2020

Doesn’t Everyone?

~ nfreim ~ Leave a comment

If you are a fan of The Dresden Files, you probably already know that the sixteenth book in the series came out today.  And if you are a fan of the series, you’ve probably been waiting for this book ever since the last one – in 2014.  As Jim Butcher was working on this book, it became so long that it was split into two, and we’re getting the seventeenth book in September (a mere 77 days from now!).

Tangent – I’ve seen some people online who were complaining earlier this year – along the lines of “screw Butcher for taking too damn long to write this book! No way I’m buying it!!”  Look, from 2000 through 2015, the guy put out 23 books.  Not counting graphic novels and various short stories and other writings.  So if he needed some extra time on this one because life happens, that’s just fine with me.  He’s not a trained monkey to dance when the fans want him to.  I wonder if these are the same type of people who ask artists to do things for them at a huge discount and/or for free just “for the exposure” (insert eye-roll emoji here).

Back to the main point.  The new book release.  And my apparently weird habit.

When I’m reading a series and the next book is coming out, I go back and re-read the series.  Or sometimes I just re-read a series for the heck of it.  (Disclaimer: I’ve never read the whole Wheel of Time  series – I’ve been assured that that would break my habit.)  I figured this is something everyone does, but I was recently informed that “normal” people don’t do that.

All I can say is that they’re missing out.

Now I do have friends who read more slowly than I do, and they’ve said they have to be selective about what they read simply in the interest of time.  (Only so much time and so many books so why re-read something?)  I can see that.  

But re-reading something – just like re-watching a film – can give me another layer of understanding and enjoyment.  And in something like this series, with its world building and constant expansion of mythos, a re-read lets me have everything fresh in my mind.  I’m even reading them in order – with the short stories and graphic novels in chronological order. (Yes, I’m that sort of book nerd.  I’m good with it.)

I am teaching summer class, however, and dealing with (gesturing vaguely at the world), so I did not get my re-read started as early as I would have liked.  I’m not through with the old stuff and ready to start the new one.

That’s fine with me.  Anticipation can be a lovely thing.

A friend speculated that I’d give in and crack the new book within 48 hours.  I said that wouldn’t happen.  I can wait.  I can take my time and enjoy all the stories along the way.  If I time it right, I can finish Peace Talks right before Battle Ground comes out – all one big story.  (And read some other stuff in the meantime.)

Besides, in case the next installment after these takes time, I should make 16 & 17 last, right?  

It’s not like I have a bunch of other books waiting to be read . . . oh.  Yeah.  

DVDs Don’t Go Bad, Do They?

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I’m a bit of a movie junkie.  Okay, a lot of a movie junkie.  Once during a conversation with a colleague, he was trying to remember the name of a movie – which he described as “the pregnant burger movie.”  I said, “Oh, Home Fries with Luke Wilson and Drew Barrymore?”  He said, “Yes!  You’ve seen it?”  And I replied, “No.”  

Yeah, my brain just retains stuff like that.  Incidentally, I did see it some time after that.  But now I don’t remember much about it other than it was  “the pregnant burger movie.”

With my movie addiction comes a large dvd collection.  The kind where I’ve had to find alternative storage because those plastic cases take up too much space.  It’s those darn cheap bins at Target and Walmart!  The dvds don’t really go “bad” – and a $5 dvd is cheaper than going to the theatre.  So I wind up with a lot of movies.

Thanks to the quarantine, I’ve started to go through my movie collection.  Hopefully there will be some fun surprises as I watch old favorites – and some enjoyable new films.  (Yes, I sometimes pick up a film, intending to watch it later, and then forget about it.  Especially if I buy it near finals.)  Maybe I’ll even find some movies that I don’t think are worth keeping and might actually shrink my collection.

Probably won’t happen since I’m a pack rat and I love bad movies, but that’s probably an issue for a therapist.

I’m trying to go in rough alphabetical order unless a whim takes me.  (How can I not watch Jaws on July 4th?)  I know some people would alphabetize a film that starts with a number under the spelling of that number, but I put the numerical ones first.  Seven  goes under S, but something like 101 Dalmatians goes at the beginning.

