Although I have been very lax at blogging over the past few years, I have, in fact, been writing more regularly than ever. It’s just that I write at 750words.com rather than coming here. That has the advantage of being not for others’ eyes and so much less stressful to write.
I do like writing for a blog though and I had an idea for this year. I’m not really one for New Year’s resolutions that begin in January but there seems to be such a sense of transition and hope in the air that it is as good a time as any. My resolutions, or perhaps I should call them intentions, are simple:
- Read more books
- Knit more
We’ve recently moved house and the comments from the removal men have left me with a little bit of guilt at quite how many books I made them pack.
Not that having too many books in itself is a bad thing but that I don’t actually read or refer to them terribly often. In my new study my desk faces the bookshelves. In my old study they were over my shoulder so I only saw them in my Zoom background. I’m hoping that having them right in front of me will remind me that reading is supposed to be a part of my job.
So, today, I decided to start the year the way I mean to go on. I picked up a book that I bought with hugely good intentions of reading and started it. Well, restarted it actually since it had a bookmark in for about 20 pages in.
The book is Why I Am No Longer Talking (To White People) About Race. I bought it in London about 18 months ago while wandering around Foyles. Since then, it has been sitting in a pile. I’m into chapter 3 now – it is a sobering read. I have read enough about white privilege and racism to know that this is a problem in which I am complicit. What I haven’t figured out is what I am personally supposed to do about it. More work required.
Over the next few days I intend to make a shortlist of books to read in various categories but also to figure out when my reading slots are. Over breakfast is an obvious one, as is early evening now that the kids don’t need me then. I love books and I love reading but it just never seems to get to the top of the list when there is a screen to look at instead. Late at night I just read things on the kindle because I tend to doze off and the kindle at least switches itself off when I do that. I get complaints otherwise.
I think the aim of the year is not to read a particular number of books but rather to read some and consider whether it merits a continued place on the shelves.
Off to knit something now.
Comments
One response to “2021 – a new start?”
One time I moved the removal men turned up making lots of jokes about the size of women’s shoe collections. They quickly shut up when they saw the size of my actual shoe collection (very small)… and then all the books they were about to pack!
I am trying different times of day for reading certain types of book. There is no point me trying to read anything serious/demanding lots of thinking about/attention in bed as it just doesn’t go in. But it also doesn’t work in the day at the moment with the small shrieky person around.