One Subject at a Time
I now realize that I have a peculiar reading habit. I only read a particular subject until I couldn’t find any more books on it I want to read. In the past three years, I read most books on typography. Every time I go to the library, I stare at the typography section to see if I find anymore books I want to read on that subject. I also keep on eye out for new ones. I think I have exhausted that option.
Before typography I was obsessed with reading jazz. I read many biographies, particularly on Miles Davis. Somehow Miles’s life and music sparked so much interests in music writers. Books about the man and his sound keep coming out. A new one has released in the last month and I am eying on that too.
As a web designer and developer, I continue to read books related to the field including responsive web design, JavaScript, WordPress, usability as accessibility. Back in the days, I read as much Flash books as I could. I think I have wasted a huge chunk of my time on Flash books since I don’t even use it anymore.
This year I am tackling English grammar. I have always been fascinated with grammar, but could never master it. Several weeks ago, I went to Mason library to get some books to read on my vacation. I could’t get any on jazz or typography I wanted to read; therefore, I hopped over to the grammar section. I picked up June Casageande’s The Best Punctuation Book, Period. and Stephen Wilbers’s Mastering the Craft of Writing. I loved both of it and I wanted to read more. My recent favorites include Stephen King’s On Writing: A Memoir of the Craft and Jenny Baranick’s Missed Periods and Other Grammar Scares.
Now I want to read as much as I can on this topic. I reread William Struck Jr. & E.B. White’s The Elements of Style now and then hoping I could remember all the advice from the book. I find books on writing and grammar intriguing because they are well-written. The authors have to master their own craft before they offer their advice.
I will be concentrating on grammar and writing for at least this year. I hope that I can get the grammar rules under my belt once and for all. For twenty years I have avoided learning it because I felt like English is always my weakest strength. It is time to get over it. If I re-read my blog posts, I could catch my own errors. I don’t do it not because I don’t care, but I don’t have time. Whenever I write a blog, I focus on getting the idea off my head rather than getting bogged down with grammar. If I am too concern with proper English, I would never have finished writing a blog post, but I will try to re-read at least once before I hit the publish button.