I have been a bookworm all my life. My parents read to me when I was little. I was reading the newspaper to them by the age of 5. I read the backs of cereal boxes at breakfast when my mom insisted on taking my books away from me because I walked through the house getting ready to go to school reading, walking up and down the stairs with “my nose in a book”. My favorite summer, hands down, was the one where I got up early to go to swim practice, stayed an extra hour to work with handicapped children in the pool, biked to the library to return yesterday’s books, and spent the day reading today’s selection while sunbathing. Every day that summer was like that. It was HEAVEN.
When children entered my life, I had to give up that wonderful sense of diving into another world just by splitting open a book at the place where my bookmark rested from the day before. I couldn’t keep my concentration, I couldn’t STAY in the World That Words Created. I could almost hear the sucking sound as my awareness disengaged from the book world to re-enter the real world. It took me several seconds each time, and then even longer to re-enter the book world (if I was lucky).
My children are grown now, and raising their own families, and I have the time to sit and read. I have a pile of books sitting at my right in a bookshelf that I purchased specifically for this purpose. I am, for better or worse, currently reading five books. This is not optimal, but as I go through the day I move through several states, from “thoughtful” to “suspenseful” to “funny” to “educational”…and so my reading choices change in concert.
Logically, I would pick one book and feverishly read it from cover to cover. Apparently I am not a logical woman.
I am, however, an organized woman, so my plan is to read “thoughtfully” for 15 minutes (or one chapter) first thing in the morning. Mid-morning I will pick up “educational”. And since what I love most is reading “funny” and “suspenseful” I will read those when I need a break from whatever tasks I have assigned myself. I have no doubt that I will read the “F” or “S” books – I need a little help to finish the “E” and “T” books, as I have to digest those, I WANT to digest those.
It’s 2025. Time to expand the mind.
What the FEST am I reading?
- Orbital, by Samantha Harvey
- Twice as Hard, by Jasmine Brown
- Pappyland, by Wright Thompson
- The Armor of Light, by Ken Follett
- Now or Never, by Janet Evanovich
Guess which one I will finish first???