Confessions of a Book Nerd: Savoring each sip

Photo Courtesy of Flickr user Rayced

You are sitting on a sunny deck overlooking a beautiful hill filled with rows of growing vines. You’re in wine country. The sun is falling and you hold up a large round glass of Oregon Pinot Noir, catching the sunset through a sea of swirling red. The air is cooling and the soft string of lights gives a warming glow for you and your company. Laughter fills the air around you as you put your nose to the glass to take in the heady aroma. You know you are going to enjoy every sip of this exquisite wine.

I’m no wine connoisseur, namely because I can’t afford any of the really good stuff, but I do enjoy a good glass of wine. Ask me to tell you why I like a certain wine and the most eloquent I can be is to say, “It tastes good,” which does not meet a standard opinion, in my open-onion.

I don’t consume books in large gulps I savor each sip. I dream of one day being able to read at great speeds, just so I can get to all the great books on my shelves or those yet to make it to my shelves or, for future’s sake, the books that will find their way onto whatever eReader/Tablet I end up finally buying. I however take my sweet time. While I also read several books at a time, I often tend to read slowly compared to many simply because I love words almost, but not quite as much as I love a good story.

I like to savor a good sentence. I will often reread a great sentence before even moving on to the next simply because they sound so good, they make me laugh, or one hits me particularly hard as a rather impressive revelation within the story context.  I like to say great lines out loud.

I am not a particularly great critic of a good book or great writing, but I can at least highlight why I think something works particularly well, or doesn’t. Perhaps it’s my desire to be a published author at some point in my life, but I certainly spend a lot more time wondering why a line really clicks for me and manages to not only convey the right information, but sound beautiful too.

Though admittedly if it is a book that has a decent story, but I am not particularly impressed with the language, I will certainly speed up my rate of reading a bit.  Overall though, I like to find out how a story is told and not just how a narrative is constructed.

Language is such a vast base of knowledge that is ever changing. While some might claim that there are only a dozen or so actual story lines to be told, each having been retold time and again, I still argue that how they are told, specifically the language used to tell them can surprise you every time. This is one of many reasons I love reading.

Do you read slowly or quickly–skimming uninteresting parts? Do you mark particular lines you love? What’s your favorite line of a book you read recently?  Do you enjoy story or language more?