Recently I read a book. For some of you it’s no big deal, but if you have read part one and part two you will understand that despite me being a bookworm as a child, I now hardly ever read. So for me it is a big deal.
I started it on Saturday and I finished it on Sunday (well Monday morning to be precise). As I put it down I remembered why I don’t read….
A couple of the blogs that I follow shared a list of the books they planned to read in 2013. I had a managed to read at the most 2 books in 2012, so I thought it would be a good idea to create a list of books to read (as explained in part two) and make it one of my goals for 2013.
I researched recommended various Top 100 books to read in your lifetime, and eventually created my own bucket list of Must Reads. From that I chose some, chose some non fiction I wanted to read (I’m a sucker for self-help books), left a few spaces for extra additions and gave myself the goal of reading 24 this year. (See part 4) Up until this particular weekend when I read this book- I had read 1 1/2 books. Definitely keeping up with this goal! NOT!
I’d moan to my reading friends about not having time to read with 3 children, how did they manage etc and the responses were typically straight forward…
‘Read a little every night before going to bed’
‘Don’t spend so much time on Facebook’
Ok- so I know all this stuff. But I still don’t read!
On the Friday, my Mum lent me the book. ‘It’s an interesting story. You’ll enjoy it. I just need to take it back with me when I leave.’ she said.
Fair enough. We were about to embark on a 2 hour train journey and so when J wanted to play on my iPad, I hauled out the book.
And that’s when I remembered why I don’t read any more. When I read, I disappear into another world and lose all concept of time. Ten minutes of reading just never happens. Just one more chapter… One more paragraph….I just want to find out what happened next…
Well what happens next is that my children are late for a ballet lesson or are squabbling in the bath or it’s 2am and I know that J will be up at some unearthly hour…
For me, right now, reading engaging books is something I will enjoy when my children are older. I don’t truely have the time to read an engaging novel. But when my darlings go and spend their annual summer holiday to Devon with their Grandparents, I will pay a visit to my local library and find myself a lovely Penny Vincenzi 1000 page novel, and indulge myself for the first couple of days!
Now thats worth waiting for!
Somedays by C 