The top 10 books about reading
A list by Rebecca Mead, author of The Road to Middlemarch:
I wasn’t aware of the term “bibliomemoir” until the novelist Joyce Carol Oates used it – or perhaps coined it? – in reviewing my book, The Road to Middlemarch, earlier this year. But it’s a fitting enough label for the extended family my book belongs to: books that explicitly consider reading as a crucial dimension of living, or that explore the post-publication life that a significant book has led.
Read why these books make her list:
- U and I by Nicholson Baker
- To the River by Olivia Laing
- Portrait of A Novel by Michael Gorra
- The Possessed by Elif Batuman
- How to Live by Sarah Bakewell
- How Proust Can Change Your Life by Alain de Botton
- Out of Sheer Rage by Geoff Dyer
- Parallel Lives by Phyllis Rose
- The Magician’s Book by Laura Miller
- A Jane Austen Education: How Six Novels Taught Me About Love, Friendship, and the Things that Really Matter by William Deresiewicz
E-Books Are Damaging Your Health
Lecia Bushak reports for Medical Daily on “Why We Should All Start Reading Paper Books Again.” She cites research in support of these three assertions:
- You’re missing out on important information.
- E-books get in the way of sleepytime.
- Screens = stress.
I have a big concern about this article: Bushak cites scientific research against the use of readers, but her statements about why reading a print book is better are often unreferenced. I suspect we’re getting only one side of the ereader story here. In fact, she admits:
It’s hard to put my finger on what exactly draws me to paper books, and makes me avoid electronic ones … it’s likely that reading allows me to rely on a singular focus to transport me to a new world, leaving all my stresses and personal problems behind.
And in the comments several people point out that some ereaders are front lit, so light shines off them just as it does off a paper page.
Related Post:
The Close Reading of Poetry
This handy guide from University of Victoria English professors G. Kim Blank and Magdalena Kay, provides a well-composed and insightful rubric for reading poetry. While the introduction points out that there is no single way to read a poem, the rest of the entry provides some important tips. For instance, when interpreting, it’s important to continually reference the poem as it stands. The authors expound on ten themes: Title, Key Words & Tone, Word Order, Figurative Language: Imagery, Sound: Rhythm & Rhyme, Speaker & Voice, Time & Setting, Symbol, Form, and Ideas & Theme. The site is especially suited for late high school and early college students, but it can also help clarify the interpretation of poetry for anyone who loves to read.
From The Scout Report, Copyright Internet Scout 1994–2014. https://www.scout.wisc.edu
51 Of The Most Beautiful Sentences In Literature
For your reading enjoyment.
7 Reading Hacks To Improve Your Literary Skills
This article begins with one of my favorite beliefs about reading: “The experience itself has just as much to offer as the end result.”
In a world of information overload, we see lots of praise for improving our reading speed. But speed reading is the enemy of both comprehension and the sheer pleasure of reading and learning. That’s why I like this article, which offers suggestions that “should help you concentrate better, process what you’re reading more effectively, and get more out of each book.” Please read all about them:
- Don’t read in bed.
- Read alone.
- Read in print if possible.
- Underline.
- Take notes.
- Reread for clarity.
- Read aloud, or mouth along.
Related Posts:
The Psychology of Reading Affects How – and What – We Read
This short article looks as reasons why people either do or do not finish reading books they’ve started. Most of the information here is based on statistics compiled by GoodReads.
The most cited reason why we have the urge to put a book down without finishing it, according to GoodReads.com users, is a slow beginning or a non-engaging writing style. Not liking the main character, and books that have a weak plot, are two other popular reasons cited in comments on the site.
I used to think that I had to finish every book I started. But sometime around my 40th birthday I decided that I didn’t have unlimited time left and didn’t want to waste any of it trudging through to the end of books I didn’t like. I do try to give books a fair shot, though, so I do sometimes continue a bit beyond where I initially wanted to jettison that particular book.
What about you? Do you finish every book you start? If you don’t, how far into a book do you have to get before making the decision to quit?
