I don't read nearly as often as I should. By "should" I mean "as is recommended" or "should due to the sheer amount of books I have in my possession or in my TBR pile." TBR means "to be read" by the way, in case you're not of the book-club-going, book-a-thon-reading, too-many-books-so-little-time variety like the rest of us.
I'm turning this into a proper book blog. I had one, sort of: my Tumblr "Officially Obsessed" had a bunch of updates and reviews and reading progress notes. It didn't smack of "this girl is well-read" and the obscene amount of Instagram pictures of food prepared at a bevy of exotic restaurants probably has something to do with that. The fact that I've never reviewed a book of actual substance may also have had a say.
How do I begin? How do I become "well-read?" Find me five years ago and I was under the impression I was well-read. After all, I was reading Shakespeare at 10 years old and attempting Dostoyevsky at 11 years old (we won't discuss the results). However, there were a few years of no books there before Harry Potter brought me back to The Land of The Readers and into the YA cult. I do often tell people "I watch more TV per hours in the day than the average person is awake hours in the day." So how does a TV addict start reading again?
I could start with a commute if I had one: read on the bus, or the train, or listen to an audiobook while I walk. I could try scheduled "reading time" with 2 hours per day to start and more if I find it enjoyable. I could try rewarding myself with a new TV episode once I finish five books. You get the idea. Unfortunately I won't do any of these things without motivation and a hiatus from TV viewing. There must also be a system of checks & balances with friends to stay on top of me. Only not literally- having friends on top of me as I read could be painful.
In theory, I want to be as well-read as Rory Gilmore, that eponymous character who had book-related quips in every comment. Not so I can be funny using quotes, but so I feel as if I've read enough. How do you know when you've read enough to call yourself well-read? How else do you know you're an expert at something unless you've done it for 10,000 hours?
From now on, this will contain musings and reviews for books. There may be an audiobook here and there (especially for A Song of Ice and Fire books because Roy Dotrice is the bees' knees) but it will mostly be books I am reading on a Nook, a Kindle, or the old-fashioned way. Don't hate this blog and lambaste the books I attempt to read. Also, don't hate me for not writing about Google Glass anymore. Books are a constant, technology is always changing and evolving.
Now if I could only figure out how to put a GoodReads widget in the sidebar...
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