Reading Resolutions : Average Intentions
The Average Reader looks forward to the start of a new year, eager to make a resolution to read a book, or a couple of books, or a marathon of books, or one book a week, or whatever personal record of books that can be read in 365 days.
This year will be different. This year will be better. This year, the Average Reader will set aside time to read that one book that they have been planning to read for a very long while, or read more than they have read before, or back to how they read before (for the Average Reader who once was a Good Reader). The mindset is there and the challenge is set!
Off the Average Reader goes, asking others for recommendations, browsing online for popular books across the genres, wandering through bookstores, aisle by aisle, judging by authors and titles, wondering what’ll catch their attention, deciding which book is worth the time. For time is incredibly finite, the Average Reader argues. There are many other things to do, commitments to meet, and places to go. Do audiobooks count, the Average Reader wonders. To listen or to read, becomes the dilemma. For those are two entirely different activities.
The Average Reader is discerning. Choosing only a book they want to read, one that speaks to their curiosities and questions and time in their life. That first book of the year may matter. That book will set the pace. The Average Reader knows this well. Reading a fun book or a short book or even a children’s book will help set the momentum. For the Average Reader may not have finished a book in a long while, which means any book read opens up an advent of possibilities. So pick that book, however easy and short because that’s how all habits begin.
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Inspired by Good Intentions by Italo Calvino (read the sample here)
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The Well-being of Book Reading believes in haikus and the art of the Very Short Story. Brevity is life. This blog is focused on making a reader out of anyone and the joys of book reading. For conversations about books, reading, and the impact this habit has in our well-being, reach out to wellbeingofbookreading@gmail.com.
