In celebration of National Book Month (yet another reason why October is my favorite month), I'd like to talk about ways to create more time to read and how to compile a reading list that will get you all excited.
First let me tell you about the inspiration for this post:
My mother, after many years of wanting to cut back on her television watching, finally found a way to kick the habit.
One day the cable went out in her bedroom (the main spot where she watched TV), and she was forced to go without it for a whole 10 days as she waited for the cable fix-it guy.
At first she was not too pleased, but after a day or so, she found that reading books was even more enjoyable than watching TV. She also got used to a new sound in her house--silence.
"I feel so at peace now and like I have so much more time." she told me.
I know how she feels. I kicked my own TV addiction habit a few years ago by participating in TV Turnoff Week. I ended up giving up TV completely for a whole year, and during that time I rekindled my love of books.
Nowadays I rarely watch TV, maybe an hour or two a month, sometimes less. I'm considering going back to TV-free living, just because I don't like the idea of wasting any amount of time in front of the TV. (Now if I could only kick my computer habit! Oh well...)
(Not-so-subtle hint--the best way to get started reading more books is to watch less TV.)
Anyway, my mom wanted to start reading more books, but she felt a little overwhelmed by all the selections at the library. She wanted recommendations, guidance, and to only spend her time reading books that were actually worthwhile.
Here are some pointers I came up with for her that maybe you'll find useful:
You can't go wrong with the classics. If you've been out of the book readin' game for a while, try starting with books recommended on high school and college reading lists. Here's a good one I've found for you already. It's broken up by American Literature, World Literature, Biography/History, Science, Social Science, Drama, and Poetry. This should keep you busy for a while. :-)
LibraryThing. I have to thank Verna Wilder for turning me on to LibraryThing, an online directory where you can set up a free account and log the titles and your own reviews of the books your read. I think in the free account you can log up to 200 books. Folks can search your book list and you can search theirs. LibraryThing can even give you book recommendations based on the books you've cataloged.
Check out Google's banned book list. People have been observing Banned Books Week (it was Sept. 23-30 this year) since 1982. According the the American Library Association, Banned Books Week is a reminder to all of us "not to take this precious democratic freedom for granted."
Some of my favorite previously challenged or banned books are:
The Great Gatsby (F. Scott Fitzgerald), Lolita (Vladimir Nabakov), Tropic of Cancer (Henry Miller), To Kill A Mockingbird (Harper Lee), Catcher in the Rye (J.D. Salinger), The Lord of the Flies (William Golding), The Sun Also Rises (Ernest Hemingway), Gone With The Wind (Margaret Mitchell), Lady Chatterley's Lover (D.H. Lawrence), and so many more.
Best seller lists. If you'd like to be reading currently popular books, check out the New York Times Best Seller's list or the Amazon.com Top Seller's List. If you look at the individual book info on Amazon.com, you can see other folk's reviews of the book and use the star ranking system to see how much other people enjoyed the book.
Amazon recommendations. Amazon.com has a vast storage of data collected from it's customers, so if you know of a book that you do like, Amazon tries to make suggestions of other books you might also like. You can see this info on the individual book page under "Customers who bought this item also bought:" section. Also on the individual book listing page, there's an area called "Listmania" where other readers have compiled their recommended reading lists.
Oprah's Book Club. Even though I don't watch Ophrah's TV show, I think she's done a great thing by encouraging her viewers to read some classic and highly acclaimed books. Some of the books on her list are old and some are new, but I guess they're all favorites of hers. If you'd like to be part of a national book club, you might want to check out Oprah's book club.
So, that's enough to get you started and keep you busy for the next couple years or so ;-).
But let me tell you how things turned out with my mom:
By day 8, she decided she didn't need cable in her bedroom and cancelled her appointment with the cable guy. She has pretty much stopped watching TV completely. Now, instead of watching Law & Order marathons on Saturday afternoon, she hangs out at the library and does other active stuff.
If you're wondering how much of a difference limiting your TV intake can make on the quality of your life, check out the Center For Screen-Time Awareness website.
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