I really enjoy reading. I’ve been reading almost my entire life and before I could read my mother read to me. I credit my mom for my love of books. I’ve always liked a good mystery, like Nancy Drew, the Hardy Boys and Phyllis Whitney books as I got a little older. My taste in books has expanded over the years, especially since I started writing. I still have my favorite genres, but I sometimes challenge myself to read something beyond my normal literary go-to’s.
I try to read around in a circle. I’ll read a romance novel, then a thriller, then a biography, then something else, then pick up another romance novel, maybe an historical this time, then move on to another thriller, etc. Of course, there are genres I avoid – SciFi, horror, most erotica – but I like to think of myself as well-read, even though I know that’s just a self-imposed title that could certainly be challenged and proven wrong by a lot of people.
I think it’s important to stretch the mind and learn by experimenting with other genres and new authors. But sometimes it’s taxing on my soul. Some of you may have seen my FB post about the book I was reading with all the big words and pretentious phrases. If not, I’ll paraphrase here:
At one point the author was describing someone’s voice by using this phrase: “an incongruous affectation of sound.” That’s just overly pretentious if you ask me. I think “grating,” or “raspy,” or some other adjective would have sufficed in this case.
Here’s another part of another sentence: “her own professional vivisection.” What the hell does that even mean?
And while describing dust motes as being: “stirred into a glittering corona around his head.”
And another descriptive: “looked like a sort of gnarled homunculus.” I have no idea what this thing looked like by that description other than it’s twisted.
Words like “Maleficium (this one is Latin),” “simulacrum,” “suppurating,” and “subsumed,” were riddled throughout the pages.
I sometimes consult my dictionary when I encounter these types of words – to broaden my vocabulary – but in this instance, I’d have been reading Webster’s almost as much as the book itself.
I started this work of literary fiction, based solely on the book’s description – you know that blurb on the back cover? It intrigued me. However, I was only about 20 pages in when I realized this book was NOT going to be an easy read. I read mostly for enjoyment. I don’t want to struggle over cumbersome words and phrases while I’m engaged in a story. I can handle an occasional big new word, those are often fun. But when they occupy too much real estate on the pages, that is more like work and that sucks the joy out of my reading experience.
However, in this instance, I kept reading. Because it was just interesting enough to find out what was going to happen next and to see if my theory about how the story was going to end was correct. (It was.) I only managed about one chapter a night, sometimes only a half a chapter, because it was slow going, but I did finish. Yay me!
Now I’m back to a cozy mystery by a new author that I’m hoping will be the reading experience I’m looking for.
How about you guys, do you challenge yourselves to read outside your comfort zone on occasion? Are there genres you won’t read? Do you ever look up the meaning of words while you’re reading if you don’t know what they mean? Would you have kept reading this book? Inquiring minds want to know so let me hear from you.
Word of the Day: Yatagham (uh oh, speaking of big words . . . )
Fun fact about me: I’ve never read Pride and Prejudice. Shocking I know.
Original post by Jansen Schmidt, February 2021. Images by Google.
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Yes, I agree. People who like to insert sesquipedalian words are often victim of acyrologia.
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Indeed and well said.
If you’re somewhere cold – stay warm my friend. Someone apparently pissed off Mother Nature and we’re all paying the price. It’s currently 19 degrees in Vicksburg and as the day gets longer, the temperature gets lower. I shall not be going out this day.
Patricia
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We are much luckier here. High of 43 today. Looks like it’s going to stay west of us as it moves northeast.
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I used to finish every book I started, no matter what. But now I’ve decided life is too short to waste minutes on a story I’m not enjoying and I have sooooo many books waiting to be read that I seriously doubt I’ll have enough time to get to them all before I kick it. Once in a great while I’ll pick up a genre I don’t usually read, but I tend to stick to my go-tos, the stories that make me happy and remind me why I love to read.
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I hear you about not finishing a book. I try really hard to finish the ones I start as well, but sometimes you just can’t. I’m with you, there are so many other really good books out there, I don’t want to waste precious time trudging through a mediocre one.
Keep on reading. Have a wonderful rest of the week.
Patricia
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Yeah, I would’ve given up on that book, too. But I probably wouldn’t have started it in the first place, as literary fiction is the one genre I don’t read.
I was judging a contest once when I got a book with super-dense prose like this (it was also in present tense, which I Can. Not. Stand.). I sent it back to the contest coordinator – as long as it would have taken me to read, I would never have been able to read the other books by the deadline!
I also have never read P&P. 🙂
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[…] On more than one occasion in the past I’ve talked about how I read around in a circle, choosing books in different genres and reading some books that aren’t necessarily in my comfort zone. I like a good reading challenge on occasion as I talked about in a recent post. (here’s the link in case you missed it: https://jansenschmidt.wordpress.com/2021/02/15/i-wont-let-it-steal-my-joy/) […]
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