Reluctant Reader Reads

I confess! I'm an English major who reluctantly reads. Honestly, I read only one novel from 6-9 grades, and it wasn't until high school when teachers showed me that a novel is richer than the basic plot line that I was interested in reading fiction.

I was an active child. I couldn't sit still for TV and certainly couldn't sit still long enough to get into a story. My mother tried. She used to read to me at night when I was a little girl. I would interrupt her and make up my own story. It drove her crazy, and she stopped reading to me. Can't say I blame her. She never understood it because she was such an incredible reader as a child. To this day, she will read a good six books in a week. I'm lucky to finish a book in a month. Granted her reading choices and mine are disparate. She reads books she cannot remember the title of and relies on the cover art to recall whether she has read it; I typically read books recommended by NPR. Sometimes, my mother will check out a book she has read before because the artwork changed. She'll get a quarter of the way through and realize she's read it before. I typically remember the title of the books I've read; however, I don't remember everything about the book. My father told me one time that it was pointless to read something if you can't remember it later. He was brilliant; I'm not in his league. Besides, I like to re-read if it is a complex story; I get something different from a book the next time.

Now, I read all the time, but what I read is in chunks. Twitter feeds, Google News, blogs.

Currently, I'm reading The Dinner by Herman Koch. I have about a quarter more to finish. The action takes place all in one night, and the characters are concerned with something their adolescent children have done. The main character Paul Lohman has serious sibling rivalry issues with his brother Serge and there are ethical/moral choices being deliberated throughout. I am annotating the book (using sticky notes, as I've checked it out from the library). The annotations help me to focus and to analyze. This book is okay. I'm reading it because it was a choice of my book club; otherwise, I probably would have stopped reading it in the second chapter. I have no qualms about abandoning a book I have started. As far as fiction goes, I need the characters to grab me right away or the writing has to be outstanding.

I can't wait for the next novel that comes my way to grab me, or maybe, I'll focus on some nonfiction.