I try and make time to read every day. (And by that I mean, I’ll attempt to go to bed an hour earlier to fit in some reading, but then get distracted with laundry/putting away toys/sorting through various objects/watching a particularly inspiring interview on Youtube/chatting to a friend…and end up reading for three minutes at 23:45 before falling asleep. Last night I had a good two hours to myself and what did I do? I went food shopping…) It doesn’t always work out.
At the start of the year I had a goal of reading 36 books this year. I really believed three a month would be manageable. I’ve read 20. (Okay some were plays which I read in a few hours but they still count as books). So 36 was a little over ambitious but the intention was there and I’m still proud of the 20 I have read. And the year’s not over yet.
So here is my reading list for the rest of the year:
1.) The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho
I’m halfway through this and really enjoying it. It had glowing reviews and I was mesmerised with the author Paulo Coelho’s interview on Oprah’s Super Soul Sunday. Plus, my Aunty Ruth had a copy readily available to borrow. (When my Aunty Ruth’s read a certain book, you read that book..)
2.) Siddhartha by Hermann Hesse
This was given to me by my Uncle Ed five years ago and I still haven’t read it. Other books kept cropping up and like many old and worthy reads, this one would get pushed further and further down the line.
My Uncle Ed is one of the wisest, weirdest, most interesting people I know and I could sit and talk to him for hours ( well I have done..). I know some clever people, but he’s probably the most fascinating of them all. Again, if he gives you a book, you frickin read the book, even if you’re five years late.
3.) Proof by David Auburn
My drama teacher told me to read a play a week. Unfortunately it has been more like a play a month but I’m determined to change this. Plays can be read in a matter of hours and I know I could finish this one in a weekend.
4. ) Why Not Me? by Mindy Kaling
This one’s just to lighten the load really. The other three reads are a little heavy at times so I feel I’ll need something to restore the balance. No spiritual development, no searching for one’s true destiny, no monologue hunting..Just a witty woman and her hilarious stories. I would also recommend her first book “Is Everyone Hanging Out Without Me?”– I read it and very much felt like I’d made friends with the woman herself.
“It is what you read when you don’t have to that determines what you will be when you can’t help it.”
– Oscar Wilde
The Colourful Kind 