A few days ago, I received an email from Goodreads containing a link to a collage of the books that I had read this year. I was a bit dismayed to find that I had only ready 18 books! That may be an all time low for me.
I am blaming some of my lack of focus on "anesthesia brain" from multiple surgeries and tests requiring sedation. My attention span seems to be decreasing as I get older. I have read articles that blame this on things like Facebook and other social media. I don't think this is true. I am just interested in so many things that I tend to read more articles than books. I want to know what is going on in the world now. Not the soundbites that pass for TV news, but in-depth articles about current events. I like to keep up with what research is being done in psychological fields. I like to read about art. I like to read about religious and spiritual things.
My taste in reading has changed over the years. I no longer seem to have the patience to read the complicated fantasy stories that I once devoured. I still keep up with some series and writers, but I can't seem to get into new ones. I love to read biographies, memoirs and "behind the scenes" books. I have discovered some wonderful "young adult" writers such as John Green, Gayle Forman, and Lisa McMann. I wait, eagerly, sometimes years, for the latest Diana Galbaldon "Outlander" novel. And I will read ANYTHING written by Roland Merullo.
I admit that there tend to be fewer books out there, in general, that I want to read. I find much of the writing in modern novels quite atrocious. I don't like excessive violence. I have enough trouble staying "up" without reading a lot of depressing things. I enjoy a plot that does not have as many holes as a Swiss cheese. And who on Earth edits books these days?
These are the books I HAVE read and enjoyed this year.
1 comment:
Karen, I too got the email with "18" books and thought -- is that all? Maybe they tell everyone that!
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