Writers as Readers: Responses to Questions one, two, and five

When I read, I need a very quiet, somber environment. Otherwise, I will not be able to focus on what I am reading at all. When I am allowed to sit in peace with a book I get sucked into its pages and the book flies through my brain as if I am watching a real time movie. I can even get so attached to characters that I start to think and act like they do in the book.

    Genres of novels that intrigue me include sci-fi, fantasy, mystery, and horror. I am absolutely appalled by gooey romantic books, as well as books that are just plain depressing. My favorite kinds of books are the ones that I can’t put down. I fall in love with books that have a twist ending. I am drawn to horror books, because it reminds me that things in my life could always be worse. Plus, I love the little adrenaline rushes I get without being in real danger. Those kind of books always keep me on edge and wanting to find out what is going to happen next. I love sci-fi and fantasy books because I have always been an imaginative person and I love the idea of so many unknown creatures, planets, or entire universes that the human race is unaware of. Mystery novels amaze me, because they throw so many things at you and you have to learn as a reader how to put them all together. Then, as the narrator begins to have all of the answers unfold, I feel as if I have accomplished something and gained knowledge of how the world works and understand more sociology. Which in turn helps me understand the human race just a little bit more.

    When I was little, I would love to read Goosebumps by R.L. Stine. Those were some of the books that I could finish in a few days, but those are really considered children’s books. The first novel that comes to mind when I think of not being able to put it down, is Watchers by Dean Koontz. It is pretty hard to keep my attention in a book, but once you have my attention I am all in. This book caught me off guard from the minute I read the first page, and all I wanted to do was find out more. Discover what will happen next. There is so much intense rising action packed into the body of the book that it was the only thing I could think about until I had finished it. Even after I had finished it, I sat and pondered over the entirety of the book, and how much I adored every bit of it. One book that I have just started that I know will take me forever to get through and fully understand is The Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne. I am flabbergasted at the kind of writing that is featured throughout this novel. I have just started it and the teacher needed to explain almost all of what I had read in the first two chapters before I truly grasped what was happening and what all the words meant. One thing that makes the book even harder for me to read is that it is ALL run-on sentences. That bothers me to the core of my being, because all of my life English teachers have taught children not to use run-on sentences. But now they are introducing us to a novel that they worship, and it has RUN-ON SENTENCES. It may seem odd to some how much that irritates me, but I have legitimate reasoning for my emotions towards this book and it’s style of writing.