I can't recall a time I wasn't reading a book of some kind: Historical, fictional, non-fictional, biographical, technical, informational and others all from a wide variety of authors and across many genres. Reading is one of the ways I relax and I try to read for pleasure at least once a day even if it's only for an hour because I find the time I spend reading helps me detach from the every day aspect of life and permits an escape of sorts into the words on the page.
I've read some rubbish, something I thought I'd like but didn't, and a few times I've been bitterly disappointed by an author because, for whatever reason, they've not finished the series; Robert Jordan and The wheel of time series comes to mind - it dragged out over many years and he never personally completed it, someone else had to. And then there's R.R. Martin and his Game of thrones epic which he never finished. (Nutbag!)
Mostly though, what I've read I've liked and I have some strong favourites that I've read more than once.
You can see my latest book here in this image called Executive Orders, by Tom Clancy which is an epic read of some thirteen hundred fine-print pages which is riveting and difficult to put down. I've been reading at work on my lunchbreak which has been good because I've been eating at my desk (or on the run) for the last couple months whilst working so at least this way I'm forced into taking a little time away for myself.
I've got a few books lined up, I tend to buy them ahead of time and have several in the line-up ready to go, and the next is a completely different type of book and one I'm really looking forward to; it's by chap called Bear Grylls and I'm told it's a pretty good read. Time will tell.
Anyway, I thought I'd pose the question to you folks about what you're currently reading or, if you're between books, what would you say was the most enjoyable book you've read in the last year? Feel free to comment below.
Design and create your ideal life, tomorrow isn't promised - galenkp
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Image(s) in this post are my own
Lovely post. You can't beat a good book! I agree with you that reading takes your mind away from the stresses and strains of daily life, especially when it's a book that has really gripped you.
I usually have one fiction and one non-fiction book on the go at any one time. Currently I'm reading Death in Holy Orders by PD James, an excellent crime novel, and Science and Islam by Ehsan Masood, which is an OK book about science in the Islamic world from the c9th onwards (I would have liked the author to include more details).
I do prefer to buy physical books but that also means I have to be strict about not buying a new one until an existing one has been read and taken to the charity shop because there's never enough space for all my books.
Happy reading.
Space and physical books don't always combine well especially for people like you and I who like to read a lot; it's a constant struggle although I simply detest reading on a device (I mean reading for enjoyment as I use devices for work and all) so have to get creative. I'm fortunate to have a room in my house I've set up as a library with walls of shelves from floor to ceiling full of books. It's my home office also and I like being surrounded by all those friends I've made along the journey of my life.
Thanks for sharing what you're reading,two contrasting books but possibly some sort of link through the religious aspect perhaps.
I appreciate you taking to time to comment.
That's why I don't read a series unless it is finished. About 24 years ago I read a story in a digest. The digest had only the first part of it. I looked for the other part but could never find it. I syill have a desire to read the next part of the story. Incomplete stories irritate......
Frustrating for sure.
I just watched a good series on Netflix last week actually...ended on a cliffhanger...then I realised there's no second season. 😭
Very frustrating with books and shows.
Lolz. The second season might be on its way
It's not, they didn't renew it.
Ooooops!
Yeah, not good. I felt cheated. 🙄
The feelings of being cheated make sense. Not everything in our lives come as per our desires
I have read a variety and quantity of books in my life, now not so much but for some years now I have been focusing more on books .... not so common for the common people... and I always look for those kind of books or they just come to me. The last book I read this last year is The Divine Matrix by the author Gregg Braden, it's not religious... I clarify hahahaha
I've not heard of that book, seems it was good though?
It's weird stuff that I read .... hahaha it talks about time... the matrix, it's interesting. I love those topics!
That looks interesting. I'm off to check it out.
It is very good!
Like you i have read various ganres in my life and the biggest disappointment is the unfinished book series by George RR Martin...
I love thrillers, so I eagerly await every new book written by Ju Nesbe.
Lately I've been reading local authors, currently the life story of the actor Žarko Laušević "Sve prođe, pa i doživotna (Everything passes, even life imprisonment)", who unfortunately passed away too soon.
And perhaps the best book in the last couple of years, the local author Đorđe Labović "SEMPER IDEM".
