Saturday, August 9

Break-time

So it's 3:45 on Saturday afternoon. I'm taking a "lunch break" from proofreading and wondering if the occasional back massage might possibly be construed as a business expense. (Why is it that my fancy good-posture kneeling stool no longer seems to be doing its job?)

As is typical, I was halfway through one proofreading job when another arrived (with a very short deadline) and another one shortly after that. What's that saying again, about raining and pouring? Funny how these flurries of proofreading always occur when I've dared to apply for a "normal" job!

The job I've just finished and the one I'm breaking from at the moment are both books that I would never normally pick up to read for my own personal pleasure. In fact, I would say that probably eighty per cent of the books I proofread fit into such a category. But I've found that in almost every case I enjoy reading these books, the ones which would not attract me if I saw them on a shop bookshelf and read their back-cover blurb. This is one of the things I love most about my job -- it widens my personal reading scope and I find myself inspired in various ways as a result of enjoying something I would not have otherwise tried.

What about you -- have you ever made yourself read a book that you instinctively thought you wouldn't like? What made you try it, and how did you get on with it?


Just finished reading: Marriage, Interrupted by Karen Templeton

2 comments:

Unknown said...

Yes, many times. Usually because of a strong recommendation or recently because it has been written by someone I know. I have have really enjoyed and appreciated most but only one has come to be one of my all time best reads - Any HUman Heart by William Boyd :-)

Jessica Raymond said...

Hi Liz -- thanks for your reply! I hadn't heard of this book so I looked it up on Amazon and it does sound interesting. I shall have to pick it up when I see it somewhere :)