[birhutanuh]

i dont know if this is already been talked about, maybe it already has since it seems to come up in alot of my conversations.... but how can people go through life without even picking up a book on their own free will?? i know these people, and even though thats their preference and i respect that, sometimes im baffled at the extent of vocabulary they know. or how little intrest they have in reading books. it just seems mad. perhaps they just havent read good books yet?

[Nathan Carter]

I hear you brother, (or sister?) I love books! I was thinking of posting a thread on my own peculiar behavior when I have one in my possesion, but I think you hit the vien I was after here...

I don't know if I'm just strange, well, strike that, I know for certain I'm strange, but do any of you do this?

I get a book, having selecting it from whatever source it came from, I look at the cover intently, study the artwork if there is any, then I read the entire back cover, then I open it and read every acknowledgement, and thanks, and dedication... then I look at the copyright information, to get a handle on when it was first published... and only then do I begin to read... I LOVE books... it's not enough to simply read the words, I like the feel in my hands... I could never read a novel length e-book, or even listen to a book on tape, I like holding the binded copy of somebodys mind in my hands and drinking deeply of effort within...

[Zsinj16]

Nathan, I do the exact same thing you do when I read a book!! You're certainly not alone there!! And I agree 100% with you about the e-book thing. I could never read an e-book. Nothing compares to the rich feeling of holding a real novel in your hands!!
My life definitely has been fully enriched by books, and I too can't see how a single person can go through life without reading one.

[birhutanuh]

yes! i agree...well, i may not read the copyright info but i certianly try and read every other word in the book! i like reading paperbacks better, but the feeling of a hardcover makes up for it.. i simply couldnt imagine my life without books.
ps. its sister http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif

[Cygnus]

This is something that I've never been able to fathom either. I know that some people have actual learning problems that make reading difficult; that I get. But the majority of people that I know that have read maybe a total of 10 books in their whole life are fully capable of reading. It's baffling. Of course the confusion seems to go both ways. Those who see me with a new book every week don't get what I find so great about reading.

I love books and learning in general so much that I am becoming a librarian (I'd shoot for a future as an author if I had any talent for writing). I currently work in a library and I have an amazing number of kids that come in for an assignment and act like it's the end of the world because they have to read a 100 page book. A high school girl came in a few months ago and she had to pick out a book to read for pleasure. It could be ANY book as long as it was over 150 pages. So I try to help her narrow it down by asking what books she has read that she really likes, or what authors does she prefer. To my shock/horror she said that she never read anything just because she wanted to. A totally alien concept to me!!

For one of my library classes we were assigned a book called, How to Read a Book (no, I'm not kidding!). In this it lists doing just what Nathan and Zsinj are already doing.. read everything before you start in on the "meat" of the story. Prior to reading that I did it too to get a better idea of what I was getting into before purchasing a book.

[Nathan Carter]

Ok, here's another odd quirk of mine, that I would only reveal to people who might understand...

When I read alot of fiction, I begin to go through narrative in my head, in whatever I do... example:

"He walked out of the grocery store to his car, hitting a brisk California evening. Realizing he left his lights on, He mentally slapped himself in the forehead."

It's kinda creepy sometimes... because I start to add things to the narrative, like...

"He got into his car, little knowing of the midget assassin hiding in the backseat with the machete"

Sometimes I force myself to look in my back seat...

[birhutanuh]

woah nathan carter, i never knew there was another! i do that all the time, except it is mostly to describe things. peoples faces, actions, landscapes, the looks that people wear. and does anyone, after reading a great book(s), catch themselves talking like the characters? or saying words that come from the books?

[fortytwo]

I love books.I love reading books.Ilove handling books.I love talking about books.
I must have about 300 unread books waiting for me to read.About 8 years ago I just stopped reading.I must have had the reader's equivalent of writer's block.It lasted about 2 years and then I was cured!I am now in full flow again.
I don't know why it happened but after that I can sort of sympathise with someone who never reads.
I gave a book to a friend who will read newspapers, magazines etc.and he promised to read it,it was on a subject I know he was extremely interested in.I read that book in less than two days, he has never read it.He's given me every excuse under the sun why he hadn't.After 6 months' excuses I know he's never going to read it and probably no other books either.

[Zsinj16]

Yep, Birhutanuh, there are many times I've caught myself talking like a character in a fantasy novel. I usually talk a lot like Samwise or Gandalf the Sorceror from LOTR!! http://www.sffworld.com/ubb/smile.gif

[Cygnus]

I'm currently listening to The Shipping News (an non-fantasy book) on tape and the character works as a third-rate newspaper journalist. He's often words his observations like headlines and I've started to do that. Like, Bored Girl Posts Lame Response or whatever. Pretty amusing past time anyway.