Enduring to the end

At the beginning of the year I set a goal to read 100 books. (Last year I aimed at 70, thought I’d set it at 100, and ended up reading exactly 70.) Since October’s almost over, leaving just two months in the year, I figured I’d better take a look at where I am. It’s not looking so good.

In January, I got off to a good start, reading ten books (including three Diana Wynne Jones books). But then in February I only finished a single book (also Diana Wynne Jones — Hexwood). March got me back in the swing with eleven books (including two more DWJ and also Bridge to Terabithia). Then graduation reared its head in April and I only read six books (the first three books in the Ender’s Shadow series, mainly), making 28 books altogether during winter semester. Not bad, especially considering that I also managed to not fail all my classes while I was reading all these books. :P

In May, at the beginning of the summer, I read eight books (finished the Ender’s Shadow series and then read the middle two books in the original series, along with Card’s First Meetings and another DWJ, and I finally finished Persuasion after starting it way back in September). A good start, but it soon fizzled: June saw me through only five books (finished off the Ender’s Game series, read Peter and the Starcatchers, and read the first two Harry Potter books), July was down to three (HP3, DWJ’s Castle in the Air, and Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows), August was at four (Robin McKinley’s The Hero and the Crown, Anthony Hope’s The Prisoner of Zenda, Orson Scott Card’s Seventh Son, and Dean Hughes’ When We Meet Again), and I only finished a single book in September (DWJ’s Archer’s Goon). And none so far in October. (That’ll change, though.)

This is sad: 49 books. That’s it. I mean, it’s good, but I’m just a wee bit shy of my 100. Can I really read 51 books in two months? I wish. :) That’d be one book every 1.2 days. I suppose if I abandoned all my side projects, took a month off of work, and stopped sleeping, I might be able to pull it off. If only… ~wistful sigh~ Maybe I should read shorter books… More importantly, is that cheating? :P

No, really, this isn’t about the numbers. I keep track of my reading primarily to make sure I don’t get too bogged down with other activities, and it looks like that’s exactly what’s happened. Tragic.

Right now I’m actively reading a small handful of books — Connie Willis’s Doomsday Book, Diane Setterfield’s The Thirteenth Tale, Diana Wynne Jones’ Dogsbody, Elizabeth Marie Pope’s The Sherwood Ring, Jean Rhys’s Wide Sargasso Sea, T.E. Peacock’s Nightmare Abbey, Boethius’ The Consolation of Philosophy, P.G. Wodehouse’s Full Moon, and Thomas Hardy’s Tess of the D’Urbervilles. I keep getting tempted to pick up new books, but I need to just plunge forward with these ones (the three I’m reading most frequently are Doomsday Book, Dogsbody, and The Thirteenth Tale) until I’m done with them.

This year has definitely been a Diana Wynne Jones / Orson Scott Card year. Maybe I’ll only read DWJ for the rest of the year after I finish these — make it memorable. :P (And the advantage is that they’re pretty quick reading.)

Anyway, I’ll aim for 70 again, and maybe in December I’ll just put a hold on all my other projects until the New Year. :) But right now I’m going to dip back into Doomsday Book (which I haven’t been able to put down since I started reading it two days ago) instead of doing my homework…

Having spent the last hour reading, and enjoying myself very much, I’m thinking about giving myself an early Christmas present: two hours of reading each day after work, no matter what. I need to read to stay healthy. (You think I’m joking. I’m not.) Besides, as a budding librarian, I can chalk it all up to career development. :) (I’m thinking about specializing in literature, and if I do, then by George I’ll need to be well-read across a broad spectrum of genres.)

I love Diana Wynne Jones! Have you read the Chrestomanci books? Also, I totally understand what you are saying about needing to read to stay healthy. Same thing for me. :)

Ben,

Your goals seem wonderful. I often make lists of things I want to do or accomplish.

I loved General Conference and continue to use Dallin Oaks talk, Good, Better, and Best, to evaluate my goals, and Sister Becks’ talk, my priorities as a mother. Sometimes the good, and even the better goals may be the very thing that prevents us or distracts us from the best.

I am not shooting arrows at reading books, as we are commanded to “seek wisdom out of the best books.”

So, I am asking myself often, “what is my next step in life?” Am I making the best choices? Though my activities are good, and even better than before, are they the best? Do I apply the same energy, commitment, and priority to moving forward, as I do to my personal interests, of which I seem to gain so much satisfaction?

All my projects and interests aside, am I pilot or co-pilot? If I am pilot and God is co-pilot, I am in the wrong seat. At times I find myself taking my plans to Him for His approval. I try harder no to find His plans.

