I think a place to read about serial killers is the John Douglas books. He (John D.) told Thomas Harris about the 2 or 3 serial killers that Harris combined to make the fictional Lecter.

I agree with u/madchad90. It's likely a continuity error that the psychologist says that many or most serial killers start by harming small animals when they're young. Maybe Lecter din't. Maybe it was just his extra finger that caused him to be a serial killer.

I read the Earth's Children series. (Jean Auel) They were 8-10 years between each one. I bought the 1st 3 in a set: read in a weekend. They were good enough to wait for. Finished now, if you want to read them.

Read series if not finished? Sure, why not.

Good luck

Thank you! So many times in the past, I powered through books I wasn't impressed with. Because I was a "Finish every book you start!" weirdo. I used to finish-a-book-in-1-sitting as well. Now, I might read a paragraph or a page & have no problem putting it down. (Auto accident in 2009)

I would have loved hearing, "You don't Have To Finish any book you don't Click with."

Put it on the bottom of your TBR pile. Carry on with your next of a dozen books for this year. (Personally, I would sneak it off to a resale shop and replace it with some other book. 😁) Good luck

I've listened to Flinx Transcendent by Alan Dean Foster. I was excited that it was published. I was looking forward to it. The nearest PB was some 400 km away. (About 250 miles) Local bookstores din't have it. But Audible had it available!! I downloaded it and started to listen.

🤔😖😝 I did listen to the entire thing. I hated every second of it. As soon as possible, I bought the PB version and read it. Because I'd listened to it, I should have known the entire story, but enjoyed the book much better.

Not enjoying audio-books isn't anything wrong with you. Maybe they're just not your "thing". Until I cannot read anymore, I'm going to be reading from paper. I have read online, & kindle app. They don't thrill me, but (even) they're better than audio-books.

Maybe give it one more try, then go back to written? Your choice. Good luck

A River Runs through It by Norman Maclean was so good, I bawled when I finished it. It's been moved on my shelves, but I have never read it again.

[From Goodreads] "Just as Norman Maclean writes at the end of A River Runs through It that he is "haunted by waters," so have readers been haunted by his novella. A retired English professor who began writing fiction at the age of 70, Maclean produced what is now recognized as one of the classic American stories of the twentieth century. Originally published in 1976, A River Runs through It & Other Stories now celebrates its twenty-fifth anniversary, marked by this new edition that includes a foreword by Annie Proulx."

"Maclean grew up in the western Rocky Mountains in the first decades of the twentieth century. As a young man he worked many summers in logging camps & for the United States Forest Service. The two novellas & short story in this collection are based on his own experiences — the experiences of a young man who found that life was only a step from art in its structures & beauty. The beauty he found was in reality, & so he leaves a careful record of what it was like to work in the woods when it was still a world of horse and hand & foot, without power saws, "cats," or four-wheel drives. Populated with drunks, loggers, card sharks, & whores, and set in the small towns and surrounding trout streams & mountains of western Montana, the stories concern themselves with the complexities of fly fishing, logging, fighting forest fires, playing cribbage, & being a husband, a son, & a father."

I think there’s 2 or 3 sequels & 1 prequel to "Flowers." If you don't want to read them, don't. You're not really missing anything.

V.C. Andrews books are seriously messed up, trying to pretend they're normal.

Every family has "skeletons in their closets," but few of them bring it out & ask it to dance for entertainment or profit. (Even The Royal Family has a few "rumours" floating around them)

Elsewhere, here on Reddit, there's often questions, "What is your family secret, & when did you find it out?" NONE of them are as messed up as any V.C. Andrews story.

For keeping books, maybe check Brodart:

http://brodart.com/

I would have to agree with most comments: sets suck. Hubby bought me a set of SS all-in-one (handle & blade) steel knives. I wouldn't suggest them. They spend their time in a knife block in our China cabinet. It came with a steel: that gets used the most. He also bought me a good knife, that he keeps incredibly sharp.

So, buy 1 good chef's knife, make sure handle & blade separate, have a good steel, buy as you need. Good luck

The author who benefits you is not the one who tells you something you did not know before, but the one who gives expression to the truth that has been struggling for utterance in you. Oswald Chambers

Someone who can put words onto the "feeling" you know is true, but you can't explain it.

Agreed. It saved me from 50-shades & twilight grief. So, it works for me.

