Journies to Other Worlds
I like to read. I mean, I really like to read. According to Shelfari, I read 230 books last year. This year I've only read 158 so far. Almost all of these books are fiction. When I read, I like to escape from real life. For me, a good book transports me to another world. I like reading books in series, so that world expands and grows.
One of my favorite series is Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern. She has created an entire world with a history, a culture, a life of its own. With a compelling blending of science fiction and fantasy in the earlier books, she makes the existence of dragons (through genetic engineering) seem plausible. I enjoy how different books she has written tell about the same events from different points of view. When I am reading her books I feel drawn into her society.
Another series I enjoy is Raymond Feist's Riftwar Saga, as well as other series set in that universe. Several years ago, I came across a copy of the first book, Magician: Apprentice, and Steven convinced me to buy it. After that, I had to find the sequel at the library, and I've read each book in the series a few times now. Reading his books is like stepping into a whole new world, complete with magicians, elves, dwarfs, and even a dragon or two.
Not all that I read involves dragons. One of my all time favorite authors is Jane Austin, particularly her book, Pride and Prejudice. The appeal of these classics for me lies in the development of the characters. Each has just enough flaws to make him or her seem real. Again, when I read these books, I seem to step into another world for just a little while.
Another series that I turn to repeatedly for lighthearted relaxation is "The Cat Who..." books by Lilian Jackson Braun. This series involves a journalist and his two super-intelligent Siamese cats who solve a series of murder mysteries. What I like about these books is that, read in order, they have a flow of real life to them. Characters he meets in one book reappear in the next--unless they are the ones who get murdered (and the books aren't violent or gory at all!). Once again, an author created a world that I can get sucked into and forget about real life for a while.
One of my biggest challenges these days is finding new things to read. I am wary of picking random books off the shelves at the library, because I never know if I'll like the world I'll find inside. We went to the library on Saturday, and once again I was browsing around, looking for something new that looked interesting. In the last couple years, I have read and enjoyed several books based on Fairy Tales (books by Gail Carson Levine, Shannon Hale, and books in the Once Upon a Time series). So, when I came across a list of over 75 "Once Upon a Time Young Adult Fairy Tales", I thought that might supply me with reading material for a while. I checked out the first three on the list that were available.
That evening I started reading the first book on the list, The Rose and the Beast by Francesca Lia Block. I got a little way into it and decided that I didn't want to finish it. It was a collection of short stories based on fairy tales, but the style of writing was something I would describe as "urban grunge", with short, sometimes incomplete sentences that I found annoying. I also didn't care much for the stories themselves because of her treatment of them. Her representation of the story of sleeping beauty involved an opium addicted prostitute/rape victim. Snow White's story seemed incestuous. Reading that book wasn't a pleasant escape to another world; it was like being dragged through a gutter, and I left off reading feeling slightly dirty.
Yesterday, with a little trepidation, I picked up another book from the list, Entwined by Heather Dixon. I needn't have feared. This retelling of the story of the 12 dancing princesses was a pleasure to read. It was lighthearted, well written, clean and truly the enjoyable escape I was looking for. (When I finished reading it, I read the blurb about the author, and I think she might be LDS: lives in Salt Lake City, comes from a large family...)
So, a question for my readers... How do you choose books to read? Do you rely on suggestions from friends or family? book clubs? randomly pick books off the shelves at the library?
One of my favorite series is Anne McCaffrey's Dragonriders of Pern. She has created an entire world with a history, a culture, a life of its own. With a compelling blending of science fiction and fantasy in the earlier books, she makes the existence of dragons (through genetic engineering) seem plausible. I enjoy how different books she has written tell about the same events from different points of view. When I am reading her books I feel drawn into her society.
Another series I enjoy is Raymond Feist's Riftwar Saga, as well as other series set in that universe. Several years ago, I came across a copy of the first book, Magician: Apprentice, and Steven convinced me to buy it. After that, I had to find the sequel at the library, and I've read each book in the series a few times now. Reading his books is like stepping into a whole new world, complete with magicians, elves, dwarfs, and even a dragon or two.
