The Great Book Project #mind

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 probably 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?