Reading Renaissance Redux

I have been reading about books and thinking about books and moving my books around for the last couple of weeks. I finally started carrying a book around with me again - it's been a long time since I have really done that. I don't read for pleasure much these days which is a shame because I have a million books to read and I LOVE reading.

So, now it is time for my annual attempt to revisit my 30 minutes a day (or more) goal for reading a book for pleasure. I even found a cool little gadget that will help me. During the holidays, I went to Barnes and Noble a number of times and on Christmas Eve, when I was standing half a store away from the register in line, I found a little gadget called, "Mark My Time - The Digital Bookmark".  It is really made for kids to help them know when they have been reading long enough. It also helps track number of pages and some other stuff. I thought it was a cute little thing and bought a couple for the kids in my life and one for myself.

Wish me luck, fellow readers. I have many books to read and I am excited to start them. I'm even going to take a break at work and find a place to read quietly for at least a few minutes a day. (We'll see how long that lasts...)

Reading Check-In

I haven't implemented my reading 30 minutes a day yet. I kind of gave myself a pass for January - I consider this month a non-starter - we are all wrapping up stuff that needs to be finished from last year. So I am looking to do clean-up on a couple of things and then I am hoping to really focus in on some of the things I really want to do this year.

I was trying to figure out what I wanted to write about last night and wandered over to Nablopomo and they had a prompt I liked. I don't always groove to the prompts they have, but this one seemed appropriate.

What are the next five books you want to read?
1. Creative is a Verb
2. The Mysterious Benedict Society
3. The Story of Edgar Sawtelle
4. New Fannie Flagg Book (I can't remember the title)
5. ANYTHING!! I need to READ!!

Book Commitment

I have narrowed down my options for the book that is going to jump start my reading again. All the selections have been nearby for quite some time but when I approached them today, they gave a good "Read Me" vibe.  Right now, I'm not looking for the most literary book in the world - just something that will hold my attention for longer than 5 seconds. So...drum roll please...

1. The Twilight books (sometimes reading something I have already read is a good place to start...I have only read them once)
2. Heat Stoke by Rachel Caine- book 2 in a series. I like series books...
3. Harry Potter books - especially the last book. I have only read that one once and have listened to it on tape about 3-4 times.
4. Alice by Sara Flanigan (I prefer "Sudie and Simpson" but I can't find my copy.
5.  The Freedom Writers' Diaries

I think these should provide enough diversity to spark that reading energy in me. I miss reading so much and I'm trying to figure out what it is that stops me from reading when it was such a big part of my life and my relaxation. I think maybe one of the problems is that I don't often feel like I can relax. I'm always thinking that I "should be" doing something. I think I just have to start making a plan - a list. If I accomplish what I need to (important and urgent) then I can take that time for myself and do what I enjoy. It isn't like I'm using the time WELL now - I'm not.

So, this is the plan. Starting now.