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Book meme: Day 15!
Aug. 7th, 2010 06:23 amDay 15 - Your "comfort" book
You know, for a long time, I stopped reading books for pleasure. Part of it was learning how they were made and the politics involved in getting even The Best Book Ever Freaking Written published, and part of it was not having time, because I was reading so much for work. Not just stuff I was editing, but also keeping track of the competition and figuring out what I needed to be publishing to both compete and fill untapped niches.
I loved it -- oppositional research in publishing is totally one of my favorite things to do. But it meant that when I got home and collapsed on my bed with an hour to myself at night, what I wanted to do was not read more books, even my favorites. I ended up working at a vegan restaurant for a while (okay, for, like, two years!), which not only helped me to not feel like I wasn't reading enough for pleasure, but also gave me time to think about... well, about work, I admit it, but it was sort of like meditation, and I put a lot of things into perspective and came up with a lot of good ideas while standing over the cold hold and using the grill and holding down the cash register with a line out the door.
Now I am in the opposite position, where I read more for pleasure than for anything else. It's amazing! I miss the hectic, high-pressure, high-stress of that time, but I don't miss not reading the stuff I love.
A selection of some of the books I read when nothing else is satisfying me:
I admit that these days I am almost exactly as likely to go for my favorite fanfics when I am in need of comfort, as I am to go to my favorite comforting books, but I think that's a different meme!!
How about you guys -- which books are your favorite comfort reads?
( Other days of the book meme )
You know, for a long time, I stopped reading books for pleasure. Part of it was learning how they were made and the politics involved in getting even The Best Book Ever Freaking Written published, and part of it was not having time, because I was reading so much for work. Not just stuff I was editing, but also keeping track of the competition and figuring out what I needed to be publishing to both compete and fill untapped niches.
I loved it -- oppositional research in publishing is totally one of my favorite things to do. But it meant that when I got home and collapsed on my bed with an hour to myself at night, what I wanted to do was not read more books, even my favorites. I ended up working at a vegan restaurant for a while (okay, for, like, two years!), which not only helped me to not feel like I wasn't reading enough for pleasure, but also gave me time to think about... well, about work, I admit it, but it was sort of like meditation, and I put a lot of things into perspective and came up with a lot of good ideas while standing over the cold hold and using the grill and holding down the cash register with a line out the door.
Now I am in the opposite position, where I read more for pleasure than for anything else. It's amazing! I miss the hectic, high-pressure, high-stress of that time, but I don't miss not reading the stuff I love.
A selection of some of the books I read when nothing else is satisfying me:
- an Anne book
- A Paradigm of Earth by Candas Jane Dorsey
- Leaving marks by Candas Jane Dorsey
- Orion Rising by Candas Jane Dorsey
- Extravagaria by Pablo Neruda
- Labyrinths by Jorge Luis Borges
I admit that these days I am almost exactly as likely to go for my favorite fanfics when I am in need of comfort, as I am to go to my favorite comforting books, but I think that's a different meme!!
How about you guys -- which books are your favorite comfort reads?
( Other days of the book meme )