What is your favorite reading material?
I love a good mystery. I enjoy Tony Hillerman's Joe Leaphorn/Jim Chee novels, Margaret Frazer's Dame Frevisse novels, and Agatha Christie's Hercule Poirot novels. There are lots of others, of course. I like fantasy novels and some science fiction. Essays and poetry are good to read, too. I like the essays to make sense and the poetry to follow the traditional forms and to be intelligible, also. You might say I'm a traditionalist.
I like non-fiction, too. In addition to essays, I like history books, political books, science books, nature books, all sorts of books! Biographies are good and I enjoy books about writing and literature. Religious books are important to me, as well.
English literature and history are favorites, and I especially enjoy English medieval history. Colonial America is very interesting to me. When you get right down to it, I like to read about most subjects and most times and places.
What I tend to object to in reading material is violence, sex, and bad language. I object to unhappy endings and depressing scenarios. I want to read about people and how they overcome their trials, not how they are overcome by them! I also don't care to read experimental stuff that's just weird, but is labeled as art. If no one can understand it, or if it's offensive, how can it be art? I'm sure there are arguments about that, but they are lost on me. I think art, whether it is visual, written, or musical, should be uplifting and/or thought-provoking (If you can't understand it, how can it provoke a thought?).
Be that as it may, I think there is plenty of good material out there for me to read and study and enjoy without torturing myself with "gritty realism" and depressing endings.
I love to read writing books, too. They inspire me and often give me ideas. They teach me about terms and how-tos and give useful advice.
So, what do you like to read?
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2 comments:
Mary, maybe the question should be based on your answers, "What don't you like to read lol?" I like a well-researched biography. I have enjoyed Historical fiction too but sort of have a hang up about putting words into real people's mouths or putting them with fictional characters. As you can imagine, I look books of different Eras. I also like to try to round off my education by reading nonfiction. --Barb
Hi, Barb. Yes, I guess it'd be easier to list what I don't like to read--a much shorter list! I really enjoy biographies, too. I feel the same about putting historical characters into fiction to the extent that the author is having them do fictitious things--it just seems out of kilter to me. I enjoy nonfiction, too. History and nature are two favorite types of reading. I think we think a lot alike!
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