Hee-hee-hee. I haven't read it, but over on r/todayIlearned, it says that he barely remembers writing Cujo for the same reason. (I think his family did an intervention during or after it)

Hmm. I'm in the same boat. I used to read 360 books a year (not Harlequin romance, but "big honkin' novels"). In 2009, I was in a car accident. Since that time, I might have read 2 or 3 books from start to finish (Harlequin romance size). I re-read bits & pieces of my favourite books, but I haven't read an entire book all-at-once since 2009.

I know your frustration. In another thread, people have said, "Just keep trying; it'll return." Or, "Try reading different types than you used to." And, "Cut yourself some slack. It'll come back when it wants to. Don't force it." All good advice. BUT -- I'm not the way I used to be!! I want to be the voracious reader I used to be! It hurts! Almost physically. (I'm "of a certain age," and I want to throw a kicking screaming fit about this)

I don't have an answer of how to bring it back; believe me, if I knew, I'd write a book about it!!! All I have to offer is the advice in the previous paragraph. I guess we have to just keep plugging. ((Hugs)) All the best.

I would suggest you begin reading it NOW. Old Age shows up a lot faster than you suppose. Besides that, once you get a bit of life "under your belt," your reading tastes change: what you like in your 20s might become ridiculous in your 30s. Unless the books are considered "classics," chances are, they're not going to hold up even 10 years. Good luck.

I don't really give them voices. When I listened to an audio book*, the narrator gave the characters different voices, and it threw me off. It never occurred to me to "read" (i.e., think) different voices for different characters.

[*the audio book was available: the nearest pb was a long way away. I ended up buying the pb later and enjoyed it a lot more]

When I remember something from a book, I remember the words. "Teasing him about it was a corporate pass time the rest of the year." From, The Cat Who Robbed a Bank by Lilian Jackson Braun.

I thought the person reading it read way too slowly! (🐌 go faster!) Plus, when you're reading yourself, you make up certain ways to pronounce words in your head. The person reading was pronouncing the uncommon words differently than I did. One good thing, I learned how to pronounce "ennui"; I was pronouncing it "En-you-eye" it's pronounced "on-wee". 🤷🏻‍♀️

One time, maybe 15 years ago, I had to download a new release from Audible. It might even have been the author reading it. I was aching-all-over to read this book. Snowstorm, nearest copy some 400 km away: so, downloaded it. 9/10 do not recommend. I've been an avid reader for decades; I hated listening to it! (Flinx Transcendent by Alan Dean Foster, for the interested. I got a pb copy a few months later)

If I flip over books, I usually get, "Famous Person thinks this book is ☆☆☆☆☆!" Followed by, "Author's Mom likes this book! it's the best s/he's written so far." "NYT Reviewer agrees with Author's Mom: Best s/he's written so far." 🤷🏻‍♀️

From what I understand, I think your difficulties with enjoying your current book might be concerning whether you have a "good book" to follow this book with. I don't think you're currently reading series, because knowing what book is next is pretty simple. (For that reason, The Earth's Children series was agonizing: I think the shortest time between books was 10 years) If you have a "TBR pile", it's kind of comforting. If you don't have a physical pile but a list, that's fine too. But, learning how to enjoy your current book without worrying about what to read next is only a decision you can make. And something you'll learn as you go on reading. But, I think mostly a decision. If a worry starts sneaking in, remind yourself, "I have another book to read after this one. It sounds interesting, too" then keep reading. Good luck.

One thing I read about lotf was the plane that dropped them off ejected them because it was called to go fight in a war. I had to check whether that was true: it was. The boys weren't on the island very long, I don't think; couple of weeks, maybe? They were a boy's school class returning from something when they were ejected to the island. At the end of the book, when they were retrieved, the captain remarked he expected better of ____ boy's; that they'd be able to organize society. One of the leading boys said, "It started out that way ..."

But, I think it was about how close savagery is to the surface. And how little it takes to bring it out. (Sorry: dim, 35 y.o. memories)

Libraries are nice,for books you'll only read once. But, I'm an annotator and rereader, so I buy used, or sometimes new.I have a pretty big library of my own. And not enough space for all my books. I tried audiobooks once; I din't like it, so never tried again. I used to have books on my iPad, but have since switched to Samsung, so... those are now gone. 😢

But, whatever way you read is the best way. Audiobooks, kindle, kobo, iPad, or paper & ink. If cost is an issue, borrowing from a lib'ary is least expensive. Good reading.

Hmm; understandable.

I'll agree with everything EXCEPT the dog-earring. That's what bookmarks are for. If you think bookmarks are expensive, grab a couple of paint-chip strips.

Me too. I'll add definitions, or underline parts, or add stars, or whatever. When my book is read, it has been READ.