Paperback Pleasers

I am writing this as a response to a meme prompter on Meme Express. Apparently I can use this prompt, along with the images and music of the Beatles' Paperback Writer in order to inspire a poem, song, photo, or other entry ... Well, I do actually have a lot of other work to do, so I'm not feeling particularly creative at the moment! (Although many ideas of photos of my many paperbacks come to mind ... Maybe some other time.) So, because I do want to write something just now before getting back to my essay, I am simply going to answer the questions. Because they are about one of my favourite ways of spending time ...

Do you love to read?

I love to read. Apparently I was a real pain when I was young because I used to stay awake until I had been read to. I was finally able to get to sleep by myself when I was able to read for myself. Although my eyesight has never been quite the same! All those Famous Fives and Agatha Christies read either under the duvet cover, trying to keep the light from alerting my parents to the fact that I was still awake, or even straining to read in the darkness, simply by the light of the moon through the cracks between the curtains. I still devour books, in fact I devour words. It's the only way to describe it. From the ingredients on the side of a cereal packet, through the text messages sent to the free newspapers that I pick up and read on the tube, to novels and biographies with a bit of internet stumbling added in for good measure ... I am constantly reading. Fortunately H is the same, so if we go to a restaurant and happen to have a paper to hand ... well, he can read one section while I read another, and although we might look as if we are miserable in each other's company and are rudely reading instead of making small talk, in fact, we are both happy to quietly read and just be in the presence of the other, and in the presence of words. So, yes, I love reading.

How many paperbacks do you have going at one time?

Hmm. This is a tricky one. I have just finished Fearless Fighter by Vera Chirwa, and have also recently finished a couple of other books as well - I write my reviews on my other blog, Louisa's Library. I have read 20 books this year so far, and most of them have been paperbacks. I have two paperbacks by my bed at the moment - When a Crocodile Eats the Sun by Peter Godwin and Two Caravans by Marina Lewycka. Normally I have some others lying around as well, and may have a larger book for at home and a smaller one in my handbag for the tube.

What is your favorite genre of books?

(Is it adventure, biography, history, mystery, romance or another?)

Hmmm. I read a lot of very different genres. At the moment I have been reading a lot of autobiography - this year has included works by Russell Brand, three sisters who grew up in a cult, Henry Hemming, Roald Dahl, Ishmael Beah, Peter Godwin, Alexandra Fuller, Erin Gruwell and Vera Chirwa. So that's almost half my books ... and one of the books by my bedside is also biography. Well, autobiography, or memoir, to be precise. The year before that I read 28 books, five of which were biographical. That year I read a lot of more literary fiction, because I was trying to get through a few of the books in the 1001 Books to Read Before You Die list. I also quite like a good old detective novel - I suppose the Famous Five and Agatha Christie reference from my childhood indicates that that love has been around for a while! They do seem a bit trashier when compared to Coatzee, Camus and Carter, who were all on my 2007 reading list, but they are fun and necessary at times for some light reading! I also love a bit of Jane Austen, but haven't read that much romance recently.

Do you consider paperback books a scholarly pursuit or a guilty pleasure?

A bit of both, I suppose ... I studied English, and don't feel guilty about gaining pleasure from reading. I also gain a lot of knowledge - especially if it's biographical, I suppose - and find it very relaxing. Much better for me that being on the computer all evening, which is how I more and more frequently find myself spending the evening. So it engages my brain while relaxing me ... It's all good.

Have you ever written a book?

I've written a short story at secondary school! Very hifalutin' (that's what comes up on the spell checker - it's not a word I've ever written before - I hope you know what I mean!), sentimental, quite silly and romantic, but I enjoyed it very much! I tried to write a novel during NaNoWriMo last year, and managed about 20,000 words, but it was hard to do that and work at the same time! I have no great ambitions to write a book, but I do love writing, and, as I said, I love words, so it was fun experimenting during November. I do know someone who has written a book though, so I have seen the experience at close hand. I don't know if I would have the stamina!

If you could write a book, what would it be about?

That's a hard one! The book I started before involved banking, shopping and driving. Very mundane. So I suppose it would probably be an observational book based on everyday life. I'd need to think of a more exciting plot though! I love words, but planning and following through ... well, that's where I would let myself down!

And that's it ... thank you, Meme Express, for that inspiration! Hope it's livened up my blog a bit for my readers (my parents and overseas friend, I think, but possibly other people passing by!)

(PS Not sure why the choo choo image doesn't show up unless you click on it ... May get round to fixing it later, but I really do have work to do now!)