I love books. That is a long-established truth.
I have a problem that is probably common to many book lovers. I have a bunch of books – two shelves full, currently – that I bought at one point with every intention of reading it cover to cover, and then I got distracted and never read any of them.
However, these two shelves of books have survived many, many Marie Kondo-esque tidying projects. So, there’s something about them that consistently appeals to me. I always plan that I will read them – someday.
Then someday never comes.
So, after I Marie Kondo’d all my books, I was left with these two shelves:
I developed a plan for The Great Book Project. I would press the pause button on all book buying and library usage, and I would read the books on these two shelves, one by one.
The first book I chose was If You Want To Write, by Brenda Ueland. (You can see it on the top shelf, a skinny blue book tucked between Each Day A New Beginning and Flow.) I’ve been meaning to read this book for years. So one day last week, I picked it up and read the first five pages.
Less than a day later, I found myself at Barnes and Noble buying a brand-new book. (Work, by Thich Nhat Hanh – so good so far!)
I came to the realization – and I probably should have realized this a long time ago – that there’s proba
bly a good reason why I haven’t read a lot of these books.
In reality – I’m just not that into them.
Nothing against these books. They’re wonderful. They’re great. It’s just – I’m just not that into them.
I had this experience with If You Want To Write, and then also with The Holy.
Does that mean The Great Book Project is over before it’s even begun?
Well – no. I looked over the titles on the shelf today, and there are definitely some I still have aspirations of reading. However, I’m going to ease up on the project, because what I’ve found is that by trying to reach a bunch of books I’m not that into, I end up not reading anything at all. And what fun is that?
