I haven’t read a novel in a super long time, except for children’s books and young adult novels. I was really into reading in high school when I basically never went out. I read about every classic novel, Russian novel, and postmodern novel from the 19th and 20th century from aged 15-18.
I read some thick literary tomes in college, of course, but not as much as those “golden years of reading” in my life. I often would read books based on seeing someone else reading it or the classics i got for 25 cents at our local Tierrasanta library used book sale. Like, I got into Margeurite Duras around 1990 because I saw this cool-looking girl reading it in a French class I took at Mesa College while I was in high school in San Diego. Majoring in philosophy in college, it was all confusing stuff on mind, language, and metaphysics, but no novels, really, except for a class on Hesse and a few poetry classes.
I get inspired by other’s reading lives and other people’s lives in general. Someone recommended the author Chuck Palahniuk, the author of Fight Club; I got “Haunted”. It’s supposed to be a little weird and creepy and focuses on the lives of people literally writing for their lives. Right now, I want to read some contemporary fiction or inspiring poetry.
A goal right now is to read more. I will do this. More ethereal goals: stay hopeful and positive, stay ambitious but not stressed, work on “voice”, work on writing more to stay happy and expressive, stay balanced, have more confidence, and work on inner peace!
My own academic research focuses on the dailiness and stories people’s literate lives and the literate lives of their children.
Feel free to post on what you’re reading!
*I used to listen to this non-stop right before I left Austin (2008) and moved to Arlington
