30 April 2014

Of the books read by two writers

I was looking at the Goodreads pages of two local writers to see what they have read. One of them has 1200 books and comics listed while the other has 800 of them.

My observation of the books and comics that they have read are as follows:

1. The ratings given for most of the volumes they have finished are usually 4 or 5 stars. For the few books that they disdain, they give a 3 out of 5. It appears that the two writers are usually diplomatic, and they probably cannot afford not to be. In my opinion, it will be better not to give ratings in this case, after all, if it were not accurate, why rate it?

2. They have a focus on the work of local and regional writers. I suppose it helps to know the competition and also the state of local writing.

3. A lot of the books they read are contemporary literature and crime fiction.

4. Both of the writers are into comics, the 'serious' kind, however, they would entertain a bit of Batman for some reason. Comics would not be a dalliance for them either given the significant numbers that they have read. Neil Gaiman's work seems to be a major preoccupation for the both of them.

5. I notice a distinct lack of non-fiction in their lists. It is as if the natural world around them do not exist. I guess they are just focused people or perhaps, they do not see a need to list them.

6. I think the two writers have works that straddle into the so-called realm of science fiction but their primary focus is not science fiction. I have not read their works, so, I won't say more here.

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