Reading Deliberately

I was just getting ready to start a new book but I couldn't seem to get motivated. Part of it could be the size of the book itself - the top three books on my TBR pile are 1000 pages long, but I think that part of it is that I am just not ready to have new characters enter my life. That may seem weird to some non-readers, but people who fall in love with books know exactly what I am talking about.

Yesterday evening, during the hunt for ice cream, I came upon the decision that I am going to take this year and re-read a lot of my favorite books that I haven't had the chance to re-read because there are so many other great reads out there. I love to read old books and perhaps find something I missed the first time.

Later last night I was reading The Book Lady's blog and saw that she and some friends were going to spend the year reading deliberately. They were going to read books that they wanted to read, not just read books because they had to for some arbitrary purpose. They are each choosing which books to read for different reasons, but all of the reasons are good reasons to them.

I think that this is a great idea. Often times we start reading a book because someone tells us "you have to read this book" or "this book will change your life" or "this is a great author, you have to read her" etc, etc. And while some of those books may be great reads, and some may change our lives, there are so many other great books out there that we have been wanting to read but keep getting pushed aside for someone else's idea of a great book.


After thinking it over, I think that my decision about my reading falls under the category of reading deliberately. I am sure that I will read lots of books that I haven't read before, and that is ok. The main goal is to read what YOU want to read. And looking at my books shelf, I can easily spot 10 books that I love and have wanted to re-read, but never quite found the time...