Howdy Mr. Fullerton, I haven’t read a book in a while, I have as many as you have on your bookcase but I have macular degeneration and my eyes get weird at times.
I’m really not a writer, and writing is not my career, I am an audience of one, yours and many others. I have gotten to the age that I don’t have expectations of myself or anyone else, read a book don’t read a book, read two or three books at a time, marvelous darling!
I feel liberated, just enjoying the hours passing by and spending days at a time reading short action packed stories and poetry, commenting, and writing an occasional woowoo poem. My mind open to colorful ideas which there are oodles here on the stack, say what you will about Substack, I respect that.
The stack has become my window on the world, I find it tremendously satisfying and enjoyable, I learn so much everyday. Hope you’re having a healthy pleasant summer Frederick, Lady G
A balance between writing and reading? I will probably be considered very "un-balanced". The last decade looks like this. Most of those years I read a lot. As I have logged every book I have have read since 1967, my statistics is clear. For many years the number of read books were between 6o-90 per year. Three years ago, 2023, when hubby died, I was finally forced to learn to use the computer. Few books have been read since then. --
I don't do things by halves so I did learn to use the computer (although barely). For a year I explored YouTube. I also became a prolific writer of essays and poetry and self-published two books (2024, and 2025).--
I am still a prolific writer. And a lousy reader of books. A year and a half ago I opened my Substack site, Writer's Corner. I publish twice a week. Reading? I have at least 6 books on the go, and I read sparsely, and now and then I even finish a book. I read plenty of poetry and articles on Substack and write kilometers of comments to other creatives' posts. --
I love books, have always had a library and spent much time in libraries. I like to own my books because I often read with a pencil in hand so that I can underline and write in the margins if I feel like it. As English is my second language and I have read books in English for at least 50 years I also sometimes write translations to Swedish (my first language) in the margins.--
For the moment this "imbalance" suits me. Love, Maria
I always have a gajillion books I'm "reading" in fits and starts. It's rare I devote myself to a book these days, and rarer still that one actually grabs me. I was reminded of the feeling the other day when I went to look something up in a novel and just ... kept reading. That almost never happens for me anymore. Likewise I'm not enamored of most of the titans of yore because of, well, sexism. Even if not the author himself, the time.
Good food for thought. I recently arrived to substack in June and it has given me much delight and discovery. I tend to break up days into reading chunks, writing sprints and the return to much beloved poems and writers of poetry - like I listen to the same music I love over and over. Some biggest KD poetry hits: Lynda Hull, Larry Levis, Rilke, Weldon Kees. Pablo Neruda (in the top 10) I am a very slow reader, but do have a couple of books on the nightstand I am reading: WV Native, Jayne Anne Phillips-Small Town Girls: A Writer's Memoir, Matthew Wimberley's two books of poetry, Dorianne Laux's (wonderful poet) craft book-Finger Exercises for Poets, and a very special novel -The Writer of Unwritten Books, which I am really enjoying (maybe you have heard of the author?) As a semi-retired person, I have more time to read. Being on substack is giving me confidence to keep plugging away at writing and sparks a lot of ideas. Thanks!
Hi Frederick, reading the other comments, look I can tell we all wish we had more time and or energy to devote to more reading AND more writing. There are just too many good books left and not enough time. For about 15 years I worked my way through a list I compiled during college by asking every single professor for their top ten favorite books. There was a lot of overlap but it put me on to Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, French writers and the older classics from Greece etc. “The Count of Monte Cristo” was such great fun so I spent two years inside the works of Dumas, Hugo, Moliere, Balzac. I DO love a bigger than life story. Conrad’s “Nostromo” and “White Jacket” by Jack London, “Typee” by Melville.
I have a classic book going usually, right now is “The Thin Man”, having just finished “The Maltese Falcon” (a little dull and quite dated).
I write 1-2 hours each day, broken into a daily journal and prose stuff, which is almost always about aspects of poetry writing. I also edit several stages of poetry, the new stuff to see if it is DOA or if it will survive into the next round of edits. I edit weeks and months old poetry to see if I missed something. I also write 3-4 poems by per week. Since mid February, the age of my current notebook, I have written 100 poems, many show up on Saturday’s Substack post, while many “perish under the pitiless pen” of editing. I now assault my poems and see if they can survive.
That’s it from our current perch here in Dublin, Fred. Take care, Wes
Hi Wes, I love your list. Dumas and the Count of Monte Cristo has been on my to-read too long. I’ve read some Balzac and Zola (but unfortunately in translation—my high school French barely helped me navigate my days in Paris many years ago). More recently, I’ve managed to read a few Russians such as Tolstoy, Dostoevksy, Bulgakov, Mayakovsky, Zamayatin, and bits and pieces of others. Ditto for Portuguese writers such as Pessoa and Saramago. The list never ends…. Enjoy “dear, dirty, Dublin.” Aren’t you heading to France next?
