Let's Do This Again

About three years ago, I started a blog. I posted three blogs, and a grand total of 4 people read them. Well, now I am back at it again, only this time I am going to try and have a focus. Last time I tried this, I was all over the place. Writing about sports, politics . . . well, suffice to say, a little about a lot of stuff.

I'll still write a little about a lot, but it will be in context with a focus.

What is that focus going to be, you may be asking yourself. Let me explain. As an aspiring novelist, I was once told that in order to become good at something, you have to practice at it. In order to become a good novelist, you have to practice not only your writing, but you have to read as well. So this blog will be My Life, Through Books. Or, if you prefer, A Year in Books (though more than a year would be awesome, if people actually want to read this).

I know, I know, the written word is dead, books are dead -- why would you want jump into a medium that is no longer relevant? Well, quite to the contrary, I think more people are reading and writing now than ever before. They are just publishing their prose in different formats. And with the advent of the Kindle and the Nook, books are more accessible now than ever before.

The problem is not that people are reading and writing less -- the problem is how they are writing and how people are reading. In this technological age of Texties, where OMG and LOL and LMFAO have taken the place of phone conversations and face to face meetings, a new shorthand form of writing has arisen. What we are dealing with is a generation of youth who are growing up unable to write a proper sentence, but they can write HTML and binary code without thinking.

So my goal is a vain attempt to hone a skill, while writing about what I am reading. And I will be writing it all in complete, fluid sentences, with nary an LOL or OMIK here. (OMIK: Open Mouth, Insert Keyboard -- yes, I know. I just discovered that one today).

Some ground rules for myself in this adventure that I am about to undertake:

First - all books that I read will be in paper form. No electronic format for me. If its only available as an e-book, oh well. It must not have been very good to begin with.

Second - I am not ashamed to admit that I do, in fact, judge a book by its cover. This is an adventure in reading, not literary criticism. So if you're expecting me to read Dostoevsky and extol on the virtues of Existentialism, tough! I did not understand Existentialism in college, what makes you think I am going to understand it now?

The above statement does not mean that I won't read a classic here and there for pleasure. I have a couple of Steinbeck novels on my shelf calling out to me to read them at some point. There is also a copy of Anna Karenina that I always said I was going to read and never have. That might be an option at some point. You never know -- its an adventure.

Which leads me to my third, and most important rule for myself -- I am going to grab a book, and I am going to read it front cover to back cover and I will not pick up another book until that one is finished. And I will not make a list of books to read. When I finish with one, I will place it on my shelf, and browse until I find a new one. Whichever way the mood takes me is how I will conduct this adventure.

So sit back, relax, and I hope you enjoy taking this ride with me.