Fast Reader

I have lately been reading an awful lot. For me that's really saying something. I've always got a book, but they usually take at least a couple weeks to get through. I tend to read only while traveling or before bed, which limits the rate at which I can read. It's also easy to get out of the habit of reading for a while, especially in the middle chapters of a book that is no longer excitingly new. I do still read a lot of books in a year.

As I said, though, I have lately been going through more books. Really I just mean in the last few days. I had been reading "The Onion Field". I had that rather tragic tome for about a month, in the middle of which I didn't get a lot of reading done. As is my wont, I started strong and finished strong. I often finish books in a late night tear as I realize how near I am to being finished. The promise of starting a new book is a powerful motivator.

Upon returning the aforementioned book, I reasoned that I'd like to read something lighter and easier. At first I thought I'd read another Megan Abbott novel, but I decided the one the library had was too much like the last of hers I'd read. I was hoping for a straight noir story like her first novels that grabbed me. I decided that instead of her book I would go with one of Elmore Leonard's that I had previously missed. As big a fan of his as I am, he was very prolific and there are many that I have missed. I burned through "Out Of Sight" very quickly. It was good.

I had the foresight to pick out several books, which I think makes me read even faster than if I am secure in the knowledge that I need only read one in the time allotted. Largely in one night, I read Frederick Pohl's "Gateway". I was really cooking at this point. I had meant to read one of his novels, as fond as I became of the blog he wrote in his latter years. It was very good too, and I hope to read more of his work soon.

That left Timothy Zahn's "Heir To The Empire", the first of three novels continuing the story begun by the original Star Wars Trilogy. I used to be an avid reader of those countless novels which traded on the rich world created by the films. I thought I would see if they were as good as they seemed when I was in my early teens. I'm still in the early chapters of this first one, and so far I am undecided on whether it has much merit. Certainly it is more flawed than I remembered, but perhaps I will muster enough enthusiasm to read the trilogy, if not the whole pantheon of novels that it led to.

I wonder whether I'll keep up this pace for long. Probably I won't. Things have been irregular lately, and most times I really can't read except during the times I mentioned above. I just have these brief periods of white hot activity with such things as reading, watching movies and listening to particular songs. I may just get through with this one and then ease up. There are an awful lot of things to do with one's life, and if I can't read all the books, I might as well make time to partly complete other things.