We spent June in France, in L’Isle sur la Sorgue, lovely town. Then July in Spain and Portugal. August in Ireland until the 14th, then home to Connecticut
Long ago I used to read all the time and not write at all. The authors I read became my teachers. Now I write a great deal, novels and screenplays, and am far more selective in my reading. I also listen to books while I drive and cook.
I never liked audio books, but I see the logic of using them. I like hold a book, feeling the paper, reading the words, and also noting how the author uses words and punctuation. For me I enjoy the visual stimulus of reading.
Audio readings—news, fiction and non-fiction—greatly help me keep up with both classic and newly-published books, and current news articles and opinion pieces. I almost never get into the car without plugging in my phone to listen and selecting the audio piece before I even start the engine. Not enough hours in the day to do it all!
Fred, I go through phrases. When I’m not inspired to write, I read several books at a time also all different genres. A while ago I wasn’t reading anything except Substack posts, poems, and essays. I am currently reading,Whistler, recently finished Under the wide and starry sky about Robert, Lewis Stevenson and his wife, also Theo of golden and The correspondent
I used to read novels regularly. Then the Internet and social media came around and began taking up my time. I found I'd start a novel, but I'd get distracted and lose interest. I began reading more poetry, though, because it took up less time. But the Internet was the main problem, and instead of cutting back on it, I used work as an excuse for not being able to finish a novel. Now I am recently retired so I don't have that excuse anymore and I am actually finishing reading novels again. It's a good feeling.
I am constantly reading, often more than one book at a time, like one in English and one in Spanish. And I always get inspiration from them. Ideas, free associations that become part of the plot of whatever I am writing... reading and writing are inseparable for me.
Thoughtful post. I read after I write, but only one book at a time. If the book grabs me, I can read for an hour or two and I end up finishing it quickly. If the book is slow, I take my time. I usually finish each book I start , even if it is painful. As a Catholic, I call it penance for sins past or present. 😂
Joe, one of the books I'm reading is Musil's Der Mann Ohne Eigenschaften (The Man Without Qualities). It's more difficult than Mann's Der Zauberberg, which took me a long time to read in both English and German. I rank it with Joyce's Ulysses, but it's a fascinating read, even if I can only manage a few pages at a time. Even the two much shorter books I'm reading by Fromm and Hoffer require far more time to process than reading a thriller, which is light reading for me.
Thank you, Lady G. You are in a good place.🙏
Howdy Mr. Fullerton, I haven’t read a book in a while, I have as many as you have on your bookcase but I have macular degeneration and my eyes get weird at times.
I’m really not a writer, and writing is not my career, I am an audience of one, yours and many others. I have gotten to the age that I don’t have expectations of myself or anyone else, read a book don’t read a book, read two or three books at a time, marvelous darling!
I feel liberated, just enjoying the hours passing by and spending days at a time reading short action packed stories and poetry, commenting, and writing an occasional woowoo poem. My mind open to colorful ideas which there are oodles here on the stack, say what you will about Substack, I respect that.
The stack has become my window on the world, I find it tremendously satisfying and enjoyable, I learn so much everyday. Hope you’re having a healthy pleasant summer Frederick, Lady G
A balance between writing and reading? I will probably be considered very "un-balanced". The last decade looks like this. Most of those years I read a lot. As I have logged every book I have have read since 1967, my statistics is clear. For many years the number of read books were between 6o-90 per year. Three years ago, 2023, when hubby died, I was finally forced to learn to use the computer. Few books have been read since then. --
I don't do things by halves so I did learn to use the computer (although barely). For a year I explored YouTube. I also became a prolific writer of essays and poetry and self-published two books (2024, and 2025).--
I am still a prolific writer. And a lousy reader of books. A year and a half ago I opened my Substack site, Writer's Corner. I publish twice a week. Reading? I have at least 6 books on the go, and I read sparsely, and now and then I even finish a book. I read plenty of poetry and articles on Substack and write kilometers of comments to other creatives' posts. --
I love books, have always had a library and spent much time in libraries. I like to own my books because I often read with a pencil in hand so that I can underline and write in the margins if I feel like it. As English is my second language and I have read books in English for at least 50 years I also sometimes write translations to Swedish (my first language) in the margins.--
For the moment this "imbalance" suits me. Love, Maria
I always have a gajillion books I'm "reading" in fits and starts. It's rare I devote myself to a book these days, and rarer still that one actually grabs me. I was reminded of the feeling the other day when I went to look something up in a novel and just ... kept reading. That almost never happens for me anymore. Likewise I'm not enamored of most of the titans of yore because of, well, sexism. Even if not the author himself, the time.
Good food for thought. I recently arrived to substack in June and it has given me much delight and discovery. I tend to break up days into reading chunks, writing sprints and the return to much beloved poems and writers of poetry - like I listen to the same music I love over and over. Some biggest KD poetry hits: Lynda Hull, Larry Levis, Rilke, Weldon Kees. Pablo Neruda (in the top 10) I am a very slow reader, but do have a couple of books on the nightstand I am reading: WV Native, Jayne Anne Phillips-Small Town Girls: A Writer's Memoir, Matthew Wimberley's two books of poetry, Dorianne Laux's (wonderful poet) craft book-Finger Exercises for Poets, and a very special novel -The Writer of Unwritten Books, which I am really enjoying (maybe you have heard of the author?) As a semi-retired person, I have more time to read. Being on substack is giving me confidence to keep plugging away at writing and sparks a lot of ideas. Thanks!
