1/21/15 Is Knowledge Hidden In Books?

    I decided this year I would expand my mind.  I am trying to read a few different books right now.  I have Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen to read on the throne.  The World As I See It by Albert Einstein by the bed, along with Five Dialogues by Plato.  I also bought The Picture Of Dorian Grey by Oscar Wilde which I keep meaning to take to work and read while I work.

    Honestly, I have always read, but usually it is self-help books like Massage for Dummies and stuff like that.  I had not found much value in reading books for entertainment, but I am trying mostly because I want to keep writing and entertain you fine people (here's where I look at you and wink).  I was also convinced for the longest time that only classics are worth reading, such as Homer's The Odyssey.  I cannot roll my eyes far back enough when I see my wife reading yet another Sherrilyn Kenyon book on horny vampires.  She must have about 50 of those little novel books laying around the house, one is even in my stack here by my bed as I glance over, what the heck.

    What is the purpose of reading though?  I want to learn things, such as with the massage books, or How-to's so I can install my own ceiling fans.  My wife does it solely for entertainment.  Does this just speak to the kind of people we are?  I keep a current subscription of Car and Driver magazine so I can tell my wife about such and such cars when they are coming out, a man should have this information and where else does one get it if not from books and magazines.  Within the year I want to stretch my stories into longer more significant efforts, which is why I am entertaining the idea of reading novels, to see what those authors do to create an environment in your mind and a story that can be believed.

    The Einstein book was a gift from Boy for my birthday, and I read a few pages at a time, trying to take in his message.  It is so far a beautiful book, with Einstein's thoughts in small sections which allows for picking up and putting down in small increments.

    If I do read everything I intend to read, will my knowledge of things increase?  Are we like computers, where we just keep adding data and our storage capacity builds infinitely or at some point our brain starts purging and deleting stuff that hasn't been used in a while.  Is reading anything sufficient?  My wife's vampire novels are the equivalent of mashed potatoes or strained baby food, yet she still strings sentences together so her brain is still pretty good.  I must conclude presently that any reading is better than no reading, but I may change that opinion someday.  How about people that refuse to read?  I think this might be another blog altogether.