Friday, March 10, 2023

Friday Feature: Literary Decisions


If you're wondering why this feature has become so sporadic, this photo says it all.


Simply put, I can't decide. Should I read, do a crossword puzzle, work on a jigsaw puzzle, or play one of my "silly iPad games"? And, yes, that's a TV Guide on top of the pile, so clearly that factors into the equation, too.

And, when books (or magazines) win out, which one? This stack represents only a fraction of the reading material that's calling out to me.

Since I took this picture about a month ago, the pile has shrunk, in part because I felt the need to downsize it. The books I routinely reach for kept their spot on the table, and I finished reading two of them (Quit and The Light We Carry) within the last week. Others were moved to nearby shelves and bins to be resumed and perhaps returned to the pile when it got a bit smaller. Two others I'm reading more slowly, by choice as I consider which new (or in-progress) books will make it to the short stack.

As I was typing this, an email dropped into my inbox, telling me I have an(other) Audible credit. While I never thought I'd be an audiobook girl (I have a  5-7 minute commute!), those titles have become a staple in my reading life, enabling me to consume more of the books I am hungry to read (or listen to), usually while doing something else, like driving, doing a jigsaw puzzle or organizing a space. 

My point is that reading, like so many other things, looks different from person to person and season to season. When I decided to make a concerted effort to not only read more, but also finish what I started, I discovered that there are many tools that can help me reach my reading goals. While I suspect that my to-be-read pile (including the virtual piles on Kindle and Audible) will always reflect a "too many books, too little time" situation, I've learned that there's more than one way to make it through that pile, and to have fun doing it.

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