Sometimes I think I'd be better off if I didn't have access to a computer, an ipod, a Wii, a television, and a cell phone all day.
Don't get me wrong, I adore all of those things, I'm blessed with my possessions! I just realized I have this stack of books I keep saying I'm going to read, and I never read them. I'll start reading them and then I hear my cell phone buzz with a text message, so I answer it and go back and forth for a few minutes. Then I usually forget about the book and sign online. Maybe I'll carry it around on me in hopes that I'll read it on my lunch break or that I'll take it out when I go on a drive. I usually don't! I usually listen to my ipod or text during this time. Then the book ends up laying in my car, on my desk, or on my shelf..only having partially been read. They then represent failure, and I resent them. I fear starting books sometimes because I hate the feeling of not finishing it. I think reading is such an important part of life so having this short attention span and this sea of distractions is truly troubling to me.
Then my friend showed me a vlogger on Youtube named Merry who does vlogs about just silly stuff, her own music, but most importantly, book reviews. She has a goal of reading one book a week from the Time Magazine Top 100 English Language Novels and reviewing it on Youtube. Now..I'm not proposing that I do the same thing, because that would just be copying! It did put a spark of interest back in the whole reading thing.
I finished my first book of the year (I'm embarrassed to state that since it's already March) after seeing her videos. I loved it! I love the feeling after you hold a book in your hand that you've completed. Knowing that you read all of the pages of that book is just kind of a cool thing. I feel more intelligent when I read regularly, even if it's just a silly fiction novel. Why have I not done this more often? Oh right..I've been busy IMing and texting and Wii-ing! Not that those are bad things, but I just realize I need to take more time out to spend with books.
I'm setting a goal to read at least 25 books this year. It doesn't seem like a lot but I'm pretty sure it's more then I read last year. I have unread books in my possession already, and I'm hoping to complete them this year.
- The Thirteenth Tale
- Lovely Bones
- The Catcher in the Rye
- If You Could See Me Now
- Me & Emma
- The Moviegoer
- The Ultimate Guitar Book
- A Complete Idiots Guide to Music Theory
- Peace Like A River
- Twilight (maybe....)
- The Kindness of Strangers
I'm sweating just looking at that short list of 10 books!! I'm admitting to being a pathetic non-reader here..but I'm going to try and be better.
I just finished "To Catch a Predator" by Chris Hansen from the Dateline NBC show of the same title. It was disturbing to a very high degree, but it's the kind of disturbing you know you should probably read if you want to truly be aware of the dangers kids can face. The language is extremely explicit, but it's 100% reality, it's real life stories that just happen to be traumatic. It's an important and surprisingly unbiased publication.
I'm not really going to try and review this book or any of the books I read, because I don't have that great of a memory, so It would take me forever to write a full page review. I can do a quick blurb on them though (see above blurb)! I'm not sure why I decided to blog about this, I was just thinking about it a lot lately.
Let's all put down our gadgets and try to read more, shall we??!!
