Look at me, bloggin’ crazy!
Today I’m going to talk about books, because those are things that generally make me happy and I spend a lot of time reading. I’ve read 41 books in the past 29 weeks and I am embarrassed to report that not a single one of them was written by a female author. Does this make me sexist? The majority of the aforementioned books have been purchased at a Half Price Books near my house. They have a great $1.00 section which I enjoy perusing every week or so. They’re not sorted in any discernible fashion, so I end up just pulling out ones with interesting sounding names or appealing fonts on their spines and read their summaries. If the book sounds entertaining and is in good condition, I’ll put it in my basket. If it sounds like a winner, but it’s a little ragged, I’ll take a picture of it with my phone and try and get it from the library. I usually end up grabbing two or three books a week. Anyway, the point of relaying this information is just to point out that my book selection process is not premeditated. I never know what I’m going to end up grabbing off of the shelf. It just seems like I should’ve ended up getting at least one book by a female author. So, in an attempt to explain this phenomenon, I have compiled a few possible explanations:
1) Female authors enjoy boring titles and lackluster type faces (boo, Arial)
2) Female authors have a tendency to write about things that I find disinteresting: I do not particularly enjoy the heartwrenching tale of the young, downtrodden heroine who struggles through life to find true love only to have it dashed away in some super unpredictable fashion
3) Maybe I just have trouble relating with female authors because I’m a fella, so even if a book might sound good, I don’t take away enough from the synopsis to want to read it… but that assumes that the author writes the stuff on the back of the book, which likely isn’t true
Regardless of the reason, I certainly don’t read the summary of the book, decide “Hey, this sounds great!”, and then glance down at the author’s name and realize it’s a woman and think, “Oops, better put this back, I hate reading stuff by stupid women.” I understand that having a preference for certain types of books certainly isn’t sexist and that the genres I enjoy reading may be dominated by male authors. I guess to be more accurate I should mention that of those 41 books there are only 27 different authors. But still, 27 authors and no women? Anyway, I can’t help but find this fact mildly bothersome. Has anyone else encountered a similar problem, or am I the only one?
Moving along, I just finished Lost Boys by Orson Scott Card. I had recently read Ender’s Game, which is a super-fabulous book that I really enjoyed, so I had high hopes for a different novel from Card. However, Lost Boys was really strange and uncomfortable to read. The opening two pages instilled a sense of dread that lingered throughout the book, and the ending was kind of a punch to the stomach. I don’t really want to ruin it, in case anyone reads this and then goes on to read the book, but I don’t think I would give it a very enthusiastic recommendation. It creeped me out.
The next book I’m planning on reading is Darwinia by Robert Charles Wilson. This book has a cool name, nice font, and an interesting cover, so I was immediately sucked in. I really do enjoy buying a like-new book, that has the price of $24.95 printed right on it, for just $1.00. Makes me feel awesome. Anyway, this book has some alternate history stuff mixed with some fantasy and science fiction, so it should be at least somewhat exciting. I suspect that I will be done with it by the end of the weekend.
Lastly, I will talk about Wildwood: A Journey Through Trees by Roger Deakin. I really, really want to buy this book. I got it from the library, but because I was in Florida I didn’t get a chance to dive right in, and it’s due soon so I won’t be able to finish it before I have to return it. Roger Deakin was a British naturalist/environmentalist, and Wildwood kind of chronicles his adventures, observations, and insights as he travels through different forests around the world. Deakin has been compared by many to a Thoreau, which means he’s awesome. In summation, Wildwood sounds like an amazing book. Normally, I’d go to the used book store and buy it for half price, but they don’t have a copy. I could buy it on Amazon for twenty bucks, but I hate paying full price for books, because I’ve gotten so spoiled by the aforementioned $1 books, so I have come up with a plan. A sneaky, sneaky plan that may or may not work.
I will go into Half Price books. I will purchase the newest, nicest $1 books that I can find. I will take these books to Barnes & Noble. I will innocently say to the cashier at Barnes & Noble, “I got these books for my birthday, but I would like to return them. No, I do not have a reciept. Yes, store credit would be fine.” I will then take whatever credit they give me and go buy Wildwood: A Journey Through Trees at a fraction of the cost.
Hooray!
Hopefully I’ll get the opportunity to attempt this this weekend. I’ll be sure to share my success/failure. Anyway, I think this entry is sufficiently long. Hopefully I’ll keep this up, because it’s kind of fun.
