Hello! I am Jennifer and I am a Freshman here at EOU, preparing to study Biology. My hobbies include reading, reading, playing Amateur Surgeon at AdultSwim.com, and reading. The only problem with that is, I do not like "literature." That may not be a wise thing to admit in a Lit class, but I have always found literature boring. "The classics" never interested me. Instead I like to read contemporary fiction including (but not limited to) romance, sci-fi, fantasy and a lot of paranormal junk.
I do not agree with people who speak about "worthless" books. There is, to me, no such thing. Even the most trashy historical romance has a use. Books take me to another place. I would basically go crazy without them.
Speaking of crazy, that leads me to my "hobby" other than reading. I am a writer. I have written 2 full-length novels and countless short stories. I currently write for an online magazine called Suite101.
Reading has played a major part of my writing life, and writing for my reading life as well. I feel that is would be difficult, if not impossible, to be a good writer without being a good reader first. That is just my opinion.
My best friend, Mandie, feels almost exactly the same about reading as I do. When the voices in our heads get too loud, we sit down with a book until they all go away. We both suffer from a phenomenon I call "Book Coma." This occurs when you open a book at a certain time and then look up a few minutes later to find four hours have gone by. Oops. It is not generally life threatening but it has been known to start fights. Other side effects may include sleep loss, missed meals and a general lack of focus.
Another good friend, Jed, has a slightly weirder view about reading. He can only read one book at a time and if he doesn't feel like reading that specific book he has already begun, he won't read! He has been known to go for a year or more without reading! I do not know how he is still alive; I would not be.
One of my good friends from high school, Jennifer (a different one, not me) has a way of reading that is so unusual that I am tempted to call it borderline insane. She gets a book and flips through it first, finding out what happens before she reads it! How is this sane? How is she still walking around free? Shouldn't she be locked up for her own good? Why would anyone want to find out what happens before you find out what happens????? To each their own, I guess.
Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to go read for awhile.
Hello. This is Natalie and I am in your Eng 104 class. I can relate to being in a "book coma." I don't know how some people can put down a good book and just come back to it days later. I would go insane. I try not to start a book during school terms because I get so wrapped up that I forget everything else.
ReplyDeleteHi, Jennifer. I am enjoying "meeting" you through your posts, which have a fun tone. I can relate to the "book coma." A couple of nights a year I let myself read all or most of the night because I can't put a book down. Because I work mostly in the mornings, this reading orgy can be hard on my working life, but sometimes I indulge. :)
ReplyDeleteRegarding literature, I'm not a fan of all reading, and some kinds of literature are boring to me. I don't read poetry for fun, but I like to analyze it and talk about it. Also, I'm not a big fan of "classic" American fiction. My joke is that I don't like stories where people die in farm equipment. However, I just read "Grapes of Wrath" and "Great Gatsby" for the first time this year and really liked them, so I don't know what I'm worried about. Nancy