Books, books, books

Like most writers, I'm an avid reader too.  My house is piled high with books which at present have no bookshelves to store them on.

The debate about whether the ebook will spell the death of the print book has been going on for some time now.  I've read books both on e-readers and in physical paperback form, and I prefer the physical paperback.  So, according to a recent survey, do a majority of young adults.

The books we read can be part of filling our creative well.  We see how another writer has tackled an idea, and it sparks off a suggestion of how we can write about a favourite theme. Anne McCaffrey's 'brainship' books were a major inspiration for my novel Eyemind.  

I also have a growing reference section on the natural world, and on big cats.  I've used the information in my books to create my Domovo rainforests for Panthera : Death Song.   I'm currently reading John Downer's Supersense, an old book about animal senses I picked up in my local charity shop a few days ago. It's packed full of astonishing facts about animals and how they respond to the natural world.  Already I've marked out ten that will end up in a young adult series I plan on writing,

I also have a fair collection of popular science books.  One of the most useful for me as an SF writer is Michio Kaku's Physics of the Future.  I used several of his ideas in Panthera : Death Spiral, particularly in designing Panthera.  I have tomes on DNA and epigenetics, conservation issues, and some of those quirky science question books too.

My books are unruly and are taking up far too much of my living space, but there's no way I'll give them away.  Task for the week: buy some new bookshelves.