Confessions of a Scavenger Reader

Let’s talk about reading, the sacred duty of every writer. But wait! Even if you are not a writer, you might find something interesting in this post about books I’m pecking around in these days.

A scavenger I am

I admit it. I’m a scavenger reader, mostly. A few months ago, a friend asked me if I read more than one book at a time. Yes, was my spontaneous reply. After I thought about it more, I realized that’s usually true, but sometimes a novel is so good it totally engulfs me until THE END. For instance, novels by the genius, Michael Ondaatje (more on that below).

But I also enjoy scavenging through a pile of books, picking up seeds here and there, pecking away at this book and that until I finish it. Or abandon it. I love to read all sorts of genres. Don’t Bore Me! is my reader-motto.

I like books that challenge me, make me stop in my reading tracks, give me a model in how to craft a similar work. And escape into another world. How about you? Are you a one book-at-a-time reader, or a juggler like me? What do you love to read?

To start the conversational ball rolling, here’s the reading I’ve been up to lately.

P.S. – You can ask for these books at public libraries. Support them when you can.

My current reading feast

1. Michael Ondaatje’s Warlight and a re-read of Divisadero.  On a scale of one to ten, I give them a ten each. Yup. Ondaatje’s writing sends me into orbit. Just love his brilliant mind, his astonishing, original, inventive stories. Whenever I want to dive into great literature, I return to his work, again and again.
2. David Whyte’s Consolations. I just peck at this. Each chapter is a very short meditation on an English word. The chapter headings are words in alphabetical order, beginning with “Alone” and ending with “Withdrawal.” The subtitle of this book is: The Solace, Nourishment and Underlying Meaning of Everyday Words. 
3. Eric Hoffer’s The True Believer: Thoughts on the Nature of Mass Movements. Many years ago, I read this and have returned to it over and over, especially when I offer resources to former members of cults. The whole book resonates with me due to my 17-year commitment to The Way International (1970-1987).
4. Thornton Wilder’s The Bridge of San Luis Rey. This little gem is “as close to a moral fable as we are likely to get in American literature,” said another accomplished author, Russell Banks, who wrote the Forward. The book won the Pulitzer Prize. Wilder was barely out of his twenties when he wrote it. The story is set in Peru, a country I’ve visited, so I feel more involved than I otherwise would.
5. Next is Ernest Hemingway on Writing, edited by Larry W. Phillips. Phillips tells us that this book offers us Papa’s reflections on “the nature of the writer and on elements of the writer’s life, including specific and helpful advice to writers on the craft of writing, work habits, and discipline…”
6. Alan W. Watts’s book The Wisdom of Insecurity: A Message for an Age of Anxiety. Published in 1951, it could’ve been written yesterday. We NEED this BIG help in a little volume of print.
7. Ray Bradbury’s Zen in the Art of Writing. On the Home page of my website, I put a quote by Bradbury about growing wings on the way down from jumping off a cliff. He does that in all his writing. The back cover tells us that in this book, Bradbury “shares a single compelling theme: writing is a celebration, not a chore.” And this book is a rollicking party. I’m on page 53, reading it off and on in bite-sized chunks.
8. John Steinbeck’s story, “The Log from the Sea of Cortez.” Somewhere in my scavenging, I came across a reference to this story, so that urged me to read it. It’s in a volume I found on Thriftbooks (like others of the above) that’s titled, John Steinbeck: The Grapes of Wrath and Other Writings 1936-1941. Other stories in the book are “The Long Valley” and “The Harvest Gypsies.” Long ago and far away I lived in California and traversed some of the towns and deserts he mentions in his stories.

Thanks for reading!

Your comments are surely welcome.

Your writer on the wing,

Charlene

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