I have a lot to read, including learning more about web design. It’s all a pleasure, to be sure. Learning this stuff and getting good at it, competent even, is a joy because I like it so much. Still, it’s work.

Poetry: A Given

Reading poetry is a pleasure. I read from a lot of different writers. And with all the great blogs I’ve discovered since participating in poetry writing projects, I’ve tapped into even more writers who express themselves in most intriguing and entertaining ways. It’s a great deal of fun, and I learn a lot from their styles, presentation and promotion.

You can check out some of the great poets I’ve come across by visiting my blogroll in the “All Thins Poetry” section. And this resource is deep, as you can explore the poets’ blogrolls to see who they’re connected with.

Non-Fiction for Fun

The last books I read for book club meeting were non-fiction, Start Where You Are: Life Lessons in Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be, from Chris Gardner, and Peaks and Valleys: Making Good and Bad Times work for You – At Work and in Life

Fiction: My Area of Neglect

Fiction is the genre that gets the least amount of time whenever work picks up. And when I have to read the book assigned for book club, I put my other reading aside. I’ve decided to push that up more since I’ve been missing it. So, I put that it the cracks that appear in the fabric of work and play.

After the last book club meeting, there was no book assigned. So I picked up 47 by Walter Mosley. It was a difficult book to read in one respect: I’m not a fan of slavery stories. (Although it could be argued that we are all still slaves to one thing or another.) But it was great fun to read.

Contextually it was an easy book to read. Mosley character development is what catches me every time. He makes them round and believable. They quickly become sticky and elicit your investment of concern, time, interest in what comes next. Dorothy West, last of the Harlem Renaissance writers, makes believable characters that I can see in my imagination. He puts me in mind of that quality of character development.

I’ve not yet read all his books, so there’s a wealth of material from Mosley to keep me entertained since I’m such a fan of his. Other books I’ve read from him include The Wave, This Year You Write Your Novel, and The Man in My Basement. And there are more on my shelves to read, so I don’t even have to brave the cold for the pleasure of another Walter Mosley book.

I hear people saying they have no time to read, and I don’t want to be part of that group. What are you reading for fun and for work? And, why are you reading it?

• More from Spencer Johnson, MD also authored Who Moved My Cheese
• More about Chris Gardner, who also authored The Pursuit of Happyness
• More about Dorothy West, author of The Living is Easy, my book club title
• More about the Harlem Renaissance, also known as the Black Literary Renaissance