My Attempt to Enjoy Books Again....

Once upon a time I was a casual reading enthusiast. By casual reader I mean I would read a book or two a month. I know many of you who think a book or two need to be read every week rather than every month. However that is not me especially after my encounter with so many big and lengthy law books over the course of the past three years. Now that I'm free, with law school and the bar behind me (still hoping I pass and don't have to take it again) I have a desire to return to my casual reading status. To encourage my new found desire to read I have been prodded by Brooke to begin a Goodreads account. Those of you who know what Goodreads is can probably skip to the next paragraph. For those who don't know what Goodreads is I'll try to give a brief description. It is an online bookshelf/reviews/recommendation/lists/sharing center where friends (an even strangers) can share what they have been reading with others. In short, it is a social network for book enthusiasts.

The question might be asked why I might want to join Goodreads and the answer is....I don't know yet. I really just want to be able to give some book reviews on what I think about the books I'm reading and see what others are reading and recommending. I think Goodreads might be the best way to do that so I have joined.

Now I plan on just starting on what I am reading now and never look back.  But I have to put a few of my favorite books that I've read in the past out there so I have something people can look at before I finish my first book. Also I want to throw out my book genres so those who might be interested in my book types can either join me as a friend on Goodreads or leave a comment on this blog post about books you think I would be interested in.

Anyway I will read almost anything really, but I have a few genres that I tend to desire more than others. Nonfiction historical books and biographies are some of my favorite. I subscribe to the idea that the best drama has always been real life and that knowing the events are real rather than fictional enhances the story instead of limits the author. I do have a specific pet peeve when it comes to biographies. For me the person has to be dead to have a biography written about them. I hate these "The Life Story of Snooki" books. Snooki is not dead yet so how can this book give me her life story? I don't care who it is...actors/actresses, church leaders, world politicians, random people, etc. If they are not dead I am not reading about their life. There are two specific exceptions, the first is autobiographies. Autobiographies are ok because who am I to stop you from writing a book about your life? However you have to write it, none of this ghost writer stuff. Using another to write your autobiography is either lazy or skirting the purpose of what an autobiography is. Second exception is biographies of people during a specific event. For example the biography of George W. Bush during his presidency is ok even if Bush is still alive because Bush's presidency is over and he can't become president again. Any biographies that don't meet these criteria should be burned or shelved until the person in question is dead (but even then the person would have done other things which makes the old biography incomplete).

Moving on, I also enjoy reading a good mystery novel. I like the science fiction/fantasy genres. I like general fiction books. Not much to expound on those subjects.

I generally dislike pure romance books, overly complicated stories layered with overly complicated characters, and anything that was too hyped to begin with.

Well this was a longer post than I expected but I am excited to get back to books that are for enjoyment rather then forced upon me by studying. Bye until next time!