But, I've since (re-)realized how important reading is, not just as an author, but as a human being.
As an author, it is important to study the craft of others. Reading books in your own genre helps you keep up to date on what's publishable and trendy, as well as gives you a catalyst for new ideas, and helps you avoid being too similar to what's already out there. It also keeps your imagination alive.
Your brain needs to be exercised, just like any part of your body, and if you don't use it every day, it gets weak. As a human being, reading is an important way to stretch your cerebral muscles. It also connects you with other worlds, other people, and other circumstances. It gives you an intimate look at what it might be like to be someone else, to be somewhere else. It strengthens your imagination, your empathy, your charity, and likewise makes you a kinder person.
There is something exhilarating about finishing a book you can't put down. You want more. You think about it often. You're sad to see it end. I hope to one day create books like that for people. I want to help people enjoy the experience of reading.
I think back to fifth grade sometimes, when at Gubser we had to read 2-3 books, then write up a report and Venn diagram comparing them, and repeat like three times for the whole year. that was a crap load of reading, but it never really felt like it at the time. the only books from it I really remember (because they were my favourite) were The Wrinkle in Time trilogy. To this day, the Recycle Bin on my computer is called Camazotz. I should reread those at some point, because I very much doubt I got the intimacies of them the first time around. That's kind of how I feel about sixth grade reading, because she had us read Lord of the Flies, and the Diary of Anne Frank, and all these books that you don't really have the contextual knowledge for when you're 11.
ReplyDeleteI have to make it through Les Misérables and Sherlock Holmes first, though, and between them that's about 2100 pages, though I'm sure Les Mis will feel like 2000 all on its own. I love Victor Hugo, but his writing is like a brick, sometimes. And even after that, I have other books I want to read. But I think my Kindle is helping me read more, which is nice.