Oh, there I go again, getting way toooooo serious!

Happy reading!

DG

Ben,

I find myself wondering what you are avoiding with all your projects and lists. My mom read to avoid the 3 R’s - reality, responsibility and relationships.

Please forgive my unbelief, but in putting it all together (as far as your blog posts are concerned), I question “to what end is the real purpose for all that reading?” In the old days we were taught the 3 R’s - reading, writing, and arithmetic to the end of accepting the other 3 R’s and getting on with life. Today, I find myself wondering if your reading is to avoid the other 3 R’s.

Fear is the opposite of faith. Love is the manifestation of faith. You say you want to marry, You admit to having several young women in several groups that are interested in marrying you, but you go on to say that you have no interest in them and that dating isn’t important to you. When you do find someone that you are interested in dating, you think about marriage on a second date. Good grief, you spend more time getting to know a book than you spend getting to know God’s daughters. Why would any young woman feel flattered at being so lightly dismissed as to have one think that her heart could be so easily won with so little interest, effort or courtship? How could one even believe that she was loved when she is barely known?

Perhaps the “better/best” reading list Donna suggested would include the religion manual “Achieving a Celestial Marriage.” Perhaps you are just an actor on the stage of life and your posts lack sincerity. ~eh???

Mary: Yup, I started with the Chrestomanci books, and I love ‘em. :) I’m glad I’m not the only one with a book stomach.

Donna: Well, reading charges my batteries and gives me more energy and strength to do all those other things in life (like serving), and it feels so good. Not good the way ice cream or other mere pleasures do, but good like soul food, in a way that really enriches and deepens my soul. It feels right. I think God is quite okay with having me read. I think he made me that way. :)

J: The only thing I’m avoiding is homework. :) Really, I read because I like to read, not because I’m running away from anything. But I do appreciate your concern, and I’m sorry if I don’t meet your standards.

Dang. I had a whole comment written before my niece came over and hit ‘backspace’ and the web browser interpreted that as the ‘back’ command. D’oh.

Anyway.

J: Go easy on Ben. Deciding a guy is or isn’t doing enough based on his blog of all mediums doesn’t add up… It’s a blog. It’s going to be sensationalized. If anything, Ben doesn’t get to know books better than girls because to read at that rate Ben likely reads very quickly (correct me if I’m wrong.) Ben, being a bookworm, likely reads very quickly to begin with– let alone in the pursuit of a good goal like reading a lot of books. (Again, correct me if I’m wrong.)

Were I Ben, I’d be very hurt and incensed by your comments. I guess since I’m not him, and hence I should not say this, but I think your comments are too close to judging his pursuit of a celestial marriage for my taste. Allow me to stick up for the guy and reassure you when he takes time out of his busy schedule to talk to me, his concerns aren’t about books… I imagine it must be extremely tough to share the worries and struggles about marriage only to have people negatively review them and say that you’re not doing enough.

Don’t mean to fan the flames, but I read your comments and feel that they misrepresent Ben and his efforts. Maybe I’m wrong but that’s the way I see it.

Just two of my pennies.

Ben,

I apologize. I’m not trying to judge you and certainly would never want to hurt your feelings. I think that you are an awesome guy. I don’t have any standard for you to measure up to and if I did you would certainly meet or exceed it. I was referring to the goals, dreams and desires that you say that you have set for yourself.

Sixline, I say the same kinds of things to my own kids when I feel a concern that their conversations and actions seem to be at odds and contradict each other. My children are not shy in returning the favor! I would like to thank you for pointing this out to me. We don’t always realize how we are coming across to others and a reality check is always a good thing. I will repent.

When I read Ben’s blog to Heather, she exclaimed, “You’re kidding!” I expected to hear something very different come out of her mouth next, but what I heard was, “Is that all? He’s reading all the time and I read WAY more than that.!”

I guess that I should have known it (52 weeks/year X a stack of books checked out from the library every week = more than a mere 100 books) but I never did the math. It’s just that 70 books sounds like a big number to an old lady who is blind in one eye and suffers from dyslexia and is therefore a very slow reader.

I guess that Ben’s blog and I have come full circle. My first post that started me blogging was posted here on Ben’s blog because Heather had a date with Jane Austin and was up reading all night.

Again, if I offended anyone, I do apologize. And Ben, read on…

Is the Wodehouse from the Geeves series? Those books are perfectly delightfully . . . well, British and funny as all get out. I loved Tess when I first read it and promptly became quite “into” all things Hardy. I still believe Jude, the Obscure to be his seminal work but for all my love of Hardy’s writings, I must truthfully admit that he lacks *variety* in his works (similar themes, characters, etc). But that doesn’t keep me from liking his books all the same.

