And so it begins...

Ever go into a bookstore just to wander? I do it all the time. I start at the front with the new releases and peruse until something catches my eyes. I pick up the book and run my fingers along the spine before opening it. I quickly glance at the back but I rarely read the summary. If a few words catch my attention, I open it up and flip through the pages. Sometimes if no one is looking, I’ll hold the book up to my face and take in that glorious scent. New pages just waiting to be discovered. I can usually tell if it’s something I want to read after reading two sentences or so. If I’m hooked in by that quick glimpse, it’s mine. If I lose interest that quickly… back to the shelf it goes.

I work my way around the store… literature, travel writing, young adult, and biographies. My husband wanders back to the Sci-Fi and we lose each other for a bit. I’ll stop to grab a tea which I’ll rest on the shelves while I pick up random books that catch my eye.

Finally, there it is… one that’s intrigued me enough to come home with me tonight.

I’ve had a love affair with books ever since I was a child. I started reading at three and never stopped. I remember getting in trouble for bringing a book to the dinner table. I had a spot on the couch at my mother’s… right at the end, under a lamp, conveniently located next to the end table. I’d take my stack of library books and disappear into my fantasy world while my family watched TV. I vividly remember my grandmother saying with exasperation, “You read too much!”

Read too much? I’ve never heard something ludicrous in my life!

Nowadays, it’s hard for me to find the time to dedicate to reading like I used to. Work has me swamped and there’s just not enough time to read something for pleasure anymore.

Tonight I decided that this just wouldn’t do.

Why push aside something that gives me such happiness? Stress is a major issue in my life right now and part of it has to do with me not taking time for me. Well reading is just for me. Some people use television to unwind, well I’m going to use books.

So in the next year I plan on reading a book a week. Not mind-numbingly boring work books… but things that I’ve had sitting on my shelves just calling to me for months. Things I’ve put aside because there “just wasn’t time.”

Lord of the Flies, Rebecca, the Great Gatsby… I’ll definitely be hitting up the classics that I’ve forgotten since High School.

Twilight, The Lovely Bones, The Lost Symbol… pop-culture favorites and new releases.

Anything’s fair game! And so it begins!

First up, The Elegance of the Hedgehog by Muriel Barbery.