Speaking of, I had forgotten many details about 101 Dalmatians.  The twilight bark!  The insane capabilities of Cruella’s car to make it up and down snowy ditches – that’s impressive.  And sheer cuteness of the scene where the puppies are all watching the Thunderbolt show – and they’re all wagging their tails – so I’m a sucker for cartoon puppies – it happens. 

Then there’s The 10th Kingdom.  Underrated in many ways.  Yes, the golden retriever who is a major character was adorable.  But an interesting blend of fairy tale elements and fun.  I still can’t hear “Whiter Shade of Pale” without thinking of the mushrooms singing “cartwheels cross the floor.”  

2 Guns was also fun.  I mean, Denzel could read the phone book out loud and it would be a work of art, so anything with him can make my list.  Throw in Bill Paxton, and it’s worth watching.  Based on a comic book series, though I have not read it, which explains some of the outlandish bits.  

And 300 . . . Michael Fassbender notwithstanding, well, it’s a Snyder film.  Look, I appreciate the ways they tried to use some of the cool bits from the comic – and some of the visuals are amazing.  But geez, the narration?  The overacting?  The endless slo-mo?  Plus I still loathe – and yes, I mean loathe – what they did with the Queen’s character.  I understand that they wanted to have something more for Lena to do, but what they chose . . . Gorgo would have kicked Theron’s ass for even asking for sex.  No way she would have done that.  Does not work with her character at all.

The worst part?  I picked up 300 as a set – two movies on one dvd – so the sequel (which I have avoided until now) is lurking out there, waiting for me to watch it.  But that’s for another night.

To Be Read . . .

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I’ve seen the claim that reading one hour a day in your chosen field will make you an international expert in that field within 7 years.  I don’t know about the veracity of that claim, though the idea of regular reading does logically lead to expanded knowledge.  What does reading an hour a day translate to?  That naturally depends on the material being read and the individual’s ability.  

I did time myself once, but I realized quickly that the number was pointless.  Because page layouts and fonts vary so widely, the number didn’t mean a lot unless I was counting words instead of pages, something I did not want to be bothered to do.  Plus, the material made a difference; subject matter and whether I stopped to take notes as I went drastically affected my reading time in this experiment (up to 120 pages for a paperback, down to 25 for a literary theory book while taking notes).  Not to mention how mental alertness / state of mind can come into play.

Like many ink drinkers, I have a long list of books that I want to read eventually.  A suggestion here, a snippet here, and the phrase  “I’ll add it to the list” leads to pages in a notebook (or, let’s be honest, a stack of paper scraps and receipts and napkins, often tucked into a book) covered with titles of books that we know we will never get around to reading.

Because most book lovers haven’t finished the books we already own.

So what if I just want to read the books I already have?

Well, how much can I read?  Knowing it all varies wildly, let’s just go with an average.  Let’s say 60 pages in an hour – one page a minute.  Assuming an hour a day and considering variations in reading material, let’s call it an average of one book a week.  52 books a year.  Let’s say a reader does this every year from age 25 to 85.  60 years of reading.

That’s only 3120 books.

If I count everything, from paperbacks to cookbooks, I’ve got around 2000 books.  Some of those are short (a graphic novel is an afternoon read) and some are long (the complete works of Shakespeare).  And I’m not counting all my single issues of comics. Of course some of these I have already read, and some are not really for “reading.”  A collection of knitting projects isn’t something I sit down and read from start to finish; I flip through the book when I get it and then I read the individual projects when I want to try them.  (Not to mention how boring it would be to read every knitting pattern in a row – how many “k3, p2tog, (yo p3, p2 tog) yo, k3” combos would it take to put me to sleep?)

I’m also not starting from 25 here.  

The question next becomes how I proceed through my collection.  Do I pick a genre and read all of those?  All the poetry before moving on to essays?  All the anthologies first?  Use alphabetical order and read everything under A before moving on?  Just vow to myself that I will read a different book from the shelf each time I reach for a new book?  

I think I’m leaning towards alphabetical – but leaving the anthologies for the end.  I thought about trying to go through each anthology and read all the As and so forth, but I think any anthology can be left for the end.  And, in the interest of time, any book that I’ve read in the last three years (since I moved) or that I’ve read multiple times can be skipped if needed.

After all, I only have so much time left.  There’s never enough time for all the books we read-rats (German version of “bookworm”) want to devour.

Carpe liber!!