Day 06 - A Book I am Reading.

I read a lot.
Almost obsessively so.
I always have done - I could read before I went to school, and have always been really grateful to my Mum for that! As a child, I was often in trouble for reading by torchlight (or by the street light outside my bedroom window) when I was supposed to be sleeping. Another favorite was reading whilst I was supposed to be tidying up or doing my homework -  an alarming number of my childhood memories involve me guiltily stuffing a book under something as one of my parents walks into the room. Probably the most effective punishment for me as a child was to be forbidden to read - it didn't happen often, but when it did, I was miserable. And to make matters worse, it was always a matter of trust, in that my parents didn't take the books away (there were probably far too many!) I was just told hat I wasn't allowed to touch them. I guess it says something about discipline and expectations that it never crossed my mind to abuse their trust.

One of the 'hang-overs' from this, is the fact that I often feel that reading is something of an indulgence, and when I'm busy - which seems to be all the time - I tend to feel guilty if spend time with my 'head in a book' - which is kinda funny when you consider that many people feel that reading more is something they should do, and that I often set reading for homework for my exam students, who then struggle to do it... it's a funny world.

I will read most things, particularly series or sequences of books, and I like strong character development as well as strong plot lines. Sci-fi/ fantasy novels are probably my favorite, with crime fiction/thrillers coming in a close second. I also like books which make me laugh, and books which make me think - I like to learn new things, but still revisit some of the books of my childhood on a regular basis. I have a bit of a thing for auto-biographies, own a vast amount of playscripts (huge surprise, this one) and a reasonably impressive reference library! (when I'm starting something new, or something catches my interest/curiosity I read about it. And when I read, I buy books!)

One of the best things about my flat is the study, which will be - when I've finally got it organised - a room of books. I tend to be a bit obsessive about my 'library' - books are shelved in alphabetical order of Author's surname - and whilst I am always happy to lend books out, I keep a list of who's got what! (this falls down with plays and reference books, which I tend to take into school when kids are doing devised work, and often never see them again - although I do often gain books that I didn't buy during this process, so I figure there's some kind of karma in place!)

There are usually two or three books open about the flat - at the moment I'm finishing 'Skinny Bitch' which has been lent to me by the lovely Dani (click here for her blog) and which has made me seriously consider a vegan lifestyle - something I never thought I'd do! - but that's a whole other blog post. Also, I'm reading the play version of The Grimm Fairy Tales with a view to using it as a performance text for yr 12 after Christmas.

The book I'm currently reading for the sheer joy of it, is Tolkien's The Fellowship of The Ring. (the first book of the fabulous 'Lord of The Rings' Trilogy) It's really a re-read, probably for the 4th or 5th time. My first encounter with these books was at the age of 18, during the year I spent in Spain. Enric & Susie couldn't believe I'd never read them, and went to some lengths to find all three in English for me.
These are the editions I still have, and they are much treasured. This particular re-read has been coming for a while - I re-read all the Harry Potter books when the final film came out, and then went to see an overnight marathon of the LOTRs films at the imax (the director's cut versions, obviously) which was amazing. Amy (click here for her blog) came with me, and as a LOTR book virgin, was blown away by the films, and even admitted that there was a fair amount of overlap in the plot lines and characters from LOTR and HP. (Amy has serious JK worship issues, so this is a big deal!) I'm loving the book, as much as the first time, and as I am currently working crazy hours, it's being quite a slow read, slotted into the waking moments between getting into bed and unconsiousness. The good thing about having read it before, is that the fairly disjointed manner of my current trip through the book isn't a problem. First reads tend to require longer stretches of time!

Tolkien Love...