The books I'm reading are piled high on the chest at the end of my bed and are also scattered throughout the house: on the 'telephone' table, the footstool in the living room,
in the bathroom. I tend to put books where I'll get to them as I move through my day: there's another small pile where I eat my breakfast-some quick reads-manuscripts to glance at and assess or books I might review. At the moment, because I'm working on many writing projects and in four different genres, what I'm reading has to have a personal valence or nutrient: this is reading as survival, and they are books that have no relationship to anything I *have* to do.
As a professor I am very busy and rarely, if ever, have time to read for
pleasure. But I do usually enjoy the books I read as part of my research and teaching.
Presently, I am browsing through a number of books including: Other Destinies by
; I Thought Pocahontas was a Movie edited by and ; The Colonizer's Model of the World by ; 1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by ; One Native Life by and any poetry by or .
For pure fun or relaxation I read Winnie the Pooh (I have many collections). Or the Library Lion or laugh over cat pics and sayings in cat calendars.
When I'm writing well I don't read much and so for the past year I have a stack of books waiting to be started or finished. And because I write late into the night and get up very early, I don't have a night-table; in fact I don't often use a bed. I unroll a sleeping bag on the floor of my office with the cats so my wife can sleep through the night. A lot of books get read not at home, but in various places as I travel.
I like to read far above my weight. It shows me what writing can be when its done right.
Author recently joined us for a talk on his book Soulshaping: A Journey of Self-Creation, a memoir that follows his transition from archetypal 'male warrior' to a more open human being, in touch with his human face and accepting of his mission and place on this world.
Here is a video on Jeff's creative process and the journey he underwent while writing this book.
The Ice Master: The Doomed 1913 Voyage of the Karluk by
Much of my reading these days is related to topics I am writing and, as a result, leans heavily on non-fiction. At the moment, I am part-way through The Ice Master: The Doomed 1913 Voyage of the Karluk by (Hyperion, 2000). The Karluk was a former whaling ship converted to floating laboratory that left Victoria, British Columbia on June 1913 on a scientific mission headed by expedition leader Vilhjalmar Stefansson. Six weeks into the journey, the Karluk became locked in ice north of Alaska, pitting the 28 people aboard - scientists, Inuit hunters and sailors - in a life and death struggle against the elements. Only 17 survived the ordeal. Drawing on archival reports and the diaries of survivors, Niven recreates the story of the Karluk with such fluid detail that I feel that I am on the mission myself, experiencing the same rollercoaster ride of anxiety, fear and decision-making that the passengers on the ill-fated journey likely felt themselves. So far, the book has been a fascinating read.
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