Lately my reading has lagged considerably. I remember devouring books as a child and not thinking twice about it. These days, I’m lucky to finish a book in two months. That’s partly why I signed up for the Goodreads Reading Challenge. I set my goal for 2012 to 30 books, which seems like a really low number, but I only managed to read 23 books last year, so 30 would be an improvement I suppose. Thus far I’m behind by one book (big surprise). I’m not sure what the problem is when it comes to reading: is it the subject, the length, the style? The books that interest me in the beginning tend to be long and complex and sort of boring. The last two books I read were of the non-fiction variety, one on theology, the other on quantum physics. Right now I’m plowing my way through Hyperion, which seems massive on the Kindle, but is really under 500 pages. It shouldn’t be that hard to get through, especially since I like the story and the style. Perhaps the problem lies in time: I have so many hobbies and projects going on at the same time, and not enough time in the day to complete anything. I pretty much regulate reading to transportation time: traveling on the bus or subway. On most days that means 60-90 minutes of reading per day. That’s not a lot. Especially if you factor in travel distractions, which can be pretty plentiful in NYC. The bottom line is, I’m not even going to make my paltry goal of 30 books unless I really make the time to read.
During a conversation I had with a good friend of mine not too long ago, the comment was made that reading takes up a lot of energy. The more stressed that I find myself at work, the more I realize that there is truth in this statement. I spend the majority of my day reading: emails, reports, affidavits, etc. None of it is interesting, but all of it is necessary. After all that, am I really supposed to spend a block of 2-3 hours with my nose in a book? I never used to be able to read myself to sleep, but these days it’s no problem. I’ll wake up with the book resting in my lap, dazed and confused.
But I refuse to give up. Between writing and knitting and cooking and vegging-out (yes, that too is a hobby) I’ve got to make the time to keep my mind honed. One thing that probably would help would be to turn off the TV at a certain time and pick up a book instead. Last night I never turned it on at all when I got home from work. I didn’t miss it. Tonight I’ll try this again, but this time I’ll pick up Hyperion and try to get to the 60% mark by the end of the night. I love making goals for myself (I rarely make them, but I still love to give myself goals) so my goal for this week is to finish Hyperion. I don’t think it’s impossible, I just have to keep my willpower high. Right now I’m at page 197: that’s 41%. 60% is about 100 pages…It seems like a lot, but I’m going to try my best. I see this as a test: if I can’t up my reading time, then why on earth would I spend money on an e-reader? It’s not cost effective. Thinking of the cost-effectiveness of my purchases is what made me into a gamer; hopefully it will turn be back into a reader.
The Strange Case of Finley Jayne by Kady Cross
