A few years ago I started recording books I completed (in whatever format-- traditional books, e-books, audio books) in the side-bar here just to get a sense of how much and what I read. I had a vague sense I was too scattered in my reading, left much unfinished, etc. So recording it lets me notice things like, "Aha. Too much children's literature lately. Read something to stretch your vocabulary." or, "History! No history books lately. That is exactly what I have been wanting!"
I am a multi-tasker, in life and in reading. Perhaps that is my perfectionistic excuse for not focusing well enough, and when I don't remember content well, I can say, "Well, I did that on audio book while I pieced three quilts." Or, "I read it a chapter at a time over two years while I was finishing 17 other books, so I don't exactly remember how the author dealt with that theme." Whatever the reason, this pattern of many and varied reading going all at once has stuck for all my adult life, to one extent or the other. Just as an example, here is what I'm in the middle of at the moment, placed in five categories for this Friday morning:
- Traditional books (with paper pages): The Member of the Wedding by Carson McCullers; Notes from the Tilt-a-Whirl by N. D. Wilson (And a whole stack on my bedside table waiting...)
- E-books on my kindle app: Power in Prayer by Andrew Murray; Morocco by Edith Wharton
- Audio books: When I sew or do housework, The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. With the hubby in the car or in the evenings: The Grey King by Susan Cooper. When I am resting: Good Poems collected by Garrison Keillor.
- Read-alouds with the hubby: Morning and Evening by Charles Spurgeon; Dandelion Fire by N. D. Wilson
- Read-alouds with the eldest granddaughter: Little House in the Big Woods (for the second time).
On the face of it, that seems a bit ridiculous. Perhaps this is the fate of a TV-generation child who no longer has an attention span. Or perhaps I was just built this way. I guess the world and the kingdom need some of us who have noisy, cacophonous brains that go in a million directions all at once.
How do you read, Gentle Reader?