Many people find satisfaction in talking with others about a book recently read. I can be a bit of a pain with too early or too frequent a question about what friends are reading. I have found though that reactions and recommendations from others help me find good reads.
As I get older, I enjoy good books just as much but I find that it seems to get harder to find a piece of fiction that grips me. I have read enough steaming bed activity so normally, I’m not interested in protracted sex scenes. Similarly, my suspense level stays pretty low as the lovely and innocent heroine walks toward the bedroom where the strangler rapist torturer hangman kidnapper lurks. I am sure I could still find my pulse racing from some new and imaginative passages, if just for old time’s sake.
At my age, I figure I have about 20 years left to live, maybe. For some of that time, I may not be able to see or hold a book. There are mechanical aids to sight and holding but there will be severe limitations and maybe complete cessation. At five days per book and reading one book at a time, that would mean about 1460 books that could still be read. To increase that total and at the same time, steal from my relatives and friends and simultaneously get to know them from other angles.
Very often, when I hear about a good book, even with many details, I decide I want to read it myself. So, if I am taken with sound of it, I may still take a look and see what I think myself. That means I don’t mind hearing that the bad guy dies in the end or that the couple is reunited before the birth or that the tyrant eats the poison pie. The simple idea is that such knowledge will stop me from wanting to read the book but actually that is rarely what happens.
I am actually more interested in talking with someone about a book I haven’t read than about what I have. It is fun to compare thrills or disappointments that I experienced with a book but it is more so to hear about what I haven’t yet gotten to. I don’t mind joining a group to discuss a book I haven’t read. I try hard to refrain from admitting I haven’t read it since that tends to turn people off. I just listen and ask questions but not “What happened then?” More like, “Can you imagine going through all that?” or “I think that would be tough for me”. When some reader then says it was the next step or obstacle or adventure that got their fear up, I find out what happened next.
