Books I am reading
storytelling
“If you want to be a writer, you must do two things above all others: read a lot and write a lot. There’s no way around these two things that I’m aware of, no shortcut.”
― Stephen King, On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft
I have begun to pick up reading as a habit again. This can be in the forms of articles, books, anime, and newspapers. But none the less, I am reading. I want to share the books I am reading currently. Most the books are not on the top one hundred, but were assigned to me by teachers or suggested by friends. I believe that writing is inspired by reading. We want to emerse ourselves in other people’s worlds, ideas, and concepts.
I am a believer that writing is like the sea because we have such freedom with what we write, but we crash against rocks when we hit writer’s block. The few books I am reading now are all books that helped me understand writing, and life better. I am also a large coffee drinker. I like to drink coffee before I start reading, writing, or any activity. I guess that makes me a coffee addict.
Books are a way for me to get distracted from every day life. It distracts me from the chores I do, work I do, and tends to put me in someone else’s ideas. If writing is the sea, than books are the forests that touch the beach. Forests have trees and trees give us oxygen. Thus, books are like forests because they help us plant ideas, grow knowledge, and inform us about the world around us. I know there are some who write but do not read.Those that only write miss the chances to experience other people’s perceptions of life. Let me express that my reading taste varies in terms of what I like to read.
How Will You Measure Your Life by Clayton M
I picked this book up back when I lived in Washington State. The reason I bought the book is because I wanted to understand my life better. I figured this book would help with that concept. I have started this book several times but never completed it. Here I am about to delve into the book again with the intention of finishing it. The book is not boring, nor is a book you put back down. But it is a small book, a quick read, and packed with a lot of information. Due to certain circumstances, I have been unable to finish it. However, I plan on finishing the book this time.
“Because if the decisions you make about where you invest your blood, sweat, and tears are not consistent with the person you aspire to be, you’ll never become that person.”
― Clayton M. Christensen, How Will You Measure Your Life?
This book talks alot about how to think over being told what to think. One of our largest issues is that a lot of people like being told what to think. But the better concept is learning how to think which can change your perception about certain topics. In fact, after reading this book you will become more knowledgable about both how business works, and how life choices work. Every action has a reaction with it.
“Culture is a way of working together toward common goals that have been followed so frequently and so successfully that people don’t even think about trying to do things another way. If a culture has formed, people will autonomously do what they need to do to be successful.”
― Clayton M. Christensen, How Will You Measure Your Life?
The Norton Anthology of American Literature 1914–1945
I am almost done reading this thick books about literature back in the day. I ended up reading every aspect of the book. I am close to the end of the anthology. But I needed a break from reading all the author’s in the great past of America. This book was orginally assigned to me by a teacher and I was only assigned certain author’s or time period’s to read. I decided to read the complete book because l wanted to learn more about America’s past and the writing of the past.
An anthology is a book covered with many works from various artists. While reading this anthology, you will be taken down windy roads, travel through an era of old writers, and engage with learning about time periods. I have read some of the stories in this anthrology throughout my time in school. But what stands out to me are poems in this book. We get Harlem era stories, and poems that are about nature.
You learn alot about culture, and how culture changes over time. After reading the majority of this book, I can reflect on how our society has changed. The vast changes that happened because we overcame slavery, and fought two world wars during the time period of the stories in the book. If you want to read about writers who wrote in the past about America than you should pick this anthology up.
And The Mountain Echoed By Khaled Hosseini
I like to read fiction both as young adult fiction and regular fiction. My read through for this book would be my second read through. It is on my shelf and I think it deserves to be dusted and read again. This book begins with a fable that a father is telling two children. ( A fable that acts as a lesson for the children about life.) Both children learn about favoritism from this fable. The fable is used to guide the moral decisions made in the book. While many of the events in the book question suffering, life choices, and grasping with grief.
“I suspect the truth is that we are waiting, all of us, against insurmountable odds, for something extraordinary to happen to us.”
― Khaled Hosseini, And the Mountains Echoed
Although, I have read this book before. I find undoubtly a work of fiction that should be read because it questions a lot about suffering in life. How do we cope? What do we do when we lose? How do we react when something precious to us is being ripped from us? How do we grind out of poverty? What do we do when we are facing poverty in our family? If you are curious about these questions, than this is the book you are looking for.
“Out beyond ideas
of wrongdoing and right doing,
there is a field.
I’ll meet you there.”
― Khaled Hosseini, And the Mountains Echoed
My take away
Books feed us information about our lives, and the lives of others. We read to delve into other people’s worlds. We write to delve into our own imagination. I do have a lot more books on my shelf I am currently working on these three books before I read anymore. These three books have taught me a lot and I feel like passing on that knowledge to whoever is reading this still. Now, I must ask what books are you reading?
