop. I'm bordering on addiction -- no, if I'm being honest, I'm completely hooked. Which is bad enough on its own, but also a huge annoyance, since I can't really read on a screen for very long lest my eyeballs fall off. Basically: more reading and less laptop for bedtime.
What you can do is recommend me some books! I'm not usually very picky about reading, though I'm usually more of an escapist than a realist as far as my fiction is concerned. Just tell me about your favourite books!
If you need more specifications, I like urban fantasy and steampunk best (my favourite writers are Susanna Clarke, Neil Gaiman and Philip Pullman, to give you an idea.) At the moment since I'm a little brain dead I'm looking for rather quick and/or easy reads. Maybe children's or YA books? I love children's literature dearly and I don't read quite enough steampunk, so, YA steampunk would probably be the thing I'd most likely read? I'd love to hear about anything, though, really.
This entry was originally posted at http://rapunzelita.dreamwidth.org/705.html. Please comment there if you can!