Setting up my Goodreads profile has been an interesting process. It forced me to think about the books I have read and loved over the years, many of which had been pushed to the recesses of my memory. It reminds me of what a feast of wonderful words are available to us, and how I have not read anywhere near as much as I would have liked this year. I will try to read more, although often it gets pushed to the bottom of my to do list and confined to days of illness or long journeys.
When I moved house a few years ago I had a major book cull. I reduced everything down to two large cardboard boxes. When I moved again I determined only to keep those precious books that meant something special to me, that I would re-read and could not bear to part with. So various charities benefited from my major clear-out and I had to be very selective about what I kept, due to limited space. (Thank goodness for my kindle!)
Stand out titles include Feel the Fear and Do It Anyway, a self-help bible that helped me cope with various life crises and Edith Wharton's heart-wrenching tragedy Ethan Frome; the intense love story Damage by Josephine Hart, and the brilliant Fat: A Love Story by Barbara Wersba, which I read when I worked for Random House many moons ago. I will re-read the wonderful Story of my Life by Jay McInerny and hope to soon pick up again on collected stories of 1930s sci-fi edited by Isaac Asimov.
Of course, by setting up my Goodreads profile, my Facebook page, my blog, my Amazon wishlist and reviews I am leaving a trail of footprints about myself. Me and millions and millions of others. And in a way this is reflected in yesterday's post and takes me back to when I started this blog a year ago, when I thought about the future, the impact of technology on our lives and our brains, the prophecies of visionary writers like Philip K Dick and Asimov. My own journey in indie publishing and blogging. I am leaving traces, revealing myself in a way that is both liberating and frightening.
Feel the fear indeed.....
Related posts:
http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2012/12/are-novels-getting-weirder.html
http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2011/12/on-books-digital-landscape-and-bigger.html
http://janeayres.blogspot.co.uk/2012/01/on-connections.html
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