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I Love Books

I wonder if those of you who have always been avid readers during your whole lives have more or less read the same kinds of books, or swung from one genre and author to another.

I definitely belong to the latter. I used to love poetry, but, although I will never renege on my favorite poets, it looks like an ego trip to me now, as though the poet is talking to himself, not to a hypothetical reader.

I used to be fond of prophets of the absurd like Kafka or Beckett, but now I do not need at all to be remember of how meaningless the world is.

Nowadays I mostly enjoy authors like Chesterton, Gomez Dávila, Bernanos, Mauriac. Those who enjoy labels call them 'reactionary' or 'Catholic'. I call them my people, those I feel close to.

I don't read books to learn, discover, travel...any more. I want my readings to be like talks with good friends.

I have travelled wide, now I want to travel deep.
JustNik · 51-55, F
Books are my escape, so I don’t have much for nonfiction around the house. I like mysteries and fantasy and historical fiction, romance if it doesn’t make my eyes roll too much and ...drama I guess we’d call it? Those books that just tell a story and feel like life. My father was always more narrow - war, native americans, mountain men, and westerns. But we exchange books sometimes and broaden each others’ horizons just a bit. I’ve been working on more “classics” the last couple years. The titles and authors I’d heard of all my life but never read. All of a sudden it seemed like a fun idea to see what kept them remembered for so long. I find in my current place in life, my book must be what I need at the time. It can’t stress me if I’m already stressed or be too sad if I’m already sad etc. I never used to be so difficult and hope I revert back eventually.
Cierzo · M
@JustNik In my case, the amount of fiction I read is decreasing with time, and the amount of non fiction increasing. I find less and less stories relatable to the way I feel.

Books are my escape too, but they used to be more of an escape from myself, and now they are an escape from the outside world.
Gelartsyyy · 22-25, F
I rarely stray from mystery/thriller genres except for when a book really caught my interest (an example of this book is Sophie Kinsella's [i]Remember Me?[/i]
novembermoon · 51-55
Tu eres inteligente. I am just beginning to open the window and look out. And the different things I see in each one gives a different kind of feeling. I will never be able to read all the books I want. Not in this lifetime. And already my eyesight is not allowing me to read as comfortably as before.
Cierzo · M
@novembermoon I will not be able either to read all the books I want. We must accept it.

I somehow envy you. The landscape you see when you open the window still amazes you. For me, it has become familiar, although I am far from being bored with it.
CrazyMusicLover · 31-35
I used to read what I could find on the bookshelves at home and in my grandparent's house so genres and authors have always been diverse. I rarely put a book away, there's almost always something interesting in it.
Cierzo · M
@CrazyMusicLover I started that way too, reading whatever I could find at home. That way I read Henry Miller's Tropic of Cancer when I was 15, being sure that my parents did not find it 😄
CrazyMusicLover · 31-35
@Cierzo I don't know that novel but I'm reading about it on Wikipedia now. It sounds pretty scandalous. 😅
Cierzo · M
@CrazyMusicLover Certainly not what a teenager should read.
Sssslm · F
I have that feeling especially when I am lonely and my friends do not have same thoughts as mine, it becomes important to read books, websites, see YouTube videos, read comments, etc to feel connected with someone in the world.
TheConstantGardener · 56-60, M
Getting older has meant that my focus has narrowed to the authors and writers who I feel can enlighten me in a way that resonates with the person I am. My reading has been distilled to the things I like rather than the things I don't. I only read for pleasure these days, not necessarily entertainment but definitely pleasure.
Cierzo · M
@TheConstantGardener Same here. I used to take reading as a path, now it is about enjoying my destination.

Maybe some day I am on the road again, but I do not see it happening now.
You name a genre and I have probably read it and loved it. Books/reading is my safe place and always has been. Even now I alternate genres...I'll read something light then something heavy just for the variety.
SW-User
I'm in your first category. I read a lot of thrillers and historical novels but don't stray too far from those genres.
Cierzo · M
@SW-User Historical novel is a genre I have never liked, except for War and Peace.
SW-User
@Cierzo interesting how different people like different things. I like Bernard Cornwell and Ken Follett also Ben Elton has written a few set in history which are I feel his best novels.
Mugin16 · 46-50, M
I have been an avid reader all my life. The genres and authors I have read have certainly changed a lot.
silkandlace · 46-50, M
Yes, i'm very narrow scoped, fantasy/scifi.....

 
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