I like to read. A lot. I usually have a book with me, whether I think I might need it or not. Inevitably when I don’t have one, I need it.
Of course I have favorite authors. I tend to lean toward the fantasy genre - I love J.R.R. Tolkien, C.S. Lewis and Stephen Lawhead. But I also like mysteries, especially authors like Anne Perry, Sir Arthur Conan Doyle and Ellis Peters. Books by more “classical” writers, like Jane Austen and Thomas Costain, also have places on my shelves. And I can’t forget books for a younger audience, like those by Rick Riordan and Brian Jacques.
I’m working my way through a whole bunch of series – Bernard Cornwell’s Sharpe books, Terry Brooks’s Shannara collection, Clive Cussler’s Dirk Pitt set, Winston Graham’s Poldark saga and Patrick O’Brian’s Aubrey/Maturin adventures, to name a few.
It’s easy to overdose on a style. I’ve found, if I read more than a couple books in the same genre or by the same author back to back, I have a hard time getting back to them. All the characteristics of that genre, for example, are stuck in my head and spoil my enjoyment of that book or series. If I’m ready several mysteries in a row, the hardboiled detective starts to get on my nerves. The put-upon hero needs to grow a spine. The angry villain needs counseling or something.
So, I try to mix things up. I’ll go from Terry Pratchett to Laura Childs to something nonfiction. That way I’m making myself read something that’s not fiction, which is not a genre to which I gravitate. Now, I have read some good nonfiction books in recent years. Infamous Scribblers by Eric Burns chronicles the early history of journalism in America. Alexander Hamilton by Ron Chernow is about, wait for it … yep, Alexander Hamilton, the Founding Father Lin-Manuel Miranda chose to base a musical on.
I’m currently reading All the Gallant Men by Donald Stratton, which is his memories of serving on the USS Arizona and in other places during World War II. I’ve also got Persuasion by Jane Austen going. Mom and I disagree on Jane Austen - she doesn’t like Persuasion. I do and reread it every so often. I’m most of the way through The Fall of Gondolin by J.R.R. Tolkien, as well.
As one who writes for a living, I think it’s important to read a variety of styles and authors. There was a time when I first started in journalism that I wasn’t reading as much. At one point, I started losing my vocabulary. It was a little scary, actually. I knew I knew the word I was looking for, but I couldn’t come up with it. I tried to figure out why and determined it was because I wasn’t reading. I walked the block to the library and checked out a new book. That solved that problem (eventually).
Anyway, I like to read. And I read as much as I can. You might see me at lunch with a book on the table by my plate or seated in the bleachers at a ball game at halftime, nose in a book. I don’t read while I’m driving, though. That time (if I’m not listening to the radio) often goes to an audiobook.
