[stylist] Another Question about Books: Losing Interest

Fri Oct 14 21:24:01 UTC 2016

I don't stick with a book and read through if I lose interest or don't like
it. On the other hand, I stick with important things in my life. I work a
lot of hours every week, so my free time to enjoy books is less than it was
years ago when I was younger, and I refuse to use that time sticking with a
book that doesn't appeal to me. 

I do find that my taste in books has changed over the years. When I was
young I liked certain things, I certainly liked romances, among the other
things, mysteries, thrillers, fantasy and historical fiction. Now I don't
like romances at all, avoid mysteries unless they are cozy mysteries without
much graphic violence, and I still love fantasy and historical fiction. I
still love gothic novels, though I don't enjoy some authors I liked in my
twenties, and still like some authors from back then. I think life changes
us as we grow and experience things good and bad. And those changes affect
everything from the books we read, to the music we like to the social things
we enjoy, to the things in general that we care about. For instance, I grew
up in the sixties and though I loved rock, I hated hard rock. Now I still
love rock and I love hard rock. Lol. Things change. I changed, and my
reading tastes both changed and didn't.

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Lynda Lambert
via stylist
Sent: Friday, October 14, 2016 3:14 PM
To: Writers' Division Mailing List <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Lynda Lambert <llambert at zoominternet.net>
Subject: Re: [stylist] Another Question about Books: Losing Interest

Bridgit, and others,

It's true that we change as we mature and what we  understand as a child or 
young adult is usually put aside or changed into more depth of thought as we

develop our learning skills.Not only is this great advice to read the 
complete book before making  judgments about "the book," but it is a good 
rule of thumb that carries over to many other aspects of our life.  I have 
been thinking of going back to read again some books that greatly influenced

my thoughts in my teen and my 20s.  It's a good way to figure out what your 
"core" is and to put the pieces of the puzzle together that are "you."  How 
did I get to this place where I have a  passion for (fill in the blank). 
What is it about (fill in the blank) that influenced me enough that I have 
carried it with me all these years?  What is my underlying structure and how

did it develop? I have written about this for my own inquiries a number of 
times - we keep changing and hopefully, growing, for our entire lifetime. 
What remains? What is left behind? What is morphed into something new?

About "sticking with a book," as Bridgit suggests -
We had this rule when our 5 children were in school and wanted to be in the 
band.  (It can be dance class, theater, art classes, or anything else that 
requires a discipline and learning curve)  Whatever you choose, it's  a 
commitment.  Two of our kids wanted to play an instrument in school. We had 
a "meeting" about it with the children.  The instruments are expensive once 
you realize the costs involved  and the time you will put into it for years,

you make a decision.

Two of our five children made this commitment, and were in the marching back

through high school.  They enjoyed many benefits such as trips with the band

to places they would never have been without this opportunity.
One daughter even got accepted into summer music performance classes at a 
university several times which pushed her further along with the craft. But,

the best benefit is that it develops the sort of person who has a core 
value of persistence and tenacity and the spirit to stay with something 
positive until it is finished. That carried them on in life, through their 
different paths in the university, and on through grad. school, and into the

field of employment they enjoy today. I also see that same kind of 
commitment in life in their marriages and how they raise their families. I 
believe it starts with a very small activity, like reading a book, or any 
other such discipline and it develops their characters.

On the other hand, I have 3 other children (NOW, in their 50s) who never 
stuck with anything for any length of time. This becomes a life-style and an

attitude towards life in general. There is a large gap between those who 
learned  to stick with things and those who did not.  But essentially, I 
think it all begins with very little decisions about very little things and 
choices.

Writing this brings me to a thought that keeps  floating  through  my mind. 
I need to read, "Of Human Bondage," again and see what it is really all 
about now that I am a big girl!
My memories of that book are from the age of 19 or 20, and now, I wonder 
what I would think as I read it again. I've been doing this with a number of

other books the past few years, too.
Recently, when asked about naming a single book that influenced my life, I 
immediately though of a book I read as a new young mother at age 19. It was 
Marcus Aurelius' Meditations.

http://classics.mit.edu/Antoninus/meditations.1.one.html

Yes, I have to do this! It's unfinished business for me at this point. I 
have to go back and read the book again to find the stepping stones to who I

am today. Why did this book change the life of a young girl in the early 
1960s?
Lynda

-----Original Message----- 
From: Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter via stylist
Sent: Friday, October 14, 2016 3:32 PM
To: 'Writers' Division Mailing List'
Cc: Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter
Subject: Re: [stylist] Another Question about Books: Losing Interest

There are some rare exceptions, but once I start a book, I finish it, even
if I'm not into it. Once I commit, I stick with it, grin.

Also, as you get older, your perspective will grow and change a bit, and
sometimes, things you once didn't understand or have patience for, you
suddenly find interesting. You will notice things you may not have before.
You will be into things you once found boring or uninteresting.

But my advice is to stick with something once started.

Bridgit

-----Original Message-----
From: stylist [mailto:stylist-bounces at nfbnet.org] On Behalf Of Vejas via
stylist
Sent: Friday, October 14, 2016 1:42 PM
To: Bridgit Kuenning-Pollpeter via stylist <stylist at nfbnet.org>
Cc: Vejas <alpineimagination at gmail.com>
Subject: [stylist] Another Question about Books: Losing Interest

Hi,
Continuing our discussion on books, I seem to lose interest in certain books
very easily. For example, yesterday I said I was reading a book called Smack
about a teenage couple who run away, start taking drugs, etc. And it was
very interesting. That was until this really weird younger couple whom I
didn't like at all, took the teens away, insisting on a better life for
them, showing them to steal, etc. This couple were just weird. I looked
ahead in the book and they are very prominent throughout the rest of the
book, and I just could not read it anymore. I can get far, far into a book
and something happens in a book that makes me lose interest. Is it just me?
In this life with so many things going on and so many other books, how do
you stick with one?
Vejas
_______________________________________________
Writers Division web site
http://writers.nfb.org/
stylist mailing list
stylist at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
stylist:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/bkpollpeter%40gmail.com

_______________________________________________
Writers Division web site
http://writers.nfb.org/
stylist mailing list
stylist at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for 
stylist:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/llambert%40zoominternet
.net 

_______________________________________________
Writers Division web site
http://writers.nfb.org/
stylist mailing list
stylist at nfbnet.org
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/listinfo/stylist_nfbnet.org
To unsubscribe, change your list options or get your account info for
stylist:
http://nfbnet.org/mailman/options/stylist_nfbnet.org/sherriola%40gmail.com