Literature I've Read

Shawn Olson

Below is a list of literature I've read. While I've read much more than is on this list, this list comprises all tomes I've completely finished. There are countless other books I've started and never finished for lack of time or interest. I have a habit of starting quite a few books simultaneously--I'm in the middle of five books right now.

I've found that as I get older I make less time for reading. The reason is simply the fact that I have less leisure time and I have read enough of those subjects that interest me that I feel like I'm not getting anything new. But I go in cycles, and there will likely come a day when I will decide to spend a month doing nothing more than devouring some books.

I didn't start recording my literary progress until 1994. Books read before Insult to Intelligence were read before 1993. All books between Insult to Intelligence and Of Mice and Men were read in 1993. Most of the following books have a date recording the day I finished that book. Because of my reading habits, some of the books could have been started months or even years before I put them down for the final time.

I started reading when my friend Nathan Smith lent me a Star Trek novel called Killing Time. I don't even remember the author. But I can remember vividly some of the scenes, though I read the book in the final weeks of my eighth grade, which was in the early 1990s. After reading that book, I developed a yearning to read more--a feeling that I'd never had, especially since I never found interest in any assigned book at school.

The first book I bought was Magician by Raymond Feist. And thus began a long habit of spending most of my spare money on books. While I guess I could always resort to the library, I felt that having the book on a shelf at home to be more satisfying. That way I could go back and visit any portion any time I wanted. The habit turned more practical when I started to develop my essay writing skills, as I didn't have to run to the library when I needed to refer to a fact.

My interests in reading began in fiction. I was heavily intrigued with fantasy and science fiction writing, and my favorite authors in that genre are Feist, Tolkein, and Arthur C. Clarke. But although I enjoy the subject, the chart below shows that my desire to read it waned considerably in the middle of 1996. The reason for this turn is two-fold. First, stories seemed to become repetitive. Secondly, I was turning my eyes to look more seriously at a career in writing and education. I felt more desire to read non-fiction and philosophy.

If I were to bring any one book with me to an abandoned island, to answer the age-old question, it would have to be Carl Sagan's The Demon-Haunted World. The book epitomizes the outlook that I feel is the most logically reflective of a wise world-view.

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