Today, two suggestions and one story.
Once upon a time, there was a girl who read constantly. She laid on her belly, propped up on her elbows, reading book after book as the afternoons of her youth flew by. As a young adult, she read even more, adding scholarly articles and essays to the fiction and stories and poetry she loved. As an adult, she went on reading, venturing further afield with new authors, new poets, new ideas, and new stories. She was always hungry for words, for company, for inspiration and knowledge and, when she found it, wisdom.
But in time, her hungry, incessant reading of books slowed WAY DOWN.
She didn’t see it happening at first. All she knew was that she had this wondrous machine in her pocket – her very first iPhone – which connected her to an entirely new universe of words, ideas, company, and inspiration. In time, the phone was followed by an iPad which opened that door still wider. And without meaning to, she read fewer books.
At first, it was like being let loose in an infinite candy store. She gorged herself: blogs, news articles, newletters, online courses, youtubes, free ebooks. So much sweetness to be had for free! Five steps to this, three ways to do the other thing, child prodigies, flash mobs… And then, too, there was the involuntary ingestion of terrifying, disheartening stuff: political scandals, terrible cruelty to animals or children, mind-bending greed and suffering.
A few years went by and she found she had quite a stomachache. She was still reading as much as ever, but she was well and truly HUNGRY. Some essential nutrient was missing.
Books.
Blessed books that go deeper and give more nourishment to the heart and mind. Books that introduce a reader to people with fresh, well-developed ideas. Books that meet the need for beautiful language, for cadence and rhythm, for the music of thinking.
Back to the shelves she went. Back to the libraries. Back to hours of contented reading first thing in the morning and last thing at night. Back to chapters “stolen” in the middle of the day.
And she felt more like herself than she had in a long time.
If you want to read more, I have two suggestions for you – and if you don’t want to read more, but you DO want to do something else more (write, cook, visit friends…), these suggestions will help you, too.
1. Put your devices far from your bed.
I started doing this last fall and it made an instant difference in how much I read and the way I fall asleep and wake up. Simple and effective.
2. Make a list.
At the start of the year, I decided to write the titles of books I’ve read and listened to, month by month (yes, I’m including audiobooks because I am happily, willingly addicted to them).
Six weeks into the new year and I’ve read or listened to 23 books.
I guarantee: if you start writing down the books you read, or the friends you visit, or the meals you cook, or the classic films you watch, or whatever you want to cultivate in your life, you will read, visit, cook, watch, and cultivate MORE.
And it’s fun!
It is a great pleasure to record each book in turn. I also like how one book leads to another; after reading David McCullough’s speeches in “The American Spirit,” I’ve just begun his biography of John Adams. I’ve been devouring audiobooks by Philip Pullman, both because he is such an excellent storyteller AND because he’s a wonderful reader of his own books. And wow – Tom Hanks! What brilliant stories. Who knew he was such a great writer?
So in my personal story, I’m off-line more and in-book more. It feels like home.
PS – I have no beef at all with ebooks. That last book listed, “The Girl Who Drank the Moon,” was an ebook, and it was so affecting that I both cried and laughed in the course of reading it. But like many people, I find I need more time away from screens, so I’m reading more paper books than ebooks right now. All the same, just knowing I can read anywhere, any time? Well, that is GOLD.