The Not-So-Constant Reader
When I think about myself as a reader, I wouldn’t really consider myself much of a fan of anything. Unlike the Constant Reader Stephen King often praises, I don’t really stick to author, don’t really follow them, and often don’t even pick up their other releases after enjoying one of their books.
Books, books everywhere!
Unless I truly try to keep up with a series (and that’s quite hard sometimes, as we all know), I don’t really seem to read much of the same author. Even authors that I very much admire like Stephen King and J.K. Rowling, I haven’t read all of their books. It might just be that because the grass is always greener on the other side. I know that when I pick up a book by King or Rowling that I will enjoy it, but on the other hand, I also kind of know what I’m going to get. But out there, in the brave new world of book publishing, every week dozens of new fabulous books are published, and one of them might be my new favourite!
It’s not even that I’m truly very much into new books per se, but there are still so many authors and books that I want to try. There are still plenty of undiscovered classics that I have never read (like The Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird or Lord of the Flies), books that are loved by generations. Even in my favourite genres like fantasy and science-fiction, there is still so much to discover, and in a way, reading one author all the time seems limiting.
On the other hand, this does sometimes leaves me rather detached even from my favourite authors. Because Stephen King publishes multiple books a year, I simply can’t keep up. He writes those babies faster than I can read them! It’s almost like I’m permanently behind.
The bottom line
The good news is that this is simply a problem created by luxury. I don’t really adhere myself to any particular author because I love reading new things, discovering new worlds, tasting new prose. I might never become a true super-fan of anyone, but I read as widely as I can, and that is also something of value.
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