What I've been reading

One of the things that I've always got conflicting advice about as a writer is how much I should be reading. Some books I've been reading says I should be reading all of the time. Another book says I shouldn't be reading while I'm writing. This bit of advice never made sense, because I'm ALWAYS writing, so I should never read? Another book flat out accused me that because I was reading a book on how to write, I wasn't reading anything at all. Which is very rude and unfortunately very true.

I understand the advice about not reading and writing at the same time. There is the danger of writing in the same style as the book you're reading, but honestly, I've never had that problem with reading and writing. For me, the danger has been playing video games and writing, since the video game pulls me into its addictive qualities and distracts my mind from my work until it doesn't function properly.

But this is beyond the point. I believe we should read. It's better for our minds and we can see what other writers are up to. That being said, I've been reading some pretty tame books recently. I've become a huge fan of Rex Stout and the Nero Wolfe books and over the past few months I have pretty much read about six or seven Nero Wolfe books. They're pretty fun, but they're not what you would consider great works of literature. But I've never been too much of a fan of what people call 'great literature'. As I mature and become older and wiser, I've noticed I'm enjoying more than I thought I would.

Recently, I've been completely engrossed by Hienlein's Stranger in a Strange Land, a book that reading has been hazardous to my health on more than one occasion. It sure makes riding the subway a lot quicker though. I'm really getting into the book a lot. Its pretty good, the philosophy is pretty solid, but does every male character have to be a misogynist? I understand it can happen, but it's like all the sexual violence in Brent Weeks' Shadow's Edge. We get it, but does it have to be in every scene? Actually, there's a huge difference between Stranger in a Strange Land and Shadow's Edge. Stranger is better paced and the main characters are likable.

The 100 books from the BBC list is going around again and I've recently scored 18 (when I found our 'Northern Lights' was The Golden Compass. Seriously, The Golden Compass is my favorite book of all time, I've never heard it referred to as Northern Lights. Ever). I've been looking over the list and wondering if I will ever read all of them. I can say, without a hint out doubt, that I doubt it. Some of them are Jane Austin, who I've tried to read on some occasions when my sister started to read them. I could never get through them. But I have read about a fifth of them and I am so young still. But not before I've read every single Nero Wolfe story.

What have you been reading? Next on my list appears to be Nineteen Eighty Four.

Peace and blessings
Eric Rawlinson
20110414