Reading

I learned to read in college. I had heard that there would be a test before diplomas were handed out, so I decided to cram in some phonics and basic skills in order to pass. Having been a Political Science/International Relations major there was no reading required, it was all hearsay and making up opinions to support. My opinion was usually "bomb them all into submission and take their lands and riches." It's a sad commentary on society that many people thought I was being serious, and whole heartedly agreed with me.
But back to reading...
I enjoy reading books. I usually have two or three novels in progress at any given time. I don't think I've ever read non-fiction on purpose. Sure, maybe one or two slipped in by mistake, but I'd rather be inspired by someone's sense of creativity for mythical creatures, far off planets, and futuristic hypothetical philosophical ideas, or at least get a good laugh. I blame the sci-fi fascination on my Dad, he was my supplier early on and got me hooked.
While serving time in a minimum security prison recently I found a lot of time to read. I started with some authors I knew, branched out to some that I'd heard of, then jumped feet first into some new genres I would have never touched before. It would be fair to say that I judged every book by it's cover, but I didn't judge them too harshly. I also read a few female authors. Not that I have anything against female authors, but there are not a lot of them who write like Orson Scott Card, Pat McManus, Douglas Adams, Micheal Crichton, John Grisham, Isaac Asimov, Dean Koontz, Tom Clancy, or J.R.R. Tolkien.
I read a few books by Janet Evanovich. They were sort of interesting in a "this isn't science fiction but let's go ahead and put reality on hold for a while" sort of way. I started reading a Danielle Steele novel that someone had given to me as a gag gift. I pride myself on finishing every book that I start, but a few pages into it I tossed it aside with a "who the crap cares?" She is better left to the middle school aged girl crowd I guess.
Currently I'm reading "Timeline" by Michael Crichton. A few chapters into it promises to be interesting. I just hope he doesn't do his standard act of wrapping everything up a little too nicely right at the end. For example:
Jurassic Park - Don't worry, all the dinos will die off because of an L-lysine deficiency that we bred into them but haven't mentioned until just now. Whew, that was lucky.
Andromeda Strain - This virus that is killing everyone and we don't even know what it is yet just mutated to a perfectly harmless strain. Whew, that was lucky.
The Sphere - Let's use the power that this mysterious sphere gave us to all just forget about that sphere. What sphere? Hey it worked. Whew, that was lucky.
Congo - We came to get these diamonds but these highly trained assassin gorillas have us surrounded and are about to smash our heads in. Wait, the volcano just erupted and killed them all. Whew, that was lucky.
So, it's a good thing I learned how to read finally, now I can finally read the instructions on the package of toothpicks.