Watcha Readin'?

There is no friend as loyal as a book. Hemingway supposedly said this. And he killed himself. Hmmm. Guess books can be loyal but they’re pretty shitty when it comes to saving your ass. Still, it’s true: one is never alone with a book. Sure, Angry Birds are great to kill time but nothing compares to the ultimate pleasure of reading a great book: that feeling that the train-ride wasn’t long enough, that you just can’t put the damn book down and are torn between the excitement and sadness of finishing it that you pace your reading by the end.

I've realized I've seldom - dare I say never? - written about books on the Evil Twin despite being a keen reader and enthusiastic book-sharer. I've perhaps feared it would easily become pompous and, in spite of reading a couple of books each month, that amount may vary: holidays mean a book every two days but, shamefully, there are times when I read little more than the back of my cereal box, my TiVo, a left-over-handled-by-at-least-98-passengers Metro on the tube and Facebook updates (that counts as reading, right?).

So here's to new beginnings: “Whatcha Readin’?” will become a new fortnightly feature on the Evil Twin, spice up the blog a bit. I’ll let you know what I’m reading and my thoughts on what I’ve read and, hopefully, in return, all you Evil Twin readers out there will recommend books you've enjoyed! Word of warning, though: not that I’m a literary snob but you might want to rethink Danielle Steele or Nicholas Sparks suggestions. And Proust, for that matter: you haven't read À La Recherche Du Temps Perdu and you never will. As Mark Twain said, “'Classic': A book which people praise and don't read.” (Just realized I shouldn’t be quoting Twain when telling someone off for being pretentious). Anyhow… I digress.

Because I’m currently reading Ayn Rand’s exasperatingly long Atlas Shrugged (arrgh! how many more 200-paged monologues can I take?!), it will probably be a while before I move on to a new book (which hopefully won’t give me hernias and wrist injuries), therefore we’ll start off this segment next week with books I’ve already read and are worth mentioning.

It doesn’t have to be a full on Oprah Book Club kind of deal: I won't announce the book by sing-shouting the title to a hyperventilating, over-excited female crowd. Especially because, unlike Oprah, although books are also one of my favourite things (we have so much in common, Ms. Winfrey and I!), I'm not giving them away. Sorry. You’re lucky if I'll post Amazon's links.

So, think about it, send in your thoughts and recommendations and keep an eye out because, starting next week, we’ll soon know the answer to “Watcha Readin’?”!