Lately I've been struggling with the concept of time. "Time flies!" When will I ever finish all of my work? How is it Hallowe'en already? Christmas is just around the corner! The underlying theme being that time is a precious commodity and I never seem to have enough of it, and more importantly, fail to distribute any time for myself. It's ironic that we all seem to accept the concept of working overtime, yet we struggle with the idea of "living overtime." It shouldn't be that I'm creating Summer Reading Wishlists... I should commit time for myself to pursue my passion for reading all year round. And I really think that I should be able to do this free from guilt.
So, I'm intrigued by the original purpose of the book blog, "26 books." This idea began on Shane Richmond’s blog in 2006. As part of a plan to motivate himself to read more, Shane decided to read 26 books in a year. He completed the task with a couple of weeks to spare. For 2007, he decided to invite some friends to join him. The target was to have read and reviewed 156 books by the end of 2007. In fact the total was 167, although only 3 of the participants made it to the target of 26....
What a great way to establish a commitment for my love of reading throughout the year. So, I've decided to do the 26 books initiative and I plan to start in January. I haven't decided yet if I will pre-select the 26 books ahead of time (yesterday, I lamented in a blog post about the trouble with anticipated expecatations for great reads) or let the books come to me as the weeks roll by.
Anyone interested in joining this initiative with me? Are you a passionate reader but never have the time between work brought home, running kids to dance class, hockey, groceries, housework -- ok, well, I've never let this one interfere with my time-- making dinner, walking the dog, laundry --again, purely an example, but I think you get the picture? Let your New Year's resolution be about pursuing something that you love. For those of us who always choose the "I'll re-start my diet" resolution, this will support two resolutions at once. Put down the Hershey bar and pick up a decadent novel instead! Switch your focus from 2lbs a week to 200 pages a week. Get some exercise by walking the stacks at your local library or favourite bookstore.
We don't have to read the same books, in fact it might be interesting to hear comments and posts regarding many books as the year unfolds. An informal book chat versus a "book club."
Not sure what to start with? One of my favourite reads this year was The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Pie Society.
Send me a message or comment directly to this post to join the "26 books" movement.
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