Summer reading and other thoughts

[royl]

Summer reading and other thoughts

I know I'm long overdue for a book report and I'm apologizing for it. One of the reasons that I'm not moving as fast as I would like is this summer's unusual heat. The heat is bearing me down due to the 3-digit temperature and drought condition. In my area, the last time I saw a good rain was months ago. Consequently, many people that I know of are having foundation problems as well as dead grass. OK, enough of my whining. I hope all of you stay cool and productive.

We are often told to diversify our dietary intakes and promote our nutritional well-being. It is true as far as I'm concerned, but doing it is another matter. As you know, most of us are finicky eaters; we have a tendency to eat what we like and to stay away the food we don't like. But there is a catch: one way or another, you will get tired of the same food. At this moment, you'll tr​​y something else, something you haven't tried before or something you thought you didn't like. Who knows, you may like a new food because it tastes different this time.

Reading books is not much different from eating food since they both consume stuff, one mentally and the other physically. I used to read books authored by male writers mainly. I don't know why. But as you're running out of books, you would ask around for recommendations then you're bound to run into books written by female authors. At the beginning, I wasn't accustomed to their styles and their attention to details; but, just like different flavors of food and cooking styles, I found them tasty at the right moments.

“Alphabet mysteries” series of novels written by Sue Grafton were suggested by a friend of mine years ago. I bought some of her books to try out at first. I didn't particularly like the main character, Kinsey Millhone, a middle-aged female private investigator. First, Kinsey's job is mostly related to slow-paced investigations that are not action-packed, and pretty dull to my taste. Second, these books are much like accounts of Kinsey's day-to-day events to me. Third , Kinsey surrounds herself with ordinary people thus provides a pretty uninspiring background. I don't know why it was written this way. Maybe, the author is trying to condition us to appreciate the platitudinous way of life. Maybe she is trying to remind us that most of us are living in uneventful lives.

The other day, I was bored to tears, so I picked up one of Ms. Grafton's novel: "C" Is for Corpse. I had bought the book months ago, but I didn't feel the urge to read it ever since for the simplest reason – I don't like corpses. Since I had nothing better to do, I kind of force myself to open this book. After reading the first chapter, I started getting fascinated with the plot and the writing skills. I couldn' t put down the book, a page-turner, until I finished reading it. I'm not saying this book is better than others; I just happened to find it intriguing at the right moment. It's just a change of taste as many people would put it. After reading this book, I've changed my opinion about Kinsey Millhone series. Maybe my criticism is unfair or superficial. You can read Ms. Grafton's profile at this link: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki%20/Sue_Grafton

Anyway, it took me two days to finish it – a record-breaker. I'm not a fast reader to begin with. I also have a bad habit – subvocalization (默读) or silent speech, which is slowing down my reading speed. This problem used to bother me but not any more because I've tried to get rid of this so-called “impediment” to no avail, so I just have to live with it. Come to think of it, I only did subvocalization when I first started it. As I picked up the speed, I realized I had stopped subvocalizing it long ago. By the way, if you're interested in subvocalization especially the pros and cons of eliminating subvocalization, you will find some helpful information here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subvocalization

I hope these thoughts are useful for those who are inspired to read and write English.

Following is a book list of Kinsey Millhone series:
"A" Is for Alibi (1982)
"B" Is for Burglar (1985)
"C" Is for Corpse (1986)
"D" Is for Deadbeat (1987)
"E" Is for Evidence (1988)
"F" Is for Fugitive (1989)
"G" Is for Gumshoe (1990)
"H" Is for Homicide (1991)
"I" Is for Innocent (1992)
"J" Is for Judgment (1993)
"K" Is for Killer (1994)
"L" Is for Lawless (1995)
"M" Is for Malice (1996)
"N" Is for Noose (1998)
"O" Is for Outlaw (1999)
"P" Is for Peril (2001)
"Q" Is for Quarry (2002)
"R" Is for Ricochet (2004)
"S" Is for Silence (2005)
"T" Is for Trespass (2007)
"U" Is for Undertow (2009)
"V" Is for Vengeance (2011)