I got this idea from a blog about books that I saw which also inspired my blog. This is a list of the top sellers of the year I was born and I am going to try to read them all.
Top 10 Best Sellers of 1986
10. A Perfect Spy by John la Carre
9. The Prince of Tides by Pat Conroy
8. Last of the Breed by Louis L'Amour
7. I'll Take Manhattan by Judith Krantz
6. Wanderlust by Danielle Steel
5. Hollywood Husbands by Jackie Collins
4. The Bourne Supremacy by Robert Ludlum
3. Whirlwind by James Clavell
2. Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy and Larry Bond
1. It by Stephen King
Monday, February 6, 2012
Tuesday, January 31, 2012
Stick It Out to the End
I pride myself on the fact that I have finished nearly every single book that I have started. It's probably just the stubborn part of my personality that makes me do this, but I have forced my way through some pretty awful books.
Part of me wonders why I would do this to myself. If I am not happy reading something, why bother finishing it? It's because I keep hoping it will get better and I don't want to miss the good stuff hidden in the end.
One book that is a prime example of this that always sticks out in my mind is "The Crimson Petal and the White." I read it in high school so I may have been too young to truly understand the subject matter, but I do distinctly remember it just ending after many chapters of drudgery. So, believe me when I say that I was rather surprised to hear that it was toward the top of many best seller book lists for that year.
As I get older and as I write my own books (working on two and have ideas for a couple more) I have realized that a good author will grab you in the first chapter or so and will hold your attention through the end. If you are not fully immersed in the story by say, chapter six, and are rather bored with the book, remove your bookmark, put it down, forget what page you were on, and move on to a different book. If you are not totally sucked into the story, or at least interested to find out where it is going by chapter six-ish, you will not be.
I'm 25, let's say that I've been reading novels since I was around 12, so in about 13 years, I have read well over a thousand novels. I think I have only read a handful that waited until the middle of the book to grab my attention and fulfill on the promise of a great ending worth sticking it out for.
Part of me wonders why I would do this to myself. If I am not happy reading something, why bother finishing it? It's because I keep hoping it will get better and I don't want to miss the good stuff hidden in the end.
One book that is a prime example of this that always sticks out in my mind is "The Crimson Petal and the White." I read it in high school so I may have been too young to truly understand the subject matter, but I do distinctly remember it just ending after many chapters of drudgery. So, believe me when I say that I was rather surprised to hear that it was toward the top of many best seller book lists for that year.
As I get older and as I write my own books (working on two and have ideas for a couple more) I have realized that a good author will grab you in the first chapter or so and will hold your attention through the end. If you are not fully immersed in the story by say, chapter six, and are rather bored with the book, remove your bookmark, put it down, forget what page you were on, and move on to a different book. If you are not totally sucked into the story, or at least interested to find out where it is going by chapter six-ish, you will not be.
I'm 25, let's say that I've been reading novels since I was around 12, so in about 13 years, I have read well over a thousand novels. I think I have only read a handful that waited until the middle of the book to grab my attention and fulfill on the promise of a great ending worth sticking it out for.
Wednesday, January 25, 2012
Smut Books
I have been a huge fan of romance novels or "smut books" as my dad calls them since I was in high school. When I moved out on my own, I left a lot of my books behind just because of lack of room to store them. When I was home for Christmas, I brought a lot of my books home with me, most of which were smut books. I decided to read each of them to see which ones I really liked and which ones I could get rid of. So, right now, I am rereading a lot of books, hoping I have held on to a bunch of treasures over the years instead of hording a lot of really bad books.
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