I can be pedantic, as I am in a paragraph or two below, but the following links will lead you to actually good writers celebrating the most human of all behaviors.I do not have an answer to the question some may ask, "Why go to the effort to produce such a page when all you are really saying is, 'Hey, I read this and liked it.'" Who am I anyway to recommend something to you, a person that will, in all likelihood, forever remain unknown to you. To stab at an answer, I say that I am just a guy who likes to read, who appreciates the art and craft and sheer hard work of writing, and who knows the only way to truly appreciate the book is to read it.
My experience is varied as is my reading. Growing up, I was in a general liberal arts curriculum. Reading was my hobby, interrupted only by Boy Scouts and the usual high school sidetracks. During my senior year in high school, I decided to go into the ministry. In college, I read the Bible, some other religious material, and the required reading in my sociology major, history minor curriculum. Upon graduation, I decided anthropology more suited me. I worked for six months in the Atlanta Sears warehouse and then six months in a downtown bookstore before graduate school at Athens. I read anthropology and archaeology for hours every day. Well, on some days.
About two decades ago, I realized my old reading habits had slipped and began an effort to catch up. That has not worked but I have read many amazing works since then, averaging 50-100 books per year. When I finally arrived at Harold Bloom, I realized I had found someone with whom I could strongly disagree. His contribution to my reading was an understanding of his concept of "deep reading" and so I continue. A few reading friends picked up along the way helped and here I am.
Since the beginning of this web journey, I have referred to this site as my reading or my Reading Journal. My disconnectedness with the literary world caused me somewhere along the way to miss the term blog. So, I guess this is a bookblog of sorts, carried out on an irregular basis rather than daily. What I've seen of the book blogs is so very good and in some way, what I set out to do. C-SPAN-2's BookTV introduced me to the group seen below in links for the Literary Web. Enjoy them all!
I hope that my periodic updates provide you some benefit, or at least fun reading. Please let me know what you think about all this.
Here is the reading list on which my high school reading was based. Buy a book through thislink and help support my habit (reading, that is). Also see my reading lists and notes below. Amazon
For book talk, visit me at ernieseckinger (at sign) yahoo.com