Tuesday 16 June 2009

Read, Read, Read, Read, Read

I read quite a lot. This is not news to anyone. These speccy four-eyes what I have got have been well and truly earned by years and years of wearing down my optic nerves with many, many words (it's true, you ask any eyematrician and they'll tell you this is exactly how your eyes work). However, when I have a need (a need to read!), I'm often faced with the trauma of indecision as to what I should be reading. As such, I'll have many different options on the go in order to satisfy the ever-present wordy cravings. So, in old-fashioned Top Of The Pops fashion except without the rankings and order of preference (so not really in Top Of The Pops fashion at all, really), here's what's currently passing in front of my eyes. Some of these get dedicated chunks of reading time, some of these simply get picked up en route to The Thinking Room (you know the one I mean).

Back issues of 2000AD - Being that this comes out every week and I singularly fail to read it every week, inevitably, I am constantly anything from a few months to a year behind. I'll catch up in the end - only to fall behind again as the entire process starts all over again. It's the circle of weekly comics.

Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds - Which I have already read but I got some more of his books recently and it's been so long since I read this one that I needed to refresh the old memory before going on to the next. That's another thing - I read so much that I'm perfectly capable of pretty forgetting entire books (except for the overall gist). Which is great because it means I can read and enjoy them again. Bonus.

Our Movie Year by Harvey Pekar - Perfect for dipping in and out as they're short little comic strips about everyday life. If you've seen the film American Splendor, you'll have an idea what this is about. If you haven't seen it, then I recommend it as it's a great film - an intriguing combination between documentary, biopic and animation.

Thrill Power Overload - The warts and all story behind the scenes of 2000AD's first thirty years. It's a surprisingly candid book (which originally featured in Judge Dredd Megazine as a series of articles and was later expanded) in which the major players are unafraid to share their honest feelings and opinions about the comic and each other. Most interesting are the moments it highlights where different people remember events playing out in very different ways!

And, of course, whatever that week's current crop of comics happens to be.

Of course, this still doesn't stop me from looking at the shelves and thinking, "Oh, I want to read that, too". If only I had a few more eyes (preferably non-speccy as that's just gonna cost me a fortune).


7 comments:

Brandy Wilcoxen said...

My "want to read" list is way too long.

MJenks said...

Every time I pick up something new, I think "You know, I really should finish 'How the Irish Saved Civilization'".

Maybe after I finish the two things I'm working on currently.

Anna Russell said...

My bookshelf (and half of my floor and most other available space in my house) is filled with books I keep meaning to read. Then I get a new book and read that and it all goes on in some kind of time loop until I'm reading at least 2 books at once constantly, but somehow my "want to read" pile keeps getting bigger. Someone should write a book about it.

Kurt said...

I stopped going to the eyematrician and started going to an eyechiatrist.

kapgaf said...

My eyes require varifocals. These are the most expensive glasses know to man (and woman) and my children unto the 15th generation have been sold into slavery to pay for them (I'll probably manage to fit in a few more generations before I no longer need glasses).
When I redid my shelving a few months back, I set aside two 1 metre shelves for my "books I have yet to read". These have now multiplied and there is a 3rd shelf and I think that if I ask for books for my upcoming birthday, I might manage a 4th.

KMcJoseph said...

Right now I'm reading "Pride and Prejudice and Zombies".

It's good.

That Baldy Fella said...

Brandy Rose - Oh, this is just part of my "currently reading" list. My "want to" list is terrifying!

mjenks - Yeah, I never did finish "On The Origin Of The Species" (impulse buy at the Natural History Museum)

Anna - But then you wouldn't have time to read it and it would just stuck on the pile, etc., etc...

Kurt - I was recommended a good eyetomotrist the other day. (This could go on for some time...)

kapgaf - You can never have too many books. Well, obviously, you can but I don't like to think about that possibility. I'll just keep buying til they reach critical mass.

KMcJoseph - Weird, I bought that the other day! I hate Jane Austen with a passion so I like the idea of her charcaters being menaced by the undead.