Everyday Canvas

Reading

Prompt: Goodreads has a writing challenge each year. Do you participate in the challenge? How important to writing is reading other author's work? Do you read only books in your writing genre or do you mix it up?

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I don’t know about the writing challenge but I participate in Goodreads reading challenge. Reading is not a big achievement for me because I’ve read all through my life more than I did anything else. I consider reading to be a joy and a privilege.

This year with Goodreads my count is 135 even if I had pledged 75 books at the beginning of the year. My actual count may be even higher because I haven’t reported all the books I’ve read, especially those from the local library. Then, I usually finish every book I start, but there were those two books I stopped reading this year because I felt their authors wanted to be published more than focusing on the importance of the meaning in their words.

Although I seriously believe each person has something to add to the culture of humanity in general, no matter what the size of their know-how, it is puzzling to me that a writer can dare to spit out his/her words without doing any reading except for what he/she has read for schoolwork. Reading, especially in the genre one is writing in, is essential for analyzing and expressing oneself correctly.

Reading is crucial for people's well-being. According to scientists, it creates cognitive give-and-take that improves many things, such as vocabulary, thinking skills, and concentration, while also affecting empathy, social perception, and emotional intelligence, and all this may help people live longer.

Reading, for me, is more important than writing because my own experiences of this life are not enough. I want to get under other people’s skins and experience things as they've had. I also like to read from other cultures because we are one world and we are all so different and wide-ranging.

Usually, I am partial to the books under the “literary” heading in the bookstores and Amazon, which some reviewers say are boring or slow-moving, but I read in many genres because a book in any genre can be literary, too. I like all genres in general if a book speaks to me in some way or has an interesting story to tell. My least favorite genres are Erotica, Romance, and Horror. Yet, I have read and keep reading in those genres as well, for I have my favorites in them. I also read a great number of non-fiction books.

Usually, I have several books going at the same time. That is why I have two Kindle E-readers, four Kindle Fires, and a Nook. I also read on my cellphone. Physical books are great, too, but a bit more difficult nowadays because I have arthritis on my fingers and holding them is a chore. Still, I do read them.