Reading Adventures
Reading has been a lifelong passion for me. I’ve always easily picked up books and delved into content beyond my years. Nowadays, I enjoy the simplicity of easy-to-read books—stories that don’t demand too much mental effort. This preference allows me to immerse myself deeply in narratives and get lost in the joy of reading. While I usually gravitate towards fiction, sci-fi, and fantasy, my recent exploration into non-fiction has broadened, thanks to the convenience of audiobooks.
During my early school years, I remember loving the Pizza Hut Book It! program, which looks to be still active. How it worked was you would read a bunch of books, collect certificates and exchange these for personal pan pizzas at Pizza Hut. That was fantastic. This program has been running since 1984; wow!
The other program that excited me to read was the Scholastic Book Club, which is also still running. I loved when the catalogues would get handed out to us in class, and I couldn’t wait to get home to decide what books I’d ask my parents to buy for me to read. Sometimes, they would get them for me, too.
Impactful Books and Authors
I’ve read many books by many authors during my life. I have read, enjoyed, and forgotten a lot. However, some stick to memory as they have impacted and shaped my taste in what I love to read.
The last decade or so since owning an e-reader and apps such as Goodreads and Oku will help ensure I always remember an author or a book. However, if I forget, it won’t take long to review my reading history and refresh myself.
The Early Years
My earliest memory of really getting into books was during school in the early nineties. The Deepwater trilogy by Ken Catran and the Seddon Street Gang trilogy by Jack Lasenby stand out to me vividly as books I loved when I was young. I read them multiple times each. I’m
More Recently
As I grew older and discovered the world of science fiction & fantasy, the following authors; Raymond E. Feist, Peter F. Hamilton, James S.A. Corey and, George R.R. Martin quickly became my favourites. I’ve read as much of their works as possible. In the case of Feist and Hamilton, multiple times.
Raymond E. Feist
The book that stands out to me as the one that set off my recent love for the genre(s) is Shards of a Broken Crown by Feist. I picked this one from my dad’s bookshelf and wasted no time reading it front to back. I was immediately immersed in the story and couldn’t put it down; it didn’t make sense. The Web was less expansive back then, but I soon realised this was the fourth book in a series out of a more expansive twelve-book universe. It took little time to dive into Magician. Thirty-odd books later, I was done with the world of Midkemia.
I was pleased that Feist didn’t stop writing and have enjoyed the Firemane Saga. Looking forward to a re-read of this series soon.
Peter F. Hamiton
Hamilton is to science fiction what Feist is to fantasy for me. I started with Hamilton with The Reality Dysfunction, the first book in the Nights Dawn trilogy. So I was already off to a better start than I was with Feist.
Dad had all three books on the bookshelf, so I hungrily devoured all three huge paper books, one after the other.
I read Nightsdawn long before Pandora’s Star was released and was hyped to be able to read all Hamilton’s new books as they were released.
What About Now?
In late 2022, I renewed my library card. I set myself up with Libby, got stuck into reading audiobooks, and have yet to look back.
Audiobooks have taken my enjoyment of reading to another level. I used to do most of my reading in bed at night. These days, with an active life with children, I’m lucky to get through two pages before falling asleep. It started to take months to finish a single book.
With audiobooks, I can read books, walk the dogs, and do household chores while driving alone. Many new opportunities for enjoying a good story.
I’ve still got an e-reader. My wife got me a Kobo Libra 2 for Christmas 2023, which replaced an aging Kobo Clara 2E. The Libra is a fantastic device, and I enjoy sitting down to read during the day when I get a moment to myself.
I don’t use hosted services to track my books anymore. I use a self-hosted one that combines the power of GitHub Actions and this website! I’ll write about it someday, but for now, you can check out my Bookshelf page to see what I’ve been reading.
