Reading. How can a person not like reading? I get so into books that I will read for hours on end, stopping only out of shear necessity (restroom, food, watering the lawn). A good portion of my summers growing up were spent holed up in my bedroom reading and reading and reading. The library was a marvelous place where the books had color coded stickers denoting the difficulty of the read. Why go for the mamby-pamby kiddy books when I could be reading Nancy Drew (I know, Nancy Drew now seems mamby-pamby for a first grader compared to Harry Potter. Would that I'd had Harry Potter as a child...)
One problem that arises from devouring books is my disappointment when I've finished a day or two after I've begun. I want the stories to keep going. I want to know what happens next. Series are wonderful for this reason. Another problem I encounter is that burn out from reading upwards of 15 books in a matter of weeks. I end up taking a break for a couple of months, breath, and try to live my own life rather than vicariously living through others' stories.
I've just started a new reading affair with the opening act given by my all-time favorite, Orson Scott Card. You heard me. All-Time-Favorite. I have to admit I didn't believe my little brother when he said I would like his stuff. I mean, it was science fiction, and I'd never been into that. But the man is an absolute literary genius. I am continually amazed at his ability to tell stories in a variety of genres. (Unlike another author whose books I've all read, Mary Higgins Clark. I know--she's not very diverse and her books all blur together like they're one and the same, but there's just something about a good mystery and I like the way she tells a story...)I've read and re-read the Ender books and the spin-off Shadow books (which I HIGHLY, HIGHLY recommend to anyone looking for a thought provoking yet satisfactorily entertaining read. He has everything in there. Science fiction, love, intrigue, war, politics, etc.). His Women of genesis series is also very good. The current book I'm reading is called Magic Street and he isn't disappointing me friends. He isn't disappointing.
So, Scott Card. Thank you. (Because I know you're reading my blog and love my work as much as I love yours.) Thank you very much for hours and hours of entertainment.
9 comments:
I also love series. I avoid single issue books if I can.
I loved the Ender and Shadow series as well. I have tried reading the Welcome Home series a number of times, but forget which book I ended on and restart.
I also loved Pohl's HeeChee saga and Asimov's Robot series and Foundation series. Nice how they are connected.
Oh! and love Clarke's Rama series!
But then I do have a tendency to read really bad series. Such wasting a large part of my life waiting for Hubbards Battlefield Earth series. I remember waiting months for the next book to be released. It was such a bad series.
I second the hating when books end problem. There's just something about living someone else's life and story for a while...it's hard to go back to your own.
A few that I didn't want to end included: "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn" and "Joy in the Morning," both by Betty Smith, and "Gone with the Wind" (as if over 1000 pages wasn't enough!)
ooo. yes. keep the recommendations coming! I'm always running out of books to read.
The kids in my family are die hard O.S.C. fans. Adam even went so far as to buy a few of the Ender's books in Polish and uses them to brush up on his language skills from time to time. Ender's Game is a book that will never get old (I love re-reads!). I'm glad you have time to read. I need to remember to make time for that as well!
Okay... here are some other series I've loved.
Jack L Chalker's "Soul Rider" series
Greg Bear's "Eon" series
Frank Herbert's "Dune" series. Although the novels started getting bad after book 3.
Ursula K. Le Guin's "Earthsea" series
I haven't had a chance, but I've heard nothing but good from Anne McCaffrey's "Dragonriders of Pern" and "Ship" series
Bradbury's "The Martian Chronicles", though that may be just 1 book. I'm leaving out single books if I can, but read "Starship Troopers". Its way better than the movie.
David Brin's "Uplift" trilogy
J.R.R. Tolkein's "Lord of the Rings" trilogy
Terry Brook's "Shannara" series
That should keep you busy for a while.
I devour books which is why I can't read too much any more because I just ignore the kids or read until 2 or 3 in the morning than I am not that useful the next day. I just started a new book, I will let you know if it was worth ignoring the kids for! J
Thanks for the recommendations. I am set for awhile now! (but if anyone has more GREAT READS to recommend, my list is an open ended one. I've made a "must read" page for myself so I can just go down the list and cross things off as I come to them.
I've already read "A tree grows in Brooklyn" twice. Sad. I've also read the Dune series.
J-tell me how the books turns out!
I second the "Martian Chronicles", but I'm a diehard Bradbury fan. I love the rhythm of his words, his descriptions, characters...I'm getting carried away, sorry.
If you read any juvenile fiction (I do--it's my second hobby), the Charlie Bone books are really entertaining, and there are five in the series (a great number). Also, Lloyd Alexander's books for both children and adults are amazing, and I love E. Nesbits series that begins with "The Five Children and It."
For Samantha and others who enjoy YA or juvenile fiction, I enjoyed Jane Yolen's Pit Dragon Trilogy and others. When I find an author I like, I tend to read everything they have written. Jane Yolen is quite prolific and has a very good website you could check out.
Also, several years ago I went through the juvenile science fiction of H M Hoover. I think many of her books are out of print now, but libraries should have them. Her children’s books include “The Children of Morrow” (1973) and “The Winds of Mars” (1995). I listened to “The Dawn Palace” by H M Hoover on tape some years ago and enjoyed it very much. It is a retelling of Medea – not for children.
When my daughter had to read “The Mists of Avalon” nearly 10 years ago for English, I read it too and a bunch of M Z Bradley’s other books. I always tried to read the books my kids were assigned in HS. One had parts that were clearly inappropriate for 10th grade so I wrote to the teacher voicing my objections. Turns out she had chosen it from a master list and hadn’t gotten around to reading it herself! She was a minister’s wife and was a little embarrassed by the situation.
And yes, I too am a long time OSC fan.
Post a Comment