Whatever Happened to Reading??

For the past 6 months I have been struggling to finish the following books:
- INDIA IN SLOW MOTION by Mark Tully (slow slow slow, very slow read)
- CATCH 22 by Joseph Heller (heralded as one of the greatest 20th century classics but I have just managed to cross the half-way mark)
- MAXIMUM CITY by Suketu Mehta (again considered a new age classic by many but I can’t seem to go back to reading the book what with its gruesome depiction of the Hindu-Muslim riots.. we don’t need any more of that gore!!)
- NIGHT TRAIN TO LISBON by Pascal Mercier (started off beautifully but don’t remember why or where I lost interest)
- CHROMOSOME 6 by Robin Cook (can’t believe that I haven’t finished this guy’s book!!)
- THE FOUNTAINHEAD by Ayn Rand (supposedly a masterwork of the 20th century, but I think the book is just over-hyped... been trying to finish it for the past 3 years)
- GROUND BENEATH HER FEET by Salman Rushdie (a never ending saga of a diva called Apsara and her cronies... hehe... I’m sure Mr. Rushdie will not be very happy with the way I have dissected his work of art.. I gave up this book after a disciplined 7 month-long battle with reading)
- A million TINKLE(s) (Suppandi, Kalia, Tantri and gang don’t entertain me no more!!)
- Books on philosophies (I really used to enjoy getting different people’s take on life and ways to conduct it)
- Books on spirituality (I have always been a firm believer of evoking the consciousness)

Being a self confessed read-aholic, I can’t fathom where in the world have my reading senses gone to??

Well, when you go to see, I really want to finish the above enlisted books badly, but I just do not have the stamina, conviction and patience to listen to what the authors want to say!!

I mean I have left over 2 dozen books half-read or unread in the past couple of years for Goa alone knows what.

Not that I do not read!! I mean; I need to read to sleep. It has become habitual or a sleeping ritual. So I end up reading no-brainers like Chetan Bhagat (which is not exactly reading.. more like listening to pop music.. but I did finish reading his latest novel in a jiffy); and entertainment glossies or just corrugated/ non-cyclic/random pieces of information or reading materials.

Well there have been some interesting reads intermittently- like THE CURIOUS INCIDENT OF THE DOG IN THE NIGHT TIME (which I thought was intelligent and delectable) or THE SPEAKING TREE Series (some superlative works were presented) or SUMMER MOONSHINE by P.G. Wodehouse (beautifully written with nascent and typical British Humor.. but I haven’t been able to read much Wodehouse thereafter.. I guess the initial enthusiasm wears out)... I also thoroughly enjoyed reading CHRONICLES OF NARNIA and the HARRY POTTER Series… more seriously were the books like HUNDRED YEARS OF SOLITUDE (well yarned)..

I have often thought that it was my over zealous working nature that has eaten up my reading habit but probably that isn’t the case. Maybe my ‘reading capacity’ meter is indeed arrowed at the “DEAD” signage.

The reasons can be varied – complicated writing styles, repetitive storylines, un-intelligent humor, crude/ relentless repartee, or my by now dead reading ability.

Either ways I do not want to stop reading altogether… This is a dangerous sign that I’m deeply concerned about.

Or probably I am just not getting anything good to read (its all relative after all). Give me recommendations people.