Bookworm

I love to read. I have loved reading since I was little. It's always been an escape for me to immerse myself in a story. Unfortunately, I enjoy reading SO much that sometimes it's a distraction from my normal life. In college I wouldn't allow myself to read for pleasure because I wouldn't get my homework done. These days I won't pick up a book until I've done everything I need to do for the evening. Otherwise it just won't get done. Even with that restriction I have to be careful how late it is when I start reading because I'll keep telling myself-- just one more chapter-- until like 2 am.

My one big dilemma with reading is that there just isn't enough time to read everything that I want to read. So every time I go to choose what book to read, I debate about whether to read something I've never read or to re-read a book I already know I like. I'm sure I think about this WAY more than I need to, but I hate wasting time on a book that isn't good. I'm realizing, as I'm writing this, that I'm quirky about reading, so let me explain some stuff.

First of all, I don't decided whether a book is good or not based on if I like it. I've read plenty of good books that I didn't like for one reason or another, typically because I didn't sympathize with the characters. Bad books are ones that are poorly written, have lots of plot holes, or are simply unbelievable. Good books make you buy into the story, no matter what it's about. Bad books don't do that which is why I hate wasting time on them.

You might ask, if you don't want to waste your time, why not stop reading when you realize it's no good? Well, because I finish books. That's just what I do. I can think of only one single book in my life that I quit reading because I thought-- this just isn't worth reading. I've left other books unfinished because I got distracted by work or school or life, but usually I just read the whole thing. Some stories start slower, sometimes it takes a little time to get attached to the characters, sometimes a plot twist at the end makes the whole book worthwhile, so I try not to judge prematurely.

Because of this need I have to finish the books I start, I have a particular way of deciding what to read. If I'm choosing (for myself) a book I've never read, I will pick a classic, or something from an author I've read before and know I enjoy. On the other hand, I am willing to read almost anything if someone recommends it to me. (The one exception being romance novels. I don't read those.) This is because, in my experience, people rarely recommend bad (per my definition above) books. I am open to all types of books- classics, contemporary, science fiction, fantasy- I just want a good story.

Anyway, the point of all this (if there was one, I'm still not sure) is that for the year that I'm 26 I want to keep track of what I read. I have no real concept of how much I read, so it will be interesting to see. I'm not going to post reviews of what I read, because I have a hard time going beyond-- I liked it or I didn't like it-- without getting into a discussion of the book and this blog is less a discussion and more me rambling at you. I'm just going to keep a running reading list on the side bar.

So, are you all weird about reading like I am? What do you like to read? And, most importantly, do you have any recommendations for me??