I must be feeling better.
I’ve only noticed that in the last few days. Some of my old energy has returned and - even though my health situation is still a precarious one - I opened up my own blog today for the first time in months. Just reading some of the old posts and comments brought back so many great memories, that I wanted to say hello to anyone out there who might still be reading book blogs.
I’m sad to see that so many of my old favorites seem to have disappeared or drastically cut back on blogging for their own reasons. That makes me realize just how long some of us have been doing this and how many good friends have come (and sadly) gone over the last twenty years or so.
So this is just a HELLO! to the book community, or what’s left of it. I’m not sure how long I will continue to feel so much better than I have in months, but I just wanted to let everyone know that I’m still here and reading.
My reading has changed over the last year or so in that I’m doing very little reviewing and have decided to read strictly for my own personal pleasure. I’m doing more re-reading than ever, more slow reading, more nonfiction, and just generally enjoying my reading more than I have in a very long time.
I’ll stop here because I have a feeling this post is akin to putting a note in a bottle and tossing it into the sea. It may just sink to the bottom of the ocean - or with a little bit of luck, it will find it's way into the hands of a few readers and old friends.
So here goes...
I am so glad you are feeling better! I've really missed your posts, especially when I read Prophet Song. In these parlous times, a reread can be very comforting. Sometimes I notice totally different things (of course, embarrassingly, sometimes after I finish a book I realized I read it before).
ReplyDeleteConstance
I’m hoping this uptick in how I feel is not a fluke because it’s really good to have this kind of energy again. It’s been a while, for sure.
ReplyDeleteI know what you mean about comfort-rereads…and also about getting deep into a novel before realizing that I had read it a few years earlier. But it continues to amaze me how little I retain in the long term for some books I really enjoyed as a first read.
Happy to see you’re still out there and active. So many of us are not, and that kind of breaks my heart for us as a blogging community.
Sam, So good to see you posting and hear that you are feeling better. I am sorry to hear that your health situation is not so good, but improvement in energy is a good thing. I am reading less books, now, though not a huge drop, and reading slower. But still enjoying it. I also am reviewing less books.
ReplyDeleteI will come back tomorrow to read your post on Amy Tan's book. I recently read her Backyard Bird Chronicles and enjoyed it a lot.
Tracy, I think many of us are the way I am; we feel a self-imposed pressure to provide a well-considered review for the books we’ve accepted into our lives as specific review copies. If we let it, and I always do, that kind of pressure can turn what started out as a pleasurable pursuit into plain old work. And that feeling can really snowball after a few years. I don’t want to “work” anymore. I want to read and talk about books and writing with people who enjoy books as much as I do.
DeleteIf I can, I hope to briefly mention my reactions to what I’m reading today - and will even occasionally review new books received from publishers, etc. But at whatever pace is comfortable for me. Maybe that way I won’t have to disappear for so long again.
Great hearing from you.
Glad you are back blogging Sam and feeling better and I hope you continue to feel better.
ReplyDeleteI totally understand how reading for pleasure without the weight of a book review is something that all of us who have blogged for a long time need. And I'm thinking with the new blog I started it doesnt always have to be a review. There are all kinds of things we can say about books, movies etc that aren't reviews and I always enjoy your writing.
Exactly right, Kathy. I love conversation about books and everything associated with books as much as I love reading a good book review anymore. That’s probably because I realize that my reading days are indeed numbered now, and I’m not always on the search for something new to read like I was in years past.
ReplyDeleteI’m thinking about a short blog about my past “book lust” and the stash of unread books I’m left with. Too, new books seem to have become a rubber stamp of each other these days. I’m really bored with the majority of them.
Great to see you again. Thanks for stopping by.
I am glad to see you back! The book blog circle has gotten very quiet of late- my feed sometimes has days with hardly any new posts to look at. I admit I'm part of that slump- my reading has slowed down quite a bit too, and I often need easier reads or just do puzzles which doesn't get as much interest probably. But still here, and still reading. Do share with us some of your re-reads and nonfiction- sometimes it's enlightening to see what you think of or absorb differently from a book the second (third, fourth?) time around. And I do love me some good nonfiction, even if I struggle to get through them nowadays.
ReplyDeleteJeane, thanks for the welcome back. I am really happy to see that you are still among the more active book bloggers out there.
DeleteI wonder if all the chaos in the world, and the pace at which the whole world seems to be changing around us, is not what is driving so many of us back to “comfort reads.” For me, reading that type of book is a way to immerse myself in simpler (and maybe happier) times.
It is, though, really sad to see so many “old-timer” bloggers giving up on the hobby. That, along with losing so many of my favorite authors in the last few years, might also be part of my sadness about where we are in the book world now. Sometimes I feel as if everything is changing - and that nothing is changing for the better.
Hi, Sam!!! It's so good to hear from you. Glad to hear you're feeling a little more energetic these days. And I know what you mean about so many of our book blogging friends not being around as much any more. A lot of them have stopped completely. It makes me sad. I miss our blogging community. These past few months have been a bit hard and a lot sad for me...my mom passed away in December a few weeks before Christmas. She died peacefully in her sleep, but it's been hard navigating the world without her in it. I've been taking comfort in family, friends...and books. Wishing you all the best!
ReplyDeleteI am so sorry to hear about your mother passing away. I’m sure that you miss her terribly, and I will keep both of you in my prayers. That kind of loss always creates a big hole in the lives of those left behind. Take care of yourself and those close to you. And let them take a little care of you, too.
ReplyDeleteMy “recovery” has been so gradual, that I didn’t realize how far I’ve come until I realized last week that I wasn’t totally exhausted and in pain at the end of the day anymore. I’ve got a long way to go, and will probably never get back to where I was before all of this started, but I'm grateful to be feeling this well again. Makes me realize what I’ve been missing for the past 18 months or so.