July hasn’t been a good reading month for me. I’ve only finished two books (out of dozens tried) and have not been enthused about my reading life. I can’t tell you how many books I’ve applied the ’50 page rule’ to this month and then have listlessly let fall from my limp hand after feeling utter disinterest and ennui about those 50 wasted pages. Yes, I’m being melodramatic. But it has felt like a reading tragedy.
Yesterday I realized that I need to lower my expectations, return to reading books I actually want to read and take a little break from reading galleys for a while. I deleted all my ‘Currently Reading’ books from Goodreads and decided to start over. Then I listened to my heart and discerned that what I really feel like reading right now are Victorian novels and other classics. I love new, I love contemporary, but I think I have overdosed in the past few months and need to return to the land of old-fashioned delight that I truly enjoy.
I’m also going to keep my Goodreads ‘Currently Reading’ list to only five titles. This might seem a lot to some people – I’ve never been the ‘one book at a time’ kind of person yet having 20 books on my currently reading list is a bit much. So, five is a good number for me.
And now I’m excited about reading again and can’t wait to share my thoughts!
Do you ever have to press the re-set button on your reading life?
A Certain Fondness 
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