Alexander Nachaj

Tag: reading

  • I read four books this week.

    I read four books in a week.
     
    I suppose there’s a first for everything.
     
    In a way, I wonder if I could have done more. I was slowed down thanks to my regular part-time work, lecturing and course preparation, and the publication slate for the JRC, and all that jazz. Could I have gone through another 4 with those 40 hours reclaimed?
     
    I’m not so sure. Being pressed for time — that is, knowing you don’t have enough time — can really do wonders for keeping you focused.
     
    Part of me suspects I would have read less if I had more time, and spend the difference putzing about.
     
    Anyways, before I go off sounding like some speed-reading hero, the devil is in the details.
     
    The longest book was 210 pages, and the briefest 80 — making the whole ordeal roughly as long as a decent length Steven King book; albeit, decidedly more difficult to read (non-fiction, academic publications inevitably require more concentration).
     
    Still, it’s a bit of a wonder that preparing for a composite exam can do so much to your free time — especially in light of a deadline.
     
    Read 20 books in three months and then write an exam? Still daunting, but at least I’m off to a promising start.
     

  • Books I Read in 2013

    I had meant to get this post up sooner, but the nature of a blog is to be ignored and ignored it was.

    In 2013, I read a total of 20 books. It’s a little shabby, especially considering the large amounts of free time I had compared to previous years (though, I suspect the lack of free time is what pressed me to read more when I could). As well, I certainly spent more time writing for myself than I have in previous years, so at least I managed to strike some sort of rough literally truce between my pen and the books on my shelf.

    Here’s what I plowed through last year:

    • Stephen King – The Green Mile
    • Frank Miller – Batman: Year One
    • Robert Jordan – The Eye of the World
    • John Wyndham – The Day of the Triffids
    • Harry Harrison – Make Room! Make Room!
    • Michael Pollan – The Botany of Desire
    • Sigmund Freud – Civilization and its discontents
    • Tristan Das – Documentary Screenwriting
    • Linda J. Cowgill – The art of Plotting
    • Kurt Vonnegut – Player Piano
    • Marilyn Webber – The Writer’s Road Map
    • Alan Weisman – The World Without Us
    • Edward Dolnick  – The Clockwork Universe
    • Maurice Druon – The Iron King
    • Stephen King – Insomnia
    • Robert Jordan – The Great Hunt
    • Bryan Lee O’Malley – Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Life
    • Ethan A. Kincaid – Blood Of Midnight: The Broken Prophecy
    • Robert Jordan – The Dragon Reborn

    I also read an ebook called A Crash Course in Visual Content Creation but I can’t seem to find the damn thing or remember who authored it.

    I had a good year in the non-fiction category. Most were insightful, others life changing: after reading The Botany of Desire I can honestly say I will never buy non-organic potatoes again (in fact, the majority of all vegetables I buy are now organic).

    I wasn’t expecting to read so much fantasy, but that’s just the way the cards hit the table this time around. As always, I squeezed in a few Stephen King novels in there, but that’s to be expected since everyone needs a little junk food now and then (and it’s so plentiful and wondrous!). What I did realize is that I need to branch out my reading patterns a little bit more and dive into new authors, which I have fortunately already started this year.