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Tag: books

Of All The Books….

When we first moved into our house almost 4 years ago we had a ton of books.  There were books that we had been saving to “read” later, and books from college, and books from the library out of date materials sale.

We had so many books that I built floor to ceiling bookshelves, each 6 feet long.  Recently we decided that, while we love books, we needed to thin the herd.

Now, I love books almost as much as I love the internet.  I always have.  I love losing myself in a story and losing sleep because the story is just that good.  There are certain books that were my only friends growing up, my only escape from the drudgery of Junior High.

In the past I always hated giving books away or donating them, because I was going to read that again! It is mine!  I have a Collection!  But that can’t happen anymore.  I have had to face some hard truths.  There are so many new books out there I may never get back to the older ones that are not favorites.

There are many favorites that I may never read again.  So I have purged many of the books that I used to have.  The good news is, there are always libraries to read new books from.  There are even books on CD which I love as well.

I just had a thought as I was packing up some of said books for donation to charity.  Humphrey Bogart from Casablanca, sort of.  Some of these books I looked at and said to myself in my best Bogart, “Of all the bookshelves in all the world and you ended up on mine”.

Cheesy I know, but there is a relationship that you have with books.  They come and go.  They give you what you need when you care to search.  They are patient and everlasting.  They are meant to be enjoyed and I am convinced now, that they are meant to be passed on for others to enjoy.  A book can enrich no one sitting on a dusty shelf in my basement.

Now for the DVD “collection”

-Justin

Daydreams, Nightmares and Books

Do you ever read a book or series of books that so captivates you that you find yourself dreaming of the characters and other adventures, maybe with yourself in the story as well?  I am not just talking dreaming at night either.  I mean daydreaming when looking out of the window, or something very vivid as you are falling asleep on the toilet, or when you are supposed to be driving and all of a sudden you are in a world of someone elses imagination and RED LIGHT!!!! Ok so maybe not while driving.

There have been several series of books that do this to me.  Sword of Shannarra series, David Eddings, Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy and JRR Tolkien have all done this.  One of the biggest however was and still is Robert Jordan.  I read all of the wheel of time books as they came out so many years ago and I can remember the bus rides to school when I was half asleep riding with Perrin and Lan heading to support the Dragon Reborn in several adventures that were not in the book.  Yet.

I have always written some of these little sub stories in my head or out loud to myself but have never commited them to paper or even computer.  I suppose I should start.  That is half of the reason I am writing this blog, to just write and get my brain on the ‘net so to speak.

Why did this come up?  Well I have been listening to the Robert Jordan books on cd lately.  I don’t have much time to read a physical book right now, with taking care of the house and 3 kids so I spend most of my time with a new growth.  My Sansa Clip MP3 player.  My wife is convinced I can’t live without it, I told her it was like the power source in Iron Man’s chest; I can’t live without it.  I do spend a lot of time with a podcast, radio show or book plugged into my head as I go about my daily chores.  I love it!

But back to Mr. Jordan.  I just recently got back into the world apparently and discovered that he had passed away 2 years ago.  No wonder he hadn’t put out a new book.  Then I found that he had outlined the book and another author was finishing his grand story.  The new book just came out and I decided that I didn’t want to read it yet.  The last one came out in 2005.  The new book is number 12 in the series and I can’t remember hardly anything from the last few books.  As a result, I am starting over and reliving it all again.  I am now on book 4 and that brings me back to my original point, I am having those immersive semi conscious dreams again.  I should write some of those down and put them out there.

My bigger point is this, READ!  Read not just for speed, not just to get a book finished, read for the pure pleasure of the story; immerse yourself in it and let yourself be consumed with all aspect of it until you are finished.  There is no movie out there that can wrap you in your own imagination and your own thoughts like that.  I want to write the next book that makes people daydream of my characters.

Until next time, read like you really want to…

Justin

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Books: Audio vs. Print, Showdown in the Library!

I love books.  I love to read.  I have loved to read since I was little.  I have always written too but that is another post.  I remember reading The Hobbit and The Wizard of Oz in third grade, much to the chagrin of my classmates.  I read mysteries, histories, fantasies, and spy novels.  The only problem I have is the same as many others.  Too many books, too little time. (Always good to throw in a cliche or 2)

I have floor to ceiling bookshelves in my basement and 3/4 of those are filled with novels.  Novels to re-read and novels waiting to be read.  I highly recommend going to the library surplus sales and picking up nearly anything with the “Readers Choice” sticker on it.  I have found some very satisfying reads in those collections, many from new authors.  The last sale I went to, it was almost over at 4:00 on a Saturday afternoon.  A gentleman game in and announced, “The sale is almost over, everything left will be $1 per box!”  At that price we ceased to be picky and started filling our boxes with anything that sounded even remotely interesting.  We ended up with nearly 100 books that day for $6.

We have winnowed those down, many were kids books that are now at Deseret Industries or the Salvation Army, or Primary Children’s Hospital.  Many of the novels have been donated as well, I just didn’t want to read some of them.  But I still have a ton of books from authors that may never publish anything again.  It gives me hope, I may end up one of those one hit wonders.  Or my book could blow up like Harry Potter.  That is my preferred scenario.

Wow off on a tangent that was. (imagine a Yoda voice, I did for some reason)  Ok, back on topic.  What is better, a book that you can hold and feel and smell and drool on when you fall asleep on it, or something you can listen to?

I am very torn with this.  I do love the print books.  Something to hold and feel, and when you read it, you are totally at the mercy of your own brain and your own imagination for everything from pronunciations to the characters voices.

Audio is different because someone else is pronouncing names and doing voices for them.  This can be distracting especially if you are listening to a series and there are different readers with different interpretations of names and voices.  I was listening to Terry Goodkind’s Sword of Truth series and depending on the company that puts out the CD there is a different reader.

This brings up another point, if you have read the series in good old book form, it can screw you up to listen to it.  I have never actually read one of the Sword of Truth books.  I have listened to the whole series twice on audio though.  That is not a problem if I read the book because I will have the audio pronunciations in my head.

The one I am having trouble with now is Robert Jordan’s Wheel of Time series.  I have read each of these previously and I am now listening to them to “catch up” before I “read” the new one that just came out in November.  There are many things that I am finally getting used to, 6 books into the series!

So audio vs print.  I like both.  I don’t have much time for print though.  I spend too much time on the computer writing and there is too much housework to get to (sink full of dishes as I write this), to sit and read for very long.  Audio books are a gift from the heavens for this.  I load up the CD or the MP3 and listen while folding laundry, cleaning toilets, changing diapers or doing aforementioned dishes.

I found audio books while working a mindless job doing data entry for the Postal Service.  The only thing that saved my brain then was Rex Stout, Larry McMurtry, Robert Ludlum (I am sure he died because they told him Matt Damon would play Jason Bourne), and a slew of others that had the “mystery” sticker on them at the library.  I have yet to “read” a physical Patricia Cornwell novel or a John Sanford one.  I can’t read Nero Wolfe without hearing the guy who reads it for Books on Tape.

My conclusion: any book is good.  If it wasn’t for audio books I would miss out on much.  The will not however, replace print books.

Go to the library and check out something to listen to.  I have some to return today.

Justin