What I'm Reading

So since this is my first week post-finals and I'd really rather not be thinking too deeply about much of anything, I thought I'd do a series of posts on what I'm reading, listening to, and watching right now, just for the fun of it. Don't expect too much of these posts - I'm just writing for my own entertainment this time.

Everything I do tends to evolve naturally into some sort of system, whether it be running or scriptures study or (in this case) my personal reading. I don't really set out with the idea that I need to approach something systematically - it just sort of happens, and then it becomes habit and it sticks. With reading my current “system” involves two books at a time, one fiction and one non-fiction. And I try to make sure that one of these two books will make me think as I read, and that the other book is a pretty easy read—that way I have something for when I feel like reading for the sake of becoming well-read or better informed or whatnot, and I have something else for when I feel like reading to escape from a busy school week, or just to pass the time. And so that being said, here’s what I’m reading at the moment. You can guess for yourself which is which.


Guns, Germs, and Steel, by Jared Diamond.

I have seen this book for quite some time - it's been hard not to notice it since it's been on the bestsellers shelf pretty consistently, and when it's not there it's on the always-tempting 3 for 2 table at Borders. For a very long time I would pick it up and think that I really ought to read it, because it just seems like one of those books that everyone ought to read. But every time I read the back cover and flipped through the text I would think that, as interesting as the idea sounded, I didn't particularly care to wade through 450 pages of it.

I don't know what changed my mind, but a month or two ago I picked it up again read the back cover and flipped through the text and suddenly I felt like I just had to read the book. I mean, I really wanted to read the book. So, taking advantage of the 25% discount on bestsellers, I bought it, began it on a plane ride, and finally picked it up again a week or two ago and dove in for the duration. I really haven't been disappointed. I'm much more a fiction reader than a non-fiction reader (I usually go through several novels before finishing whatever non-fiction selection is on my bedside table), and although I enjoy a good popular science book or Bill Bryson travel narrative, it's pretty rare that any non-fiction book really grabs me in such a way that I have a hard time putting it down. This one has. It's fascinating and well-written, and it has changed the way I look at things in the world (at least, it has right now while it's on my mind). I still have a little less than a hundred pages to go, but now that finals are over I should just breeze through those. If I don't get too distracted by my other book, that is.



The Blue Sword, by Robin McKinley

So I have this thing about fantasy. I absolutely cannot read adult fantasy novels. I'm sure there are some wonderfully talented storytellers out there in the adult fantasy realm, but I just have too many stereotypes that I just can't shake and I have a really, really hard time with post-Tolkien authors who try to cram dragons and dwarves and elves and good magic and evil magic and sword-wielding heroes between their pages.

My brother (who is not a fantasy fan either) reminds me that the genre is much wider than I might make it out to be, of course, and in fact there are several books that I have enjoyed, even loved, that would be classified as fantasy - Wicked, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, Orson Scott Card's Enchantment. I guess I just don't really see any of those as fantasy fantasy.

But, I absolutely love children's, and especially young adult, fantasy novels. Maybe it's that when I read about wizards and dragons and magic in an adult novel, I feel like there's something not quite grown-up there, or worse, something a little out of touch with reality. But when you're young you're allowed to let your imagination run wild, and it's okay to revert back to childhood fantasies, just not to live in them. (Lest I offend any fantasy fans out there, I know and respect several perfectly normal, well-adapted, adult fantasy readers - it's a personal issue and not an issue with fantasy readers as a whole.) So when I go through my children's/YA lit phases once or twice a year, I almost always gravitate towards fantasy of some sort or another, the more imaginative and well-written the better, of course.

This current selection is a product of my most recent YA lit phase. I just finished the prequel, The Hero and the Crown a month or so ago (a book I remember loving as a child) and decided to pick this one up since I don't know that I ever read it. Had I found this book on the adult shelves rather than the children's shelves at the local Borders, I probably wouldn't have made it past the first two chapters. Actually, realistically, I probably wouldn't have made it past the front cover. But since it's meant for young people, I can slip back to my twelve-year-old self and sit back and enjoy a good story, never mind the talk of dragons and magic and half-human enemies and legendary swords.



So there you have it. If you're interested, you can check back tomorrow for my music selections of the month.