Reader's Block Revisited

I think it was mostly the books I had started that made reading so difficult because I just read with great pleasure the new Juliet Marillier book, Heir to Sevenwaters. In fact I read it in one afternoon and evening, staying up until after one o'clock to finish it. I had very much enjoyed The Sevenwaters Trilogy as well as Wolfskin and Foxmask, so I had been looking forward to this book, and am happy I wasn't disappointed. I've now started The Private Patient by P. D. James. Let's hope it continues to go as well as it started.

And then there is my interest in nature. Well, all this snow we are getting is not what I had in mind. It is beautiful, and I'll grant that snow removal is great exercise (though not so great for the back) and the fresh air is good for me, but I'm ready for some sunshine. Still, when it is piled up, if you just squint a bit, you might almost think of it as dunes of sand on the Gulf Coast. Almost.

Reader's Block

We hear a lot about writer's block --a topic for another post -- but what about reader's block? I am an avid reader , yet I have recently returned two books -- and may well return a couple more -- to the library unread. These are books by authors I generally like a great deal and for which I've been eagerly waiting for some time. I just could not get interested in them. In some cases I found the characters uninteresting and in one book I found myself put off by the writing style. It seemed to be straining for humor where humor had always come naturally before.

So what's going on? I'm hoping this condition won't last as long as writer's block often does. Has anyone else had reader's block? Can it be the winter blahs or is it just me?

Families

I recently had a visit from one of my nieces who helped me get my physical world in a bit of order and also helped me get this blog world set up, for both of which I am most thankful. I have a wonderful family.

This set me to thinking about families and literature. Almost every book has something to do with the family background of one or more characters, even if it's only hinted at. And more often than not it is a troublesome relationship in some way. I'm sure that most of us would want to have a good relationship with the members of our family, yet it is these troublesome relationships that most interest up when we are reading. Conflict. Oh, yes. We might want to avoid it in real life, but a book without it would be very boring.

First Post

My world is mostly about writing and reading since those activities take up the biggest part of my day. But it is also about family and friends, music and nature and whatever else captures my fancy that day.