January 9, 2007

Introduction: What And Why

The Why: I started this blog to solve my problem of being a reader and unread writer. I hope it will help me to realize my life-long dream of writing about books.

I am new to blogging and creating and maintaining a blog terrifies me. However, after reading about a couple of senior citizens who have created blogs and how much they enjoyed it, I thought I’d give blogging a try. At 71 years of age I at first felt that I might not be able to master all of the technical stuff. Well, I’ve managed to get my blog up and running (at least I hope it’s running).

I retired in 1990 and obtained a master’s degree in English literature in 2004. I have continued to read because that is what I love to do, but I have wondered for the last two years what could I do with what I learned while obtaining my degree. I don’t fish, and I can’t sit on the porch in a rocking chair because I’d go crazy. One thing we senior citizens must do, according to what I’ve read, to stay mentally healthy is use our minds. I don’t do puzzles. I read. But I’ve found that reading is not enough. I need to communicate to someone my analyses of what I read, which is the only way to work the little gray cells, as Hercule Poirot would say.

Being the editor of the newsletter that provides news about the classmates I went to high school with is not enough to keep my mind busy. So, I decided to try blogging with the hope that it will help keep my mind sharp.

The What: I read mostly detective/crime fiction and critical opinions of such fiction. My main interest is in detective/crime fiction written by Black writers and hard-boiled fiction written by anyone. I also try to read other types of fiction, except romance novels. I’ll be writing 500-700 word critical essays on mainly detective/crime novels.

I’ll try to post an entry in my blog in the first week of each month. I don’t have the energy to post more frequently.

“A reader must check the desire for learning at the outset; if knowledge sticks to him well and good, but to go in pursuit of it, to read on a system, to become a specialist or authority, is very apt to kill… the more humane passion for pure and disinterested reading”. Virginia Woolf

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