My recommendation
https://www.amazon.com/SEMPER-IDEM/dp/8652123152
It's good support local writers, and as for RR Martin...damn that man! 🤪
I think the last series I've read were the Witcher books by Andrzej Sapkowski. I like video games, and the Witcher games were based on this Witcher books; the Netflix series was also based on this. Overall, I think it was good. It is fantasy, with character development, adventure, and symbolisms.
I read the first of the Witcher books last year and was surprised how much Netflix changed things when they made the TV series. Mind you, that's a common problem with TV adaptations.
Yeah, I agree. Some changes are necessary since not all book events will translate well to TV. Netflix has been notorious in doing bad jobs of it though.
I enjoy the fantasy genre also, but have not read the Witcher. (seen the series though).
Clancy eh? You read much of his other stuff? I was born during the Cold War but just late enough to not remember it, so Clancy was really my first introduction to a lot of that, I loved him as a kid. Pretty sure I've read all of his stuff that wasn't cowritten with somebody else. Read some of that too but just wasn't as impressed.
I've currently got about forty pages left to go in Negroes With Guns by Robert Williams but I've been stuck there for a bit now. It's a fascinating and infuriating book, an up close look at the realities of desegregation in the Jim Crow South as well as an argument for armed self defense that I think you might find interesting. It's just infuriating to read and realize how little has changed in sixty years but whether we knew it or not we were putting his ideas into practice here in Louisville in 2020, can't help but think that's a bit of vindication for Mr. Williams (he's been practically ignored by history here).
I've read a little Clancy stuff, not the full roster though; I'm working through it as I enjoy it but intersperse it with other stuff...there's so many books huh?
I like the sound of that book you're reading...I will do some research (which is code for, I'm going to fucken buy it.) 🙄
There's a lot. I tend to binge on authors, find one I like and then try and read everything by them I can get my hands on. I read them all as a teenager, not sure if I'd be quite as engrossed by them now but they're a fun read.
Let me know what you think of it. Williams was well-known in his day and age but he's been largely ignored by history, which I suspect is at least somewhat deliberate. I only learned of him from my old college drinking/arguing buddy.
(edited to add) On an unrelated note, did you anger the Mossad's propaganda wing? Still trying to figure out why they keep downvoting us...
Isn't it interesting how some people fade away into anonymity and are largely forgotten or lost in history?
In relation to Mossad's Special Hive Force's, covert mission to downvote people who comment on my posts...is about me not them I guess, the dumb fuck thinks he's impacting my curation I guess. Just a bitter little person whom I will never allow to earn a post or comment reward on the blockchain...ever. Best ignored and not mentioned...let his own declining mental health spiral downwards while everyone else moves on oblivious and uncaring.
It is, the process by which they are lost is also quite fascinating. A massacre in a certain Tiananmen Square has been a rather interesting example to watch unfold.
Ha, yeah, I'd investigated after the first one but decided they weren't worth the effort of responding. Sometimes leaving people to their own devices is the best revenge.
Yeah, I guess it's best for let some nutbags do what they do and watch their mental health decline. This particular character will get my downvotes, and that of others, forever though.
We may have many similarities in our parallels universes. This is not one of them. The last literary novels I read were Stephen Kings the Dark Tower series. (Gunslinger, Wasteland, Wizards and Glass, Drawing of the Three. It has been many years since reading those. Other than the occasional online trucking magazine like my Lease to companies Landstars Monthly release. I just do not read much any more. I mostly listen now. Dan Bongino, Owen Shroyers Warroom, Steve Bannons Warroom, Ted Nugents Spirit Campfire. RT/RAV (Real Americas Voice) independent news.
You're on the move a lot so listening to books is probably more effective. I like the feel of a book in my hands though and don't listen to audio books. Maybe one day I will.
I think my biggest annoyance with books is when I think it is a stand alone novel and I get to the end only to find out it is part of a series. I've had that happen way too many times. I never read the wheel of time books. I've been watching the series on Amazon though h and I have really enjoyed it.
Yeah, that's annoying...that feeling about 3/4 the way through...thinking, no fucken way they're wrapping this up in 1/4 of book.
The Wheel of Time series is pretty good, they developed the characters well based on the books. I'm looking forward to the next season.
