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Recently, though, I've noticed that a couple of books have simply taken me months to get through (rather than days), and this has not been because I haven't enjoyed them. Au contraire, I most certainly have. The reasons behind it taking me so long though have caused me to consider a little more closely the way I read...
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The 2 books in question are The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss and Rainbow's End by Vernor Vinge. The first is book 2 in the Kingkiller Chronicle fantasy series and the second is a Hugo Award winning science fiction novel.
I'd actually begun reading The Wiseman's Fear right back at the beginning of February, whereas I didn't pick up Rainbow's End until later in that same month. I was keen to get into The Wise Man's Fear as I'd enjoyed The Name of the Wind (book 1 in the series). Reading Rainbow's End came about as it was mentioned by more than one person at #VALA2012 and #libcampoz12.
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Given it's not unusual for me to have a couple of books of variant genres on the go at the same time I was surprised that I found it so difficult to get into Rainbow's End. I must have read that first chapter about three times before finally I settled in and started moving along with the story. I realised I had to stop and adjust my reading style to suit the book I was reading, whilst still being flexible enough to continue reading the other books I had on the go, including The Wise Man's Fear.
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For a while there I actually put both books aside and read nothing. I seemed unable to consider picking up a book, any book, and read. After a few weeks of picking up the occasional paperback whilst I ate lunch at work I found myself keenly anticipating reading more deeply. I had my reading mojo back!
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I then started reading everything else I had on the go (other than Rainbow's End and The Wise Man's Fear) - I caught up on Labyrinth and Downpour from Kat Richardson's Greywalker series, started reading my way through Gabrielle Lord's Conspiracy 365 series (I'm up to October), read Nicole Alexander's The Bark Cutters and A Changing Land (before handing them on to my daughter), finished off a handful of Mills & Boon Regency romances, and kept track of all my reading via Goodreads.
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I felt reinvigorated. It's a great feeling.
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Oddly enough it was after finishing off a late night session of back-to-back Regency romances that I picked up Rainbow's End. Throughout my hiatus I had been thinking about the two storylines that I wasn't reading, wondering what was happening with the characters, considering what I had learned about them so far. I am innately curious and I found my curiosity providing much of the impetus for the return of my reading mojo.
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And so I read. I poured over the pages of Rainbow's End and when I read that last paragraph (twice, just to make sure I had actually reached the end of the story and there was no more left to learn) I closed the book and thoughtfully put it aside. I sat there a while and considered why I had started reading it in the first place and realised along the way I had become so caught up in the characters that I had forgotten that. I looked back on how I felt about the descriptions of this futuristic library and its simultaneous destruction and digital retention and realised that this world it described is not so strange. The sheer possibility of this world is staggering. Target achieved.
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I can't tell you about The Wise Man's Fear - I haven't finished it yet. It currently has the single pleasure of joining me for breakfast each morning (one sure way to ensure I actually stop long enough to eat something substantial before the day begins in earnest).
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I am certainly profoundly grateful that I learned to slow down a little and give each book its own time. I am thoroughly enjoying taking each precious moment with these books so that they don't become a blur, but a profound experience. I have learned to take my speed-reading skills and commitment and apply it to spearing each word on the page and giving it due consideration.
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What more can I say? I love reading. :)
