30 day book meme: Day 21
Nov. 28th, 2019 06:50 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
regshoeDay 21. Summer read.
Had been putting this one off, because it's the wrong time of year... I think instead I'll talk a bit more generally about reading at different times of year.
There are some books that just have to be read at the right time of year because the setting suits it so well, of course. A Room With a View is very much a spring book, and I always re-read Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell in winter because it goes so well with the cold and gloom (and the trees like writing against the sky, and the flocks of black birds swirling through the air in the early dusk*...).
More generally, I think of summer as the time for 'lighter' reads, the sort of thing you can pick up while sitting outside enjoying the weather without getting too distracted by whatever summer wildlife happens to be around. In autumn and winter I enjoy more challenging reads, the sort of thing to curl up with of a long evening and get properly absorbed in the story while it's cold and dark outside.
That said, if I've got something I really want to read (or reread!) I will pick it up at any time of year regardless!
*Speaking of which, I had the great good luck to be able to go and watch a starling roost in some local reedbeds a few weeks ago. It was incredible, and definitely a good reminder of why these birds are magical enough to merit naming John Uskglass briefly after them.
Had been putting this one off, because it's the wrong time of year... I think instead I'll talk a bit more generally about reading at different times of year.
There are some books that just have to be read at the right time of year because the setting suits it so well, of course. A Room With a View is very much a spring book, and I always re-read Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell in winter because it goes so well with the cold and gloom (and the trees like writing against the sky, and the flocks of black birds swirling through the air in the early dusk*...).
More generally, I think of summer as the time for 'lighter' reads, the sort of thing you can pick up while sitting outside enjoying the weather without getting too distracted by whatever summer wildlife happens to be around. In autumn and winter I enjoy more challenging reads, the sort of thing to curl up with of a long evening and get properly absorbed in the story while it's cold and dark outside.
That said, if I've got something I really want to read (or reread!) I will pick it up at any time of year regardless!
*Speaking of which, I had the great good luck to be able to go and watch a starling roost in some local reedbeds a few weeks ago. It was incredible, and definitely a good reminder of why these birds are magical enough to merit naming John Uskglass briefly after them.
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Date: Dec. 4th, 2019 01:50 pm (UTC)But I do agree that reading challenging books in winter is better for another entirely different reason: summer heat makes me so tired and sleepy and my brain stop working properly.
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Date: Dec. 4th, 2019 07:38 pm (UTC)