Suddenly I was transported back to my previous life, my horseless and TV-less life, when I read 2-3 books a week. I maintain a core collection of about 300 books that I've treasured over the years -- Annie Dillard, Doris Betts, Jane Smiley, Joyce Carol Oates, Irish Murdoch, Russell Banks, the whole lot of them.
And now -- horror of horrors -- I've been labelled a non-reader.
I love reading, yet there just doesn't seem to be time. I read 2/3 of Third Angel on the plane flight to Pennsylvania, and since then it has been languishing at my bedside. Evenings I care for the horses, do some chores, blog a little, and go to bed. The plot is slipping from my memory as I speak. I did manage to finish Home, but M. Robinson is a particular favorite of mine and read it in a sitting on my sister's couch.
How can this be? So that is my New Year's resolution -- find time to read. Make time to read.
Friday, January 1, 2010
The horror! The horror! My New Year's resolution
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Maybe combine two loves in one and find a number of horse-themed books to read? I'm no great shakes on getting fiction read except when travelling, myself, or when I'm sick and on enforced house rest, so what can I say!
ReplyDeleteI bought four books for my recovery and only opened one so far. For some reason, I just can't read right now. Sometimes it takes too much effort. A friend told me that happens sometimes with surgery. Brain freeze or something???
ReplyDeleteNow, mind you, I too have read hundreds of books and love to read. I used to read all the time. Maybe it's just a matter of getting back into the groove, so to speak.
I read for at least 20 minutes every night before I turn out my light. I usually have a couple of books going at the same time and depending on my mood I decide which one to pick up. It has been part of my routine since I was a child. Perhaps reading in bed is when you will find the time to read. :-)
ReplyDeletehttp://wolfie-whatwasithinking.blogspot.com/
I, too, am a reader who has probably picked up the label of non-reader since horses have taken over my life. While I wish I had more time so I could read, I probably won't give up any of my horse time to accomplish it. LOL
ReplyDeleteWishing you a happy and prosperous New Year!
Love to read, but find that when I read I get nothing else done. Hoping to find a happy medium. If I try to read in bed, which I did for years...I fall asleep. Now I fall asleep when I read no matter where I am. That is why I get nothing else done!
ReplyDeleteI'm a librarian for a health care company, but also work on-call as a reference librarian in a public library to help fund my horse habit. Between two jobs (3 if you count barn work), riding, and life, it's hard to find time to read. I've become addicted to audio books - I can stay on top of my to-read list and I'm (almost) never stressed in traffic!
ReplyDeleteOh man, I need to be better about this too. I LOVE reading. Over breaks from school I tend to get a lot of reading done, but I let it slide during most of the year.
ReplyDeleteOkay, more reading for me. Thanks for the reminder!
My coworkers actually laugh at me because I take a book with me everywhere including to work. :) Glad you're rejoining the reader's ranks!
ReplyDeleteVirginia, I'm a librarian too! How ironic that we can't find time to read.
ReplyDeleteThat's funny, achieve1dream, I take FLASH cards of words I will never remember -- ramose, peculate, nimiety, inveigh.
ReplyDeleteI love words but my long term memory is nil.
God forbid I go to a heaven without horses. . . or books.
ReplyDeleteI just finished a quick read: Chosen by a Horse by Susan Richards. Very good.
Next is Beautiful Jim Key: The Lost History of the World's Smartest Horse by Mim E. Rivas
I haven't suffered the label of "non-reader" yet, but I, too, have cut way back on my reading since I got my own horse and started jobs that revolved around them. Part of it is time -- over the past 6 years I've had several jobs that led 15-hour days -- but part of it is also money. All my spare change goes to the pony, and unless I get gift cards for bookstores I can't usually justify buying books... And I seem to forget quite often about that handy-dandy invention called a library, though I blame that mostly on the fact that ours keeps odd hours, and that falls again under "lack of time."
ReplyDeleteI did get a few gift cards for Christmas so I think I, too, will try and get back into reading regularly this year.
Seconding Beth's suggestion above, Chosen By a Horse was a lovely book. I'm still working my way through Crazy Good, by Charles Leerhsen, which is a lot of fun but I just haven't had the time for it.
I feel your pain.. I have to force myself to put down the computer and pick up the book. My current reads are the Rita Mae Brown Foxhunting series, for fun .
ReplyDeleteAnd the teachings of Alois Podhajsky to further my dressage education. Do you see a theme here ..LOL