Friday, December 9, 2016

The Issue with Reading is.....

            I have this crazy habit of buying books I am interested in reading. My habit of buying books is only intensified by books 30% off at Target, where no normal person goes in only to end up buying what is on their list. The problem with this habit is that I don’t have the habit of actually reading them, and the issue is never that I don’t have enough time to read them. I may be busy with two small boys, a home to keep, a part time job, a very part time roll in the reserves, and technically a fulltime school load; but I still find myself sitting more often than I should, so I don’t make a reading a priority. I make Netflix a priority. I make Hulu a priority. I make Comcast On-Demand and going to Target for funsies a priority.

            Sitting next to me is a stack of books that I want to read and a good chunk of them that I’m actually a few chapter in, yet all these books were neatly place on the bookshelf in my room at some point. When I decided to write about this I pulled all the books that still needed to be read, and was pleasantly surprised that there were a significant amount of books having been read still on the bookshelf.

            My goal, during this long winter break from school, is to get through at least three of these books. While I see that leisurely reading as no need to rush, I also see that I need to prioritize my time to include reading into my daily life. I once heard a statistic that if you say your goals out loud, you are some crazy high percent less likely to accomplish said goal, so this post is really just to ensure a solid excuse for not completing my goal during this winter break.

Here is my list of books still yet to be read, more or less in order of when I will read them. Let me know if you’ve read one and what you thought!

  • -       Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me? (Mindy Kaling)
  • -       Almost Christian: What the Faith of Our Teenagers is Telling the American Church (Kenda Creasy Dean)
  • -       Glorify: Reclaiming the Heart of Progressive Christianity (Emily C. Heath)
  • -       Room To Grow (Martin B. Copenhaver)
  • -       Farewell to Manzanar (Jeanne Wakatsuki Houston & James D. Houston)
  • -       The A to Z of You and Me (James Hannah)
  • -       Brooklyn (Colm Toibin)
  • -       Boston Jane: An Adventure (Jennifer L. Holm)
  • -       Weird Church: Welcome to the Twenty-First Century (Beth Ann Estock & Paul Nixon)
  • -       Straights: Heterosexuality in Post-Closeted Culture (James Joseph Dean)

Now I realize that one of these books was supposed to be read in middle school or high school, but I never did what was expected of me…and I still don’t for that matter. I have also read one of these books already in middle school, but I absolutely loved the writing and wanted to re-read it however many years later.

And just for funsies I have three books waiting on my Audible app, which I never have a problem getting around to because I drive so often.

  • -       Little Women (Louisa May Alcott)
  • -       Requiem (Lauren Oliver)
  • -       One Man Guy (Michael Barakiva)

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