Exactly! Thanks for the assessment of the show against the books. That makes me feel good about watching it. 😃
Right now I’m on a crime fiction kick, currently sucked into Jordan Harper’s She Rides Shotgun and S. A. Cosby’s My Darkest Prayer.
So many books, so little time.
I've read a little fiction-crime, not too much...I think it's not that I don't like it, just that there's always so many other things to read...like you say, so many books and so little time. I'll take a look at those you mention.
Ah, I hope there's lots of times that you recall when you're not reading... driving, sleeping, ah, romantic moments.
I read every night before I fall asleep, it helps me disengage from the day and distracts me from everything I was thinking about long enough to put me to sleep. It works super well for me and I'm usually asleep within seconds of putting my book down...
... but the downside is that I now find it really hard to read any sort of educational material. Either it gets my brain buzzing before sleep... or if I read during the day, it puts me to sleep... so it's kind of a weird situation I've found myself in.
Yep, I too can't read non-fiction in bed or else it makes it harder to get to sleep. Bedtime is when I read fiction.
Lol...yeah there's a few times. Lolled at "romantic moments."
You get it, the disengagement and it works a treat usually. I've read some tings that spilled over into my dreams in good and bad ways and that's ok I guess, it's that detachment from the every day that I seek, as do you.
I mean, I legitimately struggle to sleep without the disengagement.
On the very few times reading hasn't worked for me, I have to very purposefully and intentionally think of ridiculous things that are completely unrelated to my life. One that works quite well for me is thinking about animals in formal attire... so I'll try to visualize a cheetah in a tuxedo or a giraffe in a ballgown and before I know it... I'm waking up in the morning.
Me too...I'm struggling at the moment actually. My job is, well, let's say it's all-encompassing and has a voracious appetite, and I sometimes struggle to detach enough to find a restful sleep...often up at 2:30 and start to think and that's the end of sleep for the night. It's a problem.
I'll try cheetahs in tuxedos and ballgown attired giraffes and see how it works.
I recently finished Hamnet a fictional exploration of what may have influenced Shakespeare's writing of Hamlet. Lyrical language, enough magic to illuminate the entire story, Very beautiful! One of the best books I have ever read! My kind of book.
Oh yeah? Well this sounds interesting, I'll be looking it up. Thanks for the tip and for the comment, I appreciate it.
Hi Galen, I think the last book I had a lot of fun with is "El Cochecito" by Rafael Azcona. Which was the source of the script of the movie (1960) with the same name directed by Marco Ferreri. And now I am re-reading "El Tarot del inconsciente" by Leopoldo María Panero, a kind of "cursed" Spanish poet. And little more I can tell you. I read frequently, but I have no idea what's next. A hug
I've not heard of those books, no surprise since I don't read in Spanish I guess.
Hi Galen, that's a good reason for not knowing these books; although we can also add another reason: it is very rare that Spanish speakers know these books and these authors 😁. Best regards
I know how to say, hola. That's the extent of my Spanish. (I can read it too, not just say it.) 😆
👍I don't know your language very well either, greetings.
Nothing.....
Now I'm wondering what I may have around here that I have not read. Not a lot, but there might be something.
I used to read more and I have loved reading books, but with the internet and the availability online, I rarely grab a book and just sit down to read it. I don't know if I should be ashamed about that or not!
No shame in not reading I think, although I always feel that people who do not are missing out on something quite valuable, you know? I guess it comes down to time and how people want to spend it. I make the time to read, it's a conscious thought and effort, and I feel it's time well spent. I know people who think it's not though and that's ok too.
I didn't really make a conscious effort not too, things just osmosed that way. I feel like I'm reading all the time with the internet and the such, just not books, although I have thought I needed to investigate listening to some while I work.
It's been a long since I read a book.
OK, you obviously aren't interested in it.
I am not into reading books.
I admit that I no longer read due to lack of time. Then you will tell me @galenkp that I don't give myself the time to do it... But the days are short and I really don't have the time. When I am older I will take the time to read. My favorites are science fiction and fantasy
"When you're older," huh?
Fair enough, it's your life to do with as you wish; I'd rather not delay and put off something I enjoy, so I make time now. Each has their own way of living their life I guess.
Yes, as you say, we must not put off until later what we can do today
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