Book 'Em

I've recently been trying to increase the amount of reading I do for things not related to school.  In January, I began reading J.K. Rowling's novel The Casual Vacancy, but apparently like many other readers, am struggling to get through it.  The novel is relatively political and slow moving.  The wealth of detail in the novel is astonishing, but it's too much for my tastes.

I also picked up, at the school library, some books on libraries.  I've been working through The Story of Libraries by Fred Lerner slowly.  I read a few reviews of the book on Goodreads recently and was disappointed to find that what I have not yet read in the book (which about 75%) includes a lot of anti-women sentiments and argues that women should not be librarians.  I haven't read this for myself, but I'll update you when I get there.

I'm always trying to stay up-to-date on young adult novels, and I've been trying to get my hands on a book called Betwixt for ages.  I finally found it at the local library a few weeks ago and I've been spending my bed time reading on that.  Its reviews, too, were not as good as I expected, but I'm really enjoying it so far.  I think the writing style is really unique and I'm interested in all of the characters (except maybe one).

As it is the 50th anniversary of The Feminine Mystique, I grabbed a copy of that as well.  I haven't read any of it yet, but I have several other library books (meaning both books from the library and books about libraries) to read.  The Feminine Mystique is a rather hefty book and I'm not convinced I will get to it before it's due back at the library, but I'm going to try.

These books have spent a lot of time on my second bed, waiting patiently under homework and art supplies and the occasional snack.  They are very kind and don't poke me to get my attention or fall off the bed to attempt a book suicide.  Still, I feel a little guilty when I look over and see the corner of a book poking out from under a bag of chocolate covered pretzels.

Between my RA job, school, my family, my boyfriend, and a number of other things I am involved in, it's hard to find any time for pleasure reading.  I avoid going to the bookstore these days because one, I can't afford to buy books at the moment and, two, my list of books to read is already over three hundred.  I don't exactly have time to read the books I've been wanting to read for years, let alone books that I just found.  Besides just plain not having time for it, I think it's largely the result of so many books having sequels.  I prefer to read series of books in chunks, rather than just whenever they come out.  If I wait for them to come out, I usually have to read at least the previous book in order to remember the important events and even the characters.

Even when I get free time, I don't necessarily want to read because I typically have been reading a lot for school that day.  I've also learned, recently, that I tend to get heavy eyes when I read lying down in bed, even if it's in the middle of the afternoon.  This is helpful for when I need to go to sleep at night, but annoying when I'm trying to read for an assignment.

In the past, I've done challenges where I would read fifty books in one year.  I made it to fifty far before the end of the year but I find I'm lucky if I read ten or twelve books for myself in a year these days.

Perhaps it's a matter of time budgeting.  I'm sure if I spent less time on the internet, I would have more time for reading, but sometimes, all I want to do is stare at a screen and let something entertain me rather than having a more active role (ie. reading) in entertaining myself.

It's a hard life, I know.

One day I will have all the time in the world to read whatever I want.  Unfortunately, today is not that day.  In fact, today is the day that I do my English reading, my Psychology reading, and my World Religions reading.

Oh, and write that piece for my second English class.