Musing Mondays is a weekly meme hosted by MizB
“Do you have people in your life (face-to-face) that are readers like you? Or, do you find that you have to reach out to those online in order to find like-minded folk?”
Being in early retirement since a number of years back, I have to confess that these days, I generally talk to more people online than face-to-face, on any subject…
An additional factor with books though, besides not all reading friends preferring the same genres, is that I read a lot in English, which far from all of my Swedish friends do. However, I do sometimes talk about books both with my brother and with my aunt, both of whom do also like to read English books in English.
I did grow up in a reading environment. My mother, in the past, always read a lot; until her last years (when she found it harder to remember what she read).
My brother and I share a liking for certain fantasy books (he introduced me, for example, to Terry Pratchett’s Discworld). I also sometimes talk books with my aunt (my mum’s sister). She prefers more realistic stories (not fantasy) and keeps up better than I do with contemporary Swedish literature. But now and then we do read and like some of the same novels and mysteries.
My current read is an English classic: The Moonstone by Wilkie Collins (1868) – according to the Wikipedia article, “generally considered the first detective novel in the English language”. (I think I’ve heard that said about other books as well, though…) I’m about half-way into it just now – partly reading on the Kindle, partly listening to the whispersync Audible version (another good one). I do love it when I’m able to keep on reading with my ears when my eyes get tired! : )
Last week (in case you missed it) I posted a review of Peter May’s recent novel Runaway, which I also read that way (some parts on Kindle, some as audio).
I am the same as you, talk to online friends more than to face to face. the only people i talk to is my friend Rich and he doesn't read. i have two ladies the the YMCA that read and we once in a while exchange the names of books, but that is rare.
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh! Decades ago I read awesome reviews of The Moonstone. So I bought it, along with The Woman In White. Then life happened and I never got to read either of them. So, what do you think so far?
ReplyDeleteOn here, of course I talk to people online about books - last but not least because I post a review of every book I have read. Offline, I talk books a lot, too; my Mum, my sister, my godmother and several of my friends are readers, too. Our tastes are not exactly the same, but often similar enough to recommend books to each other. And of course, there is Mary, my mother-in-law up in Yorkshire, who is an avid reader and we always have "book talk" as part of our regular phone conversations.
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