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Wednesday 2 October 2013

WordPress Daily Prompt: Reading Material

How do you pick what blogs or books to read? What’s the one thing that will get you to pick up a book or click on a link every single time? 

Photographers, artists, poets: show us CHOICES.




Impressions of September monthly market in Solothurn


Reading blogs is a different matter to reading books.

I must admit that I have to set priorities when reading blogs. I participate in the daily prompt, meaning that I am not alone. We are few and many according to how the subject appeals to us. Some show just a picture, some videos, but most write a contribution. I do not shake my efforts just out of my sleeve, although I do not have a lot of time to write or compose. Being in Europe I only get the subject at two in the afternoon and as I also have a life I say an hour to write and upload is enough. I also crosspost on Blogger and Facebook, although that does not need a lot of time – it is a routine.

So who do I read? With time you recognise your colleagues who write with you, suffer with you, and hope with you that your words do not land in a desert. I have been on the blog sites for many years, mostly in a prompt. It is out of politeness that you read what the others have written, as well as interest and there are some real jewels of writing out there. It would be selfish just to churn out a blog and wait for everyone to say hello, I read your blog. I do not choose which ones to read, I try to look at all. There is a problem of time sometimes. Perhaps I have to go to the doctor, perhaps I have something to do in town, but I do my best. I love the animal blogs, love the blogs from other countries, and love the fiction that some compose. I just have a look at all. I avoid blogs that try to persuade me to follow certain beliefs. I am a tolerant person and expect others also to be tolerant. I like to widen my horizon and learn something new, but not have it forced on me.

Now to books: that is a different matter. I choose my books according to my taste and my taste is definitely not always the taste of others, it does not have to be. I am a bit of a horror-mystery freak so go for a Neil Gaiman or James Herbert book. I might have books recommended in this genre by friends that know my taste. I am not so much for science fiction. I like a good police-detective story. I have discovered detectives from all over the world. My taste goes in the direction of Scandinavian and German detectives, although I look forward to an American new publication any time. Harry Bosch and I have become friends over the years as well as the Lincoln lawyer – books by Michael Connelly. Keeping an eye on new publications and best sellers is also rewarding. Why not try something else? I am open in my tastes and do not fix myself on the same books.

Reading an old classic is a rewarding pastime, one you missed out on when you were younger. Perhaps the school lessons ruined it for you, or you had better things to read when you were younger. Charles Dickens, Jane Austin, The Bronte sisters, Wilkis Collins, they all have something to offer, so why not. I have been perhaps lucky marrying Mr. Swiss who is also an avid reader and introduced me to many well-known German/Swiss authors. I have met Thomas Mann, Hermann Hesse, Siegfried Lenz, Friedrich Dürrenmatt on the way, just to mention a few. I can read them in the German original version, although the English translations are quite good. A branch out into the Russian novelists, Tolstoi, Dostoyevsky or a look at a Kafka book is also a good discovery. I usually read these In German as they are easier to buy in Switzerland and my Russian is not so good.

A good biography is also rewarding. Fidel Castro, Helmut Schmid, Giuseppe Garibaldi are interesting lives to read. They did not live in boredom, and were often quite adventurous.

I very rarely click on links. I can find the books that interest me on the Amazon site, or on Wikipedia, but I avoid strange unknown sites. My computer is too fragile to digest everything that hovers in cyberspace. How often have I been confronted with “your virus programme advises not to go further”, or something in that line? My computer does not like hopping from link to link, it makes him feel giddy and a keyboard psychosis might arise. There is a standstill, the bytes strike and someone out in the Trojan world is rubbing their brain cells in happiness – another one bites the dust. I used to surf everywhere for everything, but having a happy link clicking hand is not always the best.

Just enjoy reading and the rest will follow. See you around when our paths cross on the cyber motorway.


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2 comments:

  1. I used to read a lot at one time, often having several books on the go at the same time. Unfortunately I rarely seem to have the time these days. As for online, well...... many of the pages I visit are photographic, there aren't that many that require much reading. Yours being one of the few exceptions, I always enjoy reading your posts.

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    1. Thanks Mitch and I always enjoy your photos. I even took a a walk amongst the leaves yesterday in the garden with the camera - guess why. I now have to process them today and choose one. I seem to have more stress now then when I was a working gal.

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