Lolteracy as a child

I've been reading for as long as I can remember. My parents always exposed me to literature. I remember reading a picture book when I was very young and memorizing the words on every single page. I can't remember the name of the book, but clearly remember it being about different cars and machines. My parents say I loved the book and would want to read it every single night and could recite it on cue.

Even after that one book, I remained extremely interested in books and would read every chance I get. I remember my mom taking me to a giant bookstore and always leaving with a new book. I became very intrigued by the Goosebump's series and liked anything horror or mystery oriented. This probably explains my fascination with horror fiction to this day.

I can remember reading every single night before going to bed, up until 4th or 5th grade, at which point I had moved onto much thicker novels. I loved Tolkein's Lord of the Rings and The Hobbit. I really enjoyed fantasy novels, but don't really read anything in that genre nowadays.

Science Fiction has always been a major interest of mine, probably stemming from reading Ender's Game in 5th grade - which I consider to be one of the finest works of science fiction to date.

Reading will always be one of my favorite activities and something I will always do as long as I'm alive, and it all started with the memorization of one small book when I was very young.

-McConell

The Greatest Short Stories

Short stories are works of art that require literary genius to construct. Some of my favorite pieces of fiction are short stories, purely due to the fact that it takes a lot of talent to tell an entire story in a few pages and oftentimes even manage to construct a well thought out twist at the end of the piece.

I consider the master of the short story to be Saki (Hector Hugo Munro). His simplistic, yet enchanting style of writing mocks the standards of Edwardian society whilst painting intricate and humorous scenes. His characterization is absolutely flawless, each character is developed just enough and is able to serve their niche in the story without having to introduce a giant backstory to clarify their personality.

My personal favorite stories of Saki would probably be "The Interlopers" and "The Open Window"

It's also very interesting to note that Saki died on my birthday... Hmmm.

Of course, I also consider Isaac Asimov to be another short story master. He's generally believed to be the father of modern science fiction and laid down the foundation for many of the modern science fiction writers of today. It's rare to find a science fiction author who doesn't cite Asimov as an inspiration. His short story "The Last Question" is brilliant.

- McConnell

Currently Reading...

I just recently finished the book After Dark by Haruki Murakami. His work is very postmodern and surreal. After Dark, for example, follows around various people between the hours of 11 PM and 7 AM and shows how their lives are all connected in some way. I've been a fan of Murakami for a while now, the first book I read by him was The Wind Up Bird Chronicle, which I found to be quite entertaining and enchanting. Murakami also leaves plenty of room for mystery throughout his books and oftentimes, the answers to these puzzles are not given by the end of the book - leaving plenty of afterthought for the reader.

I am currently reading a book of short stories by H.P. Lovecraft, whose work I've always admired. Lovecraft writes in a genre described a "weird fiction" in which he blends elements of horror, science fiction and fantasy to create unique worlds with casts of strange, recurring characters and odd happenings. Lovecraft is credited as being a key inspiration to Stephen King, whose works reflect many Lovecraftian themes. His story "The Outsider" is an excellent introduction to his writing. He displays masterful use of the English language and paints vivid pictures of settings and characters. "The Outsider" has a brilliant yet simple twist ending, as most good short stories should.

After I finish the book of short stories, I plan on starting Thomas Pynchon's The Crying of Lot 49. I generally enjoy Pynchon's work and am looking forward to reading this.

- McConnell