Thanks KD for your response. I'd put Rilke and Neruda in my top 10 as well.
Thanks also, for reading my novel. I had fun writing it and am thinking of another. Meanwhile, happy reading with your nightstand stack.
I have a stack of books for someday. Barely have enough time to write a poem these days!
You'll love retirement, Carole.
Thank you also, Dr. D. Elizabeth Glassco, for your restack.
Hi Frederick, reading the other comments, look I can tell we all wish we had more time and or energy to devote to more reading AND more writing. There are just too many good books left and not enough time. For about 15 years I worked my way through a list I compiled during college by asking every single professor for their top ten favorite books. There was a lot of overlap but it put me on to Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, French writers and the older classics from Greece etc. “The Count of Monte Cristo” was such great fun so I spent two years inside the works of Dumas, Hugo, Moliere, Balzac. I DO love a bigger than life story. Conrad’s “Nostromo” and “White Jacket” by Jack London, “Typee” by Melville.
I have a classic book going usually, right now is “The Thin Man”, having just finished “The Maltese Falcon” (a little dull and quite dated).
I write 1-2 hours each day, broken into a daily journal and prose stuff, which is almost always about aspects of poetry writing. I also edit several stages of poetry, the new stuff to see if it is DOA or if it will survive into the next round of edits. I edit weeks and months old poetry to see if I missed something. I also write 3-4 poems by per week. Since mid February, the age of my current notebook, I have written 100 poems, many show up on Saturday’s Substack post, while many “perish under the pitiless pen” of editing. I now assault my poems and see if they can survive.
That’s it from our current perch here in Dublin, Fred. Take care, Wes
Hi Wes, I love your list. Dumas and the Count of Monte Cristo has been on my to-read too long. I’ve read some Balzac and Zola (but unfortunately in translation—my high school French barely helped me navigate my days in Paris many years ago). More recently, I’ve managed to read a few Russians such as Tolstoy, Dostoevksy, Bulgakov, Mayakovsky, Zamayatin, and bits and pieces of others. Ditto for Portuguese writers such as Pessoa and Saramago. The list never ends…. Enjoy “dear, dirty, Dublin.” Aren’t you heading to France next?
We spent June in France, in L’Isle sur la Sorgue, lovely town. Then July in Spain and Portugal. August in Ireland until the 14th, then home to Connecticut
Long ago I used to read all the time and not write at all. The authors I read became my teachers. Now I write a great deal, novels and screenplays, and am far more selective in my reading. I also listen to books while I drive and cook.
I never liked audio books, but I see the logic of using them. I like hold a book, feeling the paper, reading the words, and also noting how the author uses words and punctuation. For me I enjoy the visual stimulus of reading.
I don't care for audio books, either. It's me and you, Fred. The only two people in the world 😄
Audio readings—news, fiction and non-fiction—greatly help me keep up with both classic and newly-published books, and current news articles and opinion pieces. I almost never get into the car without plugging in my phone to listen and selecting the audio piece before I even start the engine. Not enough hours in the day to do it all!
I do the same although I mostly stick to fiction. Yes, not enough hours in the day for certain.
Thsnl you, Kathleen and Ross, for your restacks.🙏
Fred, I go through phrases. When I’m not inspired to write, I read several books at a time also all different genres. A while ago I wasn’t reading anything except Substack posts, poems, and essays. I am currently reading,Whistler, recently finished Under the wide and starry sky about Robert, Lewis Stevenson and his wife, also Theo of golden and The correspondent
I used to read novels regularly. Then the Internet and social media came around and began taking up my time. I found I'd start a novel, but I'd get distracted and lose interest. I began reading more poetry, though, because it took up less time. But the Internet was the main problem, and instead of cutting back on it, I used work as an excuse for not being able to finish a novel. Now I am recently retired so I don't have that excuse anymore and I am actually finishing reading novels again. It's a good feeling.
I am constantly reading, often more than one book at a time, like one in English and one in Spanish. And I always get inspiration from them. Ideas, free associations that become part of the plot of whatever I am writing... reading and writing are inseparable for me.
Thoughtful post. I read after I write, but only one book at a time. If the book grabs me, I can read for an hour or two and I end up finishing it quickly. If the book is slow, I take my time. I usually finish each book I start , even if it is painful. As a Catholic, I call it penance for sins past or present. 😂
Joe, one of the books I'm reading is Musil's Der Mann Ohne Eigenschaften (The Man Without Qualities). It's more difficult than Mann's Der Zauberberg, which took me a long time to read in both English and German. I rank it with Joyce's Ulysses, but it's a fascinating read, even if I can only manage a few pages at a time. Even the two much shorter books I'm reading by Fromm and Hoffer require far more time to process than reading a thriller, which is light reading for me.