on my fair weather relationship with reading books

[rahna]

i'm not much of a reader. what i mean is that curling up with a good book isn't something that generally lies in my top ten list of ways to spend my free time. for the most part i've found that this is more due to an inability to find books that carry my attention beyond the first two chapters. i have made many attempts over the years, and

Comments

[djinnaya]

I would suggest browsing anthologies of short stories. You'll stumble across a writer or two that you love in each one and then can look up their work. Libraries should have a whole section of short story anthologies. Just ask.

I love to read stuff that is really hard to get into, so I may not be the best adviser. However, I'll give it a go. I would note that Vonnegut books read a lot like his short stories. I loved Breakfast of Champions. Neil Gaiman has another short story collection called Fragile Things, which was more recent. I'd also suggest maybe trying one of his books by just him. Maybe Neverwhere, just because that seems to be the one that people who aren't into reading like the most. Also, check out the Weetzie Bat books by Francesca Lia Block, Dangerous Angels. They are written for older teens, but they capture this magical world that is just so wonderful. They feel like the inside of my head.

You can see some of my other book-loves here. It's kind of a neat way to see what other people are reading.

[hajufluqus]

Someone else said it, but I'll reiterate. Vonnegut writes his long stories like short stories. They are very easy to read and usually really funny. I'd recommend "Cat's Cradle" and/or "Slaughterhouse Five" if you haven't read them yet. Also, don't forget he has another collection of short stories: "Welcome to the Monkey House". Vonnegut is one of my favorite authors of all time, I highly encourage anyone to read him!

Asimov "I, Robot" series is a bunch of short stories. They're great stuff and WAY better than that dumb movie (the only similarities I could discern were the presence of robots and some person doing something with them in the first person).

Lately I have been reading "The Silmarillion" by Tolkien in very short swallows. It reads like a collection of short stories...but I hesistate to recommend it because it's very heavy reading and probably not that interesting if you're not a huge Tolkien fan. Check it out at your own risk.

Oh and I'll second Bruce Sterling. Try to find "Schismatrix Plus"...great stuff!