I have just posted four new books I have just finished reading.
I was talking to my friend Nick Murfett last week about holiday reading, and I said that even in a normal week I'd read voraciously - although tending towards shorter books. When we discussed what books I was reading then he was surprised I had finished four.
I usually have some 4 or 5 books "on the go" at any one time. They are usually a mix of novels (new and old), technical books about management theory, poetry, history, philosophy, politics. Depending on the mood I am in at any one time, I pick up the book with the appropriate topic then.
I'm not quite sure how I fit them in, and sometimes it does take me a long time to finish a book (particularly when I have not been "in the mood" for a particular topic for some time that book of that topic may lie partially read for some months). Generally I read a lot on a Sunday evening. Every morning I try to read 4 to 6 pages between waking up and my morning walk and exercise - as a bit of a mental "wake up" in preparation for activity (I have to explain to everyone that because I am a terrible insomniac, my day starts at 5 to 5.30am). I also read on planes a lot, and because I travel so much that is the best reading times I have - as well as in hotel and motel rooms of an evening when my head is reeling from work-concentration and I need to unwind.
Our friends in Melbourne, Dave and Harriet, read to each other in bed. Amanda's not a great reader herself so we tried that - for about one night.
My taste in books is eclectic to say the least. The desire to read certain titles comes from reviews in the newspapers and other magazines, a movie or a documentary seen that might spark an interest, a Saturday afternoon browse through a bookshop that might reveal an interesting cover (I do judge a book by the proverbial), or sometimes a theme that links it's way over a period of time. For example, since our trip to Singapore last Christmas there has been an emerging theme of Chinese, or South East Asian, or historical books about South East Asia. Next on my list in this theme is Tash Aw's The Harmony Silk Factory and Peter Thompson's The Battle For Singapore.
And yes, the actual titles and topics within the themes are themselves also eclectic!
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