Reading really IS fundamental!

Am I showing my age by reciting that?
RIF? Anyone?

As a kid, I remember TV commercials for 'Reading Is Fundamental'.

Of course, growing up pre-internet, reading was a necessity. If you were bored, you read. If you wanted to know more about a subject, you read. If you needed to research anything, you read.

It's a great habit.

I read less than I used to, but I still read a lot. I read a TON of romance. I try to read my fellow author's books when I can, no matter what genre.

I still read a bunch to my son. Yeah, he's 10 and he reads his own books, but we still enjoy reading a chapter or two at night of our favorite authors.

Since I've been left without words of my own recently, I have been reading some of the books on my TBR virtual pile.

It's been like a really weird roller coaster ride. Here are two posts I put on my author Facebook page.

From May 31:
Ugh! Yet another romance title that has over 900 4 & 5 star reviews and yet I can't even finish the book. And, it wasn't a freebie! I paid $2.99 for the darn thing. This book had some major issues and it's from a big name traditional publisher. Time and money I won't get back. Do you guys finish books even if they're awful? 


From June 6:

Had trouble sleeping last night so I decided to read a book on the Kindle. The MC was described as an Alpha Male, my favorite. But, he wasn't. He was more of a bully.
Unrelated to the first book, I came across two book promos in my news feed today that continued to bug me.
First: "I loved her into unconsciousness." What?
Second: "It was a simple possessive lovemaking." What the what?
What does this even mean?
I may be a little sensitive, and some people might like this behavior, but in my opinion this is not being an Alpha Male.
This is being an ass hat!



I'm sharing this post here first:
I made it through 2/3 of a very popular author's book, but I can't go anymore. It's killing me. Not only am I bored to tears, but I could give a crap less about any of these characters!


Not to say that all is lost. I just read Amy Lamont's newest release and I really enjoyed it. *fans face*

And, I read another book, that I shouldn't have liked, but I did like, called Crow by A. Zavarelli. I'm about to read the second in her series and I shouldn't like that one either.

I hope I do. :)

When I say shouldn't, I can only equate these books to watching Sons of Anarchy. I should have hated that show and those characters, but I just didn't. I loved them and mourned them when the show went off the air. All the violence, the sex, the crimes, it should have bothered me, but I chalked it up to fiction and let it go.

These books were very similar. Irish mob. Gratuitous sex and violence. Men behaving badly. I enjoyed it way more than I should have. :)  

What's my point? Well, reading books, good ones and bad ones, has had the desired effect on me.

I want to write.

So, now I just have to convince myself to stop reading and get back to work on any of the works in progress I have milling about.

Sure.

I'll do that.

Right after this chapter...