Being a semi-functional adult – my life is incredibly busy.
Incredibly… somewhat obnoxiously busy one might venture to say.
I’m sure you can relate.
Try as I might, I don’t really seem to have time for the things that I love doing anymore. Like reading.
Between you and me – I have a vast array of books.
Okay, to be honest, I’m a hoarder.
But I don’t seem to have time to get through them all. So instead of tucking into these literary treasures and feeling intellectually nourished I add to my ever increasing trove and feel guilty that the majority have gone untouched.
The upshot is that with all things, there came a breaking point.
It was a bad week. I had worked SO hard and yet still somehow reached the weekend with a brimming ‘to do’ list filled with mundane household jobs that would gobble up my time – including “wash windows” and “do a grocery shop.”
All I wanted to do was curl up and read.
And so I did the unthinkable. Rather than using the weekend to prep for the week ahead, instead I rested.
I curled up with a book.
I didn’t touch the windows.
(Windows? Fuck the windows!)
I didn’t do a shop.
I finished the book from cover to cover.
And I have to say, it felt amazing.
So amazing that I didn’t want that buzz to end…
Which is when I came up with a plan.
I wanted to see how many books I could read in three months. And those books had to exclusively come from my heaving bookcase.
I worked out that (realistically) I could get through 100 pages of a book a day, and that would probably mean I could comfortably finish a book a week. With two days of extra wiggle room at the weekend in case I fell behind of course…
Which means 67 books in three months.
(Give or take)
Which might not be a big deal to you but is a major challenge to me.
As you can see I have my first five all picked out…
– A darker shade of magic by VE Schwab
– Dolly by Susan Hill
– The Rules of Magic by Alice Hoffman
– The Magicians by Lev Grossman
And
– Other Words For Smoke by Sarah Maria Griffin
Obviously this non-negotiable reading schedule is going to be a bit of an adjustment. I’m a practical person and tend to put things I want to do on the back burner in favour of the most practical immediate thing I actually need to do instead.
Mind numbing things that come with age and an overwhelming sense of responsibility. Like grouting for example.
Nobody really needs to grout.
I bet that a person could go a whole lifetime without grouting a day in their life and yet shuffle off this mortal coil feeling wholey fulfilled never having spent a day getting back pain in a bathroom.
Wait – I’m wandering off topic here.
Oh yes, books.
…
This should be a walk in the park for me.
I mean, I love reading. I’m the kind of creep who spends hours and hours selecting a book and then (back at home) will violently flick the pages to smell the delicious tang of printing ink before settling down with a huge mug of tea and a comfortable blanket to crack the cover.
So, 100 pages a day should be entirely doable… right?
****
Note from future me:
Turns out yes it is indeed doable as I’ve spent the last week finishing A Darker Shade Of Magic – right in schedule!
And that ladies and gentleman is what we call a win.
…
Now I just have to keep it up
The Mottled Macaroon 