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M.E. Proctor's avatar

I'm a voracious reader, so I'd add a caveat: it depends what you read. I've been poring over Gabriel Byrne's memoir "Walking with Ghosts" for months now - it's a slim book, gloriously written. I read a few pages, then go back to the beginning and read again. I think I don't want to finish it. I must have read the first few pages of Tana French's "The Likeness" at least twenty times. The writing blew my mind, it also made me want to write something that beautiful (getting there!). On the other hand, I'm in the middle of an Elmore Leonard no and I'm tearing through it because I enjoy it so much. It's like movies, not everything is Last Year at Marienbad. A Raiders of the Lost Ark brings joy to the senses. As with everything, it's all about mixing it up.

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Outcast Press's avatar

Yeah, I can appreciate that. I suppose if someone is reading purely for entertainment, then ripping through a book is fine. Seems like you have a good balance though.

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M.E. Proctor's avatar

One problem with reading a lot is that you see the repetitions more: in theme, in style, in characters. So it takes exceptional stuff to give you pause and catch the attention. The more I read, the more demanding I get (and the more irritated at the sub-par stuff).

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Outcast Press's avatar

I’m the same.

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