About Reading

Summer is here and I’m stacking up my book stock. I cannot remember the time I wasn’t reading something. I have been reading two books simultaneously for a long time and every morning my day starts with listening to an audiobook. So, I’m constantly searching books for my read pile. I guess I’m obsessed with books and reading and should take a pause. But summer is upon us and there’s no better time to read than when the sun is shining from high and you can watch a clear blue sky go past your window and then disappear into a good book.

Now I’m reading Watership Down by Richard Adams and if I can I will make it last as long as I can. I read it as a child, but couldn’t appreciate the book in its full glory. All the social commentary packaged into a simple readable and enjoyable form is something I have to bow to. I’m in awe. I’m also reading The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine by Michael Lewis. It’s part of my research for my upcoming book about banks and necromancer, but also I’m reading it for fun and for the knowledge what happened in 2008. (Before it I read Swimming with Sharks, a book about central banks, a family history of a banker family, and a few others for research.) In addition, I’m listening Antifragile by Nassim Nicholas Taleb to get my mornings started. I’m having a streak with good books and wait for those two hours before I go to sleep to have my reading time without interruptions.

I have been searching for a good comical fantasy or sci fi book for a long time. What I define good is a book composed of clever humour and social commentary packaged into a compelling story. I have always loved Terry Pratchett’s books as you can read them as they are or by peeking behind the veil and seeing the message Sir Terry Pratchett wanted to say. He was the master of the genre. There is no one like him. But I keep searching for someone who can make me fall in love with his/her books like he did. Another one of my favourite writers is Kurt Vonnegut. Another writer with an amazing talent to write light while having a voice with a message. Clearly, I’m searching someone to say something about the world, us humans, life, and everything. I like to find someone who agrees with me that there is something wrong with our world. That this isn’t close to being normal despite people around us pretend it is. We run around in circles, we are busy hurting each other, and always in pursuit of pointless things. Maybe that is human nature, but I would like to think it isn’t.

If you know a book that makes me smile and think I’m not alone thinking things are bit wacky, do tell me.