Have you ever come home from the library with a stack of books ten high, only to return all of them unread, then repeat the same process on your next visit? I have been doing this for years. Last month I decided I needed to get a handle on this action. So I started asking myself why I took home so many books and why so many of them were returned unread. Taking home so many is simple. They all look so interesting. Ooo, a flashy cover. I'll take that one. Hmm, intriguing title. I'll take that one too. Interesting premise on the back cover copy of this one. I'm sure I'll read this one. I'd better take it too.
I'm sure your excuses are as water tight as mine.
But why return so many unread? Now that question was a little harder to answer. After some soul searching and much wailing and confessing of sins...wait, that's church, not library books. Ahem...let's start over.
After pondering on this question and forcing myself to be as honest as I could, I concluded that the books I chose were of interest on impulse only. When I started to pay attention to how I felt when I picked up those borrowed books (after that initial high wore off, the one you get from being surrounded by high shelves filled to capacity with books and books and books...I need air!) I noticed I was less than thrilled with the idea of having to read. I noticed, too, that there were particular books I was in the mood for, mostly from my own shelves at home, that I was excited to read as soon as I completed the stack I had borrowed from the library.
So, there I had it. I was choosing books just like you buy things from a dollar store. "I'll take one of these and one of these and one of these--after all, it's only a dollar." But this was more than a dollar. It was time I was casually committing to something that would take me hours, not minutes, to read.
So I've been learning to pay more attention to what I'm actually in the mood to read. I can still pull 1,000 books off the shelf at the library if I want to, but no more feeling guilty if I return 999 of them completely untouched. And my goal is to leave them untouched on the library shelf eventually, unless I'm actually going to read it.
I confessed to a friend, who suffers from this same dilemma, that I was afraid I would stifle my curiosity and creativity if I did not allow myself to pick up whatever random book tickled my fancy. But, I'm happy to say, I don't feel stifled at all. Instead I feel free to immerse myself in the books I'm truly interested in.
The title of this post has two meanings. 1.) It's time to take those damn (oh! how'd that word get in there?) library books back. I had one due today that I sent back guilt free. 2.) It's time for me to go back to the types of books that made me love reading in the first place.
And those books are in the children's section on my shelves at home.
A few titles that were pure magic to me as a kid are:
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Behind the Attic Wall
and
The Glass Mermaid
Even now when I think of these stories, I get that feeling of surreal excitement, the same one you get when the first cold fall wind blows through the knitted holes of your sweater and those high, white clouds go scudding across the sky. Isn't that what anyone would want to feel when they read a book? What if I could feel that every time I read a book? You would make that choice, wouldn't you?
So I say goodbye to those tall library book stacks in favor of a much more alluring promise: books that will thrill and excite even all these years later. Recognizing again what excites me in reading gives me a guideline for choosing books in places that are drowning with them. I don't want to avoid these places because books are my life. But I would like to be able to swim among the choices instead of thrashing about and taking water into my lungs.
If you also suffer from book choice overload, try taking a look at which books excite you the most when you actually sit down to read them. Maybe it's time to go back to some classics you've loved since you were a child and connect with that magic again.
Tell me about the books that first excited you about reading when you were young. Leave a comment here or talk with me on Twitter @BookTalkwithRR.
You can also connect with me on Facebook at Book Talk with Rebecca Rivera. I'd love to hear which books you read and loved as a child.
Thanks for reading Book Talk today. To get notifications when I publish a new blog post, click subscribe in the upper right corner of this page.
Please note: I use affiliate links.
I'm sure your excuses are as water tight as mine.
But why return so many unread? Now that question was a little harder to answer. After some soul searching and much wailing and confessing of sins...wait, that's church, not library books. Ahem...let's start over.
After pondering on this question and forcing myself to be as honest as I could, I concluded that the books I chose were of interest on impulse only. When I started to pay attention to how I felt when I picked up those borrowed books (after that initial high wore off, the one you get from being surrounded by high shelves filled to capacity with books and books and books...I need air!) I noticed I was less than thrilled with the idea of having to read. I noticed, too, that there were particular books I was in the mood for, mostly from my own shelves at home, that I was excited to read as soon as I completed the stack I had borrowed from the library.
So, there I had it. I was choosing books just like you buy things from a dollar store. "I'll take one of these and one of these and one of these--after all, it's only a dollar." But this was more than a dollar. It was time I was casually committing to something that would take me hours, not minutes, to read.
So I've been learning to pay more attention to what I'm actually in the mood to read. I can still pull 1,000 books off the shelf at the library if I want to, but no more feeling guilty if I return 999 of them completely untouched. And my goal is to leave them untouched on the library shelf eventually, unless I'm actually going to read it.
I confessed to a friend, who suffers from this same dilemma, that I was afraid I would stifle my curiosity and creativity if I did not allow myself to pick up whatever random book tickled my fancy. But, I'm happy to say, I don't feel stifled at all. Instead I feel free to immerse myself in the books I'm truly interested in.
The title of this post has two meanings. 1.) It's time to take those damn (oh! how'd that word get in there?) library books back. I had one due today that I sent back guilt free. 2.) It's time for me to go back to the types of books that made me love reading in the first place.
And those books are in the children's section on my shelves at home.
A few titles that were pure magic to me as a kid are:
Mrs. Frisby and the Rats of NIMH
Behind the Attic Wall
and
The Glass Mermaid
Even now when I think of these stories, I get that feeling of surreal excitement, the same one you get when the first cold fall wind blows through the knitted holes of your sweater and those high, white clouds go scudding across the sky. Isn't that what anyone would want to feel when they read a book? What if I could feel that every time I read a book? You would make that choice, wouldn't you?So I say goodbye to those tall library book stacks in favor of a much more alluring promise: books that will thrill and excite even all these years later. Recognizing again what excites me in reading gives me a guideline for choosing books in places that are drowning with them. I don't want to avoid these places because books are my life. But I would like to be able to swim among the choices instead of thrashing about and taking water into my lungs.
If you also suffer from book choice overload, try taking a look at which books excite you the most when you actually sit down to read them. Maybe it's time to go back to some classics you've loved since you were a child and connect with that magic again.
Tell me about the books that first excited you about reading when you were young. Leave a comment here or talk with me on Twitter @BookTalkwithRR.
You can also connect with me on Facebook at Book Talk with Rebecca Rivera. I'd love to hear which books you read and loved as a child.
Thanks for reading Book Talk today. To get notifications when I publish a new blog post, click subscribe in the upper right corner of this page.
Please note: I use affiliate links.
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