Not all that I read involves dragons. One of my all time favorite authors is Jane Austin, particularly her book, Pride and Prejudice. The appeal of these classics for me lies in the development of the characters. Each has just enough flaws to make him or her seem real. Again, when I read these books, I seem to step into another world for just a little while.
Another series that I turn to repeatedly for lighthearted relaxation is "The Cat Who..." books by Lilian Jackson Braun. This series involves a journalist and his two super-intelligent Siamese cats who solve a series of murder mysteries. What I like about these books is that, read in order, they have a flow of real life to them. Characters he meets in one book reappear in the next--unless they are the ones who get murdered (and the books aren't violent or gory at all!). Once again, an author created a world that I can get sucked into and forget about real life for a while.
One of my biggest challenges these days is finding new things to read. I am wary of picking random books off the shelves at the library, because I never know if I'll like the world I'll find inside. We went to the library on Saturday, and once again I was browsing around, looking for something new that looked interesting. In the last couple years, I have read and enjoyed several books based on Fairy Tales (books by Gail Carson Levine, Shannon Hale, and books in the Once Upon a Time series). So, when I came across a list of over 75 "Once Upon a Time Young Adult Fairy Tales", I thought that might supply me with reading material for a while. I checked out the first three on the list that were available.
That evening I started reading the first book on the list, The Rose and the Beast by Francesca Lia Block. I got a little way into it and decided that I didn't want to finish it. It was a collection of short stories based on fairy tales, but the style of writing was something I would describe as "urban grunge", with short, sometimes incomplete sentences that I found annoying. I also didn't care much for the stories themselves because of her treatment of them. Her representation of the story of sleeping beauty involved an opium addicted prostitute/rape victim. Snow White's story seemed incestuous. Reading that book wasn't a pleasant escape to another world; it was like being dragged through a gutter, and I left off reading feeling slightly dirty.
Yesterday, with a little trepidation, I picked up another book from the list, Entwined by Heather Dixon. I needn't have feared. This retelling of the story of the 12 dancing princesses was a pleasure to read. It was lighthearted, well written, clean and truly the enjoyable escape I was looking for. (When I finished reading it, I read the blurb about the author, and I think she might be LDS: lives in Salt Lake City, comes from a large family...)
So, a question for my readers... How do you choose books to read? Do you rely on suggestions from friends or family? book clubs? randomly pick books off the shelves at the library?
Right now, I have so little time to read, so I really only get audiobooks that I can listen to while cleaning my house or watching my children. Gratefully my library has a decent selection of audiobooks, but with my children, I generally stay near the children's section so I can keep an eye on them. In the last couple of months I've enjoyed several books by Gail Carson Levine, Eragon and the rest of the Inheritance Cycle, the Swiss Family Robinson, The Sword in the Stone, Sherlock Holmes, Anne of Green Gables, The Giver, Tuck Everlasting and several others. I'm currently in the middle of the last of the Inkheart series. I generally have been choosing either books that I read a long time ago and remember enjoying, but don't remember much of the story, or books that have been recommended to me for years that I haven't gotten around to reading yet. Or sometimes I'll just look at the shelf and look for a title that looks familiar that I haven't read yet. It is too bad that I'm limited to audiobooks, because there are several books that I have been wanting to read, that my library does not have on audio... maybe someday I'll have time to read again.
ReplyDeleteI have a hard time finding new things to read... honestly, I've kind of gotten stuck with rereading what we have. Lately it's been a lot of reading what the kids want to read before they read it. (That's how I ended up reading both Hunger Games and Twilight... and the Shannon Hale books)
ReplyDeleteI also read a lot, but not as much as I'd like. I do depend on recommendations from those I know have similar standards/tastes as I do.
I also read books that my Relief Society book group reads, but that's just started and I haven't even gotten to the first book yet.