I have been reading since the 60s. Both my parents were readers so I was one. Initially my genre was sci-fi but in high school, I was exposed to others and my tastes expanded, slightly. The funny thing was I had no interest in fantasy. I remember in the early 70's, seeing the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings in my high school library and sneering...
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I have been reading since the 60s. Both my parents were readers so I was one. Initially my genre was sci-fi but in high school, I was exposed to others and my tastes expanded, slightly. The funny thing was I had no interest in fantasy. I remember in the early 70's, seeing the Hobbit and Lord of the Rings in my high school library and sneering "why would anyone want to read about people with furry feet".
I heard a lot about LOTR but had no interest. After J.R.R Tolkien died and his son published the Silmarillon. By then I was in junior college and working in a lab at McGill University. Because of the hype, I decided I would check the books out. I finished the Hobbit in one day and ripped through LOTR in four. I could not believe what an idiot I was for ignoring those books.
As with music, my tastes in book are all over the place. LOTR opened my eyes to explore. That is why my book shelf here is so varied. Be it Anita Blake, Jack Ryan or Linden Avery, I have gotten to know so many amazing characters, locales and ideas. That is what I love about books.
The down side of books is when you get to the end. Be it LOTR, Cyteen, Thomas Covenant, Dune, Pern, etc. when I get to the end, I am thrilled by the end but depressed because I am now not part of the world. For the short time, I was transported away from my world and totally engrossed. And that last page says to me good-bye, I hope you enjoyed the ride. I did but I would have like to stay a little longer. Being a budding writer, I hope in the future, there will be people who will say the same thing about what I get published.
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