Current Reading

So I finally finished Steve Berry's The Amber Room. I have been reading it for nigh on 3 months, in amongst other books. I love reading but having seen how long it took me to read this I was wondering why it had taken so long. I just seemed unable to settle to the task as there was always something else going on. The worst part of this is I keep seeing more and more books that I would love to read and there is less and less time to do so...or so it seems.

So how does everyone else manage it or is it true that a large percentage of books are bought for show, effectively ornamentation, and sit on a bookshelf as a display item that defines your taste or the taste you want people to think you have. And am I falling into this category by accident, rather than design. I'd like to think not as my bookcase is tucked away where no once really sees it.

In some ways this is worse as it highlights a "road to hell" with a bookcase filled with good intentions of reading.

And boy does that phrase come back from my childhood. I can clearly remember my Dad telling me I was like that, though I can't remember what specifically triggered the statement. I am sure it was something I had said I was going to do and not done! And that one for me ranks up there with being told he was "disappointed" in me. He obviously had expectations I was failing to live up to.

And that is all a strange flashback as Dad is gone now. He was an incredible man in many ways and it was very tough to live up to his standards. I think I still subconsciously try to reach or exceed them and often as not fail, or believe I do. He used to say "let others tell you how good you are and I'll tell you how to be better"...quite inspirational to a kid until you realise you can never attain the goal as there is always another one behind it.

I digress, though it all ties together in some ways. I always feel I am never reaching the goal with my reading but maybe there is no goal and I need to just accept enjoying or learning from it. And the lesson in all this would be to be in the moment with everything I do so that I am 100% focused on the item at hand. That way I enjoy it to the maximum and then move to the next thing.

Current books I am reading
- Born to Run by Christopher McDougall
- In God We Doubt by John Humphrys
- The Omega Rx Zone by Dr Barry Sears
- The Relaxation Response by Herbert Benson and Miriam Z. Klipper
- Learn to Speed Read (Ironic eh) by Evelyn Wood

TIOT