ZapTown

I was originally going to talk about how Spring has swept in over the past few weeks–how the birds have come back, and it’s been warmer, and the trees seem to be blooming. However, since then, we’ve had a cold couple of days, even with flakes of snow falling out of the air! My original idea was to mention a few different books that I associate with Spring—that work best when you’re sitting on the back porch (or the front porch, perhaps) reading them, rather than the beach.

So it was with my reading habits–I made a public mention, a couple of weeks ago in this space, of how long it had taken me to finish Stephen King’s mammoth novel UNDER THE DOME, and how I was concerned about slowing down as a reader as I aged. So what happened since then?

Repeat readers will be happy to hear that I finally finished reading Stephen King’s Under The Dome. Having closed the cover and had a chance to sit down thoughtfully with a cup of tea, it does feel like I picked the wrong season for the book. Despite its intimidating size, it was very much the sort of novel that would work best taken to the beach, or the cottage dock, I think—

I regret to report that I am still not through UNDER THE DOME. However, I’m getting closer. In the meantime, I had an interesting conversation that got me thinking about how I’ve changed as a reader, and seem to be slowing down as I get older.

it’s always refreshing to pick up a book by a writer you’ve never read, but who often seems to be mentioned in glowingly positive terms, and find yourself enjoying the story they’ve put together. More than that, to find the book not quite like anything else you’ve read before, here in an age where libraries can be downloaded in an afternoon, could be construed as a minor (and very entertaining) miracle.