Am I Reading Too Much?


 I'm a reader.  You should know this.  I believe I read 89 books last year. (Although it shouldn't be a numbers came and I did [temporarily?] abandon my attempt to read all of Agatha Christie in chronological order.)  I do an annual best books post (since 2017) which I can't seem to keep to just 10 books.  Several years back I attempted to read every Pulitzer Prize winner for fiction since the category was created in 1918.  (I "finished" in 2016, so there are probably a few I should catch up with as the last winner I read was 2017's The Underground Railroad.)  When I forgot to bring my Nook with me back in 2021 when I went to the shore, I practically had a breakdown (https://bfthsboringblog.blogspot.com/2021/11/addicted.html)  I don't (necessarily) read for knowledge or self-improvement (more on that later), but for pleasure.  I love a good book (and good is totally subjective), whether it be physical or on an e-reader.

However, I am generally a one book at a time kind of gal.  However, if you look at my Goodreads account, I am currently in the process of reading 4 books at once.  For me, that's not normal.  I know that plenty of other people juggle multiple books, but (generally), that's not my thing.  So what' going on?

Well for the most part I'm finished with "book 1;" Imaginable: How to Create a HopefulFuture―in Your Own Life, Your Community, the World by Jane McGonigal.  I've gotten to the part of the book where you put what you've learned into 3 different exercises/scenarios.  I decided to take a pause there as this was a book that I purposely read on my commute to the office and this part doesn't really conform to that.  So I'm taking a break and when I am ready I will commit the time (and imagination) into the scenarios.

Which means I need another "commute" book. I am not comfortable carrying a Nook and a phone while commuting, so I've picked up a couple of books at the thrift shop.  They don't have to be great; they just have to keep my interest for short periods of time.  Funnily enough one of the books I managed to find was by Pulitzer Prize winner, Elizabeth Strout.  I was surprised to find a (relatively) new copy of her latest, Lucy By The Sea and snapped it up.  For me it's engrossing and thought provoking.  I don't think I can necessarily say I like it because it takes place in 2020 at the start of the pandemic, so it's not exactly "fun" reading.  But it does bring me back to that time.  (How could I forget it?  I'll admit that sometimes it doesn't even seem real.)  I do love the way she writes and the novel has inspired me to start working on my own piece of fiction that I've been thinking about writing for 3 or so years, but had yet put pen to paper.  (Or in this case, keystroke to Google Doc.)  Will anything come of it?  Who knows?  Stay tuned.  (And if it does come to anything I can thank Elizabeth Strout)

At home on my Nook, I'm onto my third book of the year.  (In all fairness, I started one of them, The Celebrants by Stephen Rowley just after Christmas.)  When I'm working from home (which will now only be 2 days a week), I usually take a lunch break and read.  Home less, read on the Nook less.  Or at least that's what I'm expecting.

Finally, at the last minute, I decided to join a book study at my church.  (Yes, I'm serious.)  I did a virtual/zoom book discussion during the pandemic (Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents by Isabel Wilkerson), however this group is meeting in person every other week.  I don't know if I can make all the meetings, but the book title intrigued me (UnClobber: Expanded Edition with StudyGuide: Rethinking Our Misuse of the Bible on Homosexuality by Colby Martin) and I thought it might be worth reading even if I don't make the meetings.  I picked it up today as we are supposed to have the introduction and first two chapter read for the first meeting next week.  I liked it right away.  (Chapter 1 starts with the killer sentence:  "As all good stories do, mine begins in a lesbian's hot tub.")  Colby Martin's got me hooked and I'm already gotten ahead of the class and am starting chapter 4. (With 5 post it notes already marking items that I feel are noteworthy.)  Now I'll have to go to at least the first meeting to show off!

So am I reading too much?  Juggling too many stories?  Maybe, and if reading is my addiction, I'm in deep, but the consequences can only be positive.


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