I read a lot. A lot, a lot. I always have, and probably always will. I also read like I do most everything -- with single-mindedness. Meaning? I will finish a book that I love as quickly as I can. If it means staying up all night, then so be it. I have a tendency to read "thick" books, because they last longer and I hate to finish a good book. What looks daunting to one reader is a dream come true to me -- the longer the better!
But this voracious appetite for books has cost me. I can't even begin to fathom how much I have spent on books over the course of my lifetime. At one point, it was a given that if I went into a bookstore (and I went in frequently) it would cost me $60. And that sum seemed to hold for years, and that was an armful of books, which was my rule. I never took a basket because I could only buy what I could carry! Otherwise, I wouldn't have ever stopped. I love books that much.
Then of course the e-books came along, and suddenly I didn't have to go to the bookstore anymore. This is like a junky getting an instant fix without ever leaving the confines of their lairs (or where ever they are appeasing their addictions) and well, that sum of $60 went through the roof. There were suddenly NO limitations on the number of books I could purchase, and it is oh so easy, just push a button, and I did. I pushed and I pushed and I pushed. A credit card statement with a long line of AMAZON purchases ... I was out of control.
And I was also disgusted that publishers were charging the same for digital editions of books as they were for hard copies. This is absolutely, over-the-top unreasonable, and well, a perfect thing for them to do because it made building a dam around this addiction much easier. So for a long time (maybe a year?) I have been primarily reading garbage. By that, I mean all the free crap that you can get, and while you will come across a gem or two, for the most part it is pap. It fed me, it appeased my need, but it left me feeling empty. A bad book, even a semi-bad book, is a disappointment, but to keep feeding myself the same stuff? It had to stop. I was gorging on junk food books, and it was starting to affect my complexion (with scowls!)
So I recently began reading Zelda, a novel about Zelda Fitzgerald -- http://www.amazon.com/Novel-Fitzgerald-Therese-Anne-Fowler/dp/1250028655/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1366039344&sr=1-1&keywords=zelda -- and became irritated because it is faction -- not a true biography, but a story based on fact. That is a bit annoying too, and got me all mad, so when in the book when I read that Scott Fitzgerald had his first book published, This Side of Paradise, http://www.amazon.com/This-Paradise-Dover-Thrift-Editions/dp/0486289990/ref=sr_1_3?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1366039473&sr=1-3&keywords=f+scott+fitzgerald -- I thought I would read that. And it was only .99 cents!
Honestly, I am not sure how stringing together a bunch of thoughts and chapters turns into a novel, but it's not very good. But because I am weird, I have decided that I am going to read all of his novels (there are not as many novels as you would think), while simultaneously reading Zelda, and creating this whole new experience for myself! Yeah, straight booking is no longer doing it for me ... I am looking for hard stuff! I have read them all, but years ago when the purpose of reading them was to get through them and remember enough to pass tests. That's no way to read a book, and I was hoping for a more satisfactory experience....but thus far I am reading the book to get through it! Geesh.
Perhaps I am hoping that the fact he was considered one of the top American novelists of his time will rub off on me? I am not sure, but I find it an intriguing endeavor (perhaps fueled by the fact I could download his complete works for ninety nine CENTS. Which basically means I learned nothing about cheap books!)
It must be nice to just pick up a book, read it, and move on. Yeah, I appear to have all of these emotions tied into the deal ... fury over pricing, disbelief at content, inability to NOT finish a book which then fuels frustration ... it's quite the journey.
But when you are immersed in a great book ... oh .... oh.....oh......OH! (I'll have what she's having)
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