This week’s question: I’ve seen this quotation in several places lately. It’s from Sven Birkerts’ ‘The Gutenberg Elegies: The Fate of Reading in an Electronic Age’:

“To read, when one does so of one’s own free will, is to make a volitional statement, to cast a vote; it is to posit an elsewhere and set off toward it. And like any traveling, reading is at once a movement and a comment of sorts about the place one has left. To open a book voluntarily is at some level to remark the insufficiency either of one’s life or one’s orientation toward it.”

To what extent does this describe you?

I love this quote!!  My first connection was a remembrance from college…  My former roommate once said that she knew how stressed out I was by the volume of pages I consumed.  The implication was as my need for escape increased, my need to read did as well.

I think the reverse may be true now — when I need to figure out a problem, I have a hard time focusing on what I’m reading — now I tend to need to brainstorm possible solutions before I can jump into a work.

So, while the extent of my reading may have indicated an insufficiency in my past, I now find that I choose works that orient toward my future.  Which would explain why I rarely read nonfiction when I was younger and seem to have an insatiable appetite for it now.  Currently I am loving Pollan’s The Omnivore’s Dilemma — and I’m a herbivore!    The older I get, the more I want to learn about lives – and information — beyond my own experience. 

What about all of you?  Any reaction to the quote?  Could you use reading as a litmus test for your life?

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BTT: Gutenberg Lives…

photo credit: Freddy The Boy

Hi all!  Last week Booking Through Thursday asked us what our favorite surprising narrative was…  Here’s a peek at the responses!  This is another random sampling of last week’s meme — I linked to each post, so feel free to read more about these ”twisty” picks…

• Jennifer G chose The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian, Water for Elephants by Sara Gruen, And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie, and Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane
• Books Please chose The Last Time They Met by Anita Shreve
• Gautami Tripathy chose The Suicide Collecters by David Oppegaard
• The Boston Bibliophile chose Possession by A.S. Byatt
• Michelle chose The Hunger Games and Catching Fire by Suzanne Collins
• Allison chose Fight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
• Joy chose The Lace Reader by Brunonia Barry
• Mark chose A Fine Balance and Where the Red Fern Grows
• Jim chose Penguin by Polly Dunbar
• Jennifer chose The Boy in the Striped Pyjamas

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BTT Redux: Surprising Stories…

Jackie says, “I love books with complicated plots and unexpected endings. What is your favourite book with a fantastic twist at the end?”

So, today’s question is in two parts.

1. Do YOU like books with complicated plots and unexpected endings?

2. What book with a surprise ending is your favorite? Or your least favorite?

Another interesting BTT this week!  I do not read mystery very often, but do enjoy books that are original or surprising — IF the ending adds to the overall quality or interest of the narrative overall.  I detest books with slapped on surprise endings that either would never happen in real life (i.e. — Jodi Picoult) or endings that did not leave enough clues to “fit” the story.  Every Picoult I have read has been pure pleasure — until the “made-for-t.v.” ending that cheapens what should have been a really good page-turner.   

That said, the first few titles that came to mind were the following (I linked to my review when possible and Amazon if I haven’t written my own review…):

• In the Woods by Tana French (I figured out “who dun it” but thought the ending was appropriate none-the-less)
• The Sister by Poppy Adams
• The Double Bind by Chris Bohjalian
• The Blind Assassin by Margaret Atwood
• The Thirteenth Tale by Diane Setterfield

So, those are my initial thoughts — not necessarily mysteries, but surprising in some way…

What about you?  What are your favorite “complicated or unexpected” novels?   By the way, I am compiling a sampling of the answers posted to last and this week’s BTTs for a future post…

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BTT: Twisty

photo credit: topher76

Hi all!  Last week Booking Through Thursday asked us who our favorite unknown writer is…  Here’s a peek at the responses!  This is truly a scattershot view of last week’s meme — I chose a handful of blogs at random and only included the first author highlighted (if multiple authors were chosen).  I linked to each post, so feel free to read more about these obscure picks…

• Novraz chose Koushun Takami
• Page Turners chose Douglas Kennedy
• Biblioteca chose Lauren Willig
• Puss Reboots chose Penny Warner
• Well-Mannered Frivolity chose Brian S. Matthes
• Just Book Reading chose Michelle Moran
• The Literary Omnivore chose Kristin Chashore and Diana Peterfreund
• Amy Reads Good Books chose Elia Wilkinson Peattie and Joanne Rendell
• The Koolaid Mom chose Gwen Cooper
• Tim chose Hans Fallada
• Rose City Reader chose Anthony Powell
• Matthew chose Alan Hollinghurst
• Literally Soul Food chose Jennifer Johston

Another great post from: BOOK CLUB CLASSICS! Thanks for visiting...

BTT’s Unknown Picks…

Another great post from: BOOK CLUB CLASSICS! Thanks for visiting...

BTT: Favorite Unknown…?