It frankly energized me to read this posting of yours. I’m so busy with graduate school, I find myself greedily, hungrily using every snatch of time on the bus or metro to read a book outside of textbooks. I can only dream of reaching 100 books a year. But I say, bravo and good for you! The world needs more people who are passionate about literature.
e

sixline: Thanks. :)

J: No offense taken. :)

e: Glad to see the comments come back to the book track. :) (And welcome back — it’s been a while.) Yes, it’s the very same Wodehouse. I’ve actually never read any of him, but one of my friends highly recommended him. I haven’t gotten very far in the book yet (the others have taken precedence at the moment), but I’m looking forward to it, especially because he wrote lots of books. (I love it when I find that I really like an author and they didn’t just write one or two books, but thirty or sixty or hundreds.) I’m not very far into Tess, either — a chapter or two — but I’ve really liked it so far.

It is hard to make time for leisure reading, but I’ve found that any time I put into it is well repaid in extra energy and zest for life. (And for the record, I’m just glad that my battery-recharger is something cheap like books and not, say, limousines or skydiving or buying small islands.)

And yes, the world definitely needs more passion about literature.

I am sorry if I offended. I noticed some patterns and things did not add up.

I probably write more than I read;) I had a measly 35 books last year.
1. Pericles Prince of Tyre by William Shakespeare*
2. The Abolition of Man by C.S.Lewis*
3. The Taming of the Shrew by William Shakespeare*
4. King Lear by William Shakespeare*
5. 7 Habits of Highly Effective People by Stephen R. Covey*
6. Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen*
7. That Which is Seen and That Which is Not Seen by Fredric Bastiat*
8. The Law by Fredric Bastiat
9. Alas Babylon by Pat Frank*
10. Freedom Factor by Lund
11. Understanding the Times by Noebel*
12. Walden; or Life in the Woods by Henry David Thoreau*
13. Spiritual Lives of Great Composers by Kavanaugh*
14. Uncle Tom’s Cabin by Harriet Beecher Stowe*
15. How Children Learn by John Holt*
16. The Virginian by Owen Wister*
17. Great Expectations by Charles Dickens*
18. Les Miserables by Victor Hugo*
19. Your Money or your Life by Joe Dominguez and Vicki Robin
20. Money…Its Not Just For Rich People by Janine Bolon
21. Crunchy Cons by Rod Dreher
22. A Whole New Mind by Daniel H. Pink
23. A Thomas Jefferson Education (Revised) by Oliver DeMille
24. The Chosen by Chaim Potok*
25. Gulliver’s Travels by Jonathan Swift
26. The Lost World by Arthur Conan Doyle
27. The Courage of Sarah Noble by Alice Dalgliesh
28. Hero of Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell
29. Oedipus Rex by Sophocles
30. Oedipus at Colonus by Sophocles
31. Antigone by Sophocles
32. The Aeneid by Virgil
33. Bonds that Make us Free by C. Terry Warner
34. The Book of Mormon
35. The Greek Way: How Greeks Created Western Civilization by Bruce Thorton Started 29 December 2006 and completed 1 January 2007

This year I am around 22, However, the year is not over yet.

One time I was sharing that I ahd read about 20 books that year, and one of the women wise cracked back, “What, golden books?’

Not a lot of reading to be sure. I am a full time homeschooling mom, working on my thesis, I run a private online school, and publish a newsletter. Whew, that is exhausting to look at.

The mom part is eternal. The thesis has an end. After Wednesday, it is off my plate until January. The home schooling is not going away. I am not holding any youth scholar classes while i am finishing my thesis. The newsletter is not yet a subscription yet, because I am not ready to be tied to monthly or bimonthly deadlines.

What am I avoiding?

I am winding things down, completing, delegating, and just plain taking things off my plate. Enough is enough. At this point, the only books I am likely to read between now and my 30th anniversary on the 29th of Dec. are the ones I read to my family. November and December are theirs. Good, Better, or Best?

A nice list of books there, Donna. Which did you like most?

I think there are definite seasons of life, and at times there’ll be less time for reading. That’s life. But I do plan to make reading a big part of my family life, so it won’t be an either-or kind of decision. Best of both worlds. :) (Yes, I realize that won’t always be feasible, but it’s better than not reading at all.)

When I arrived at college, I was 1 of 20% that could read at the college level. We were a library going family. We did not have many books in my home and I did not read for pleasure, as I thought I could use my time better.

Then I married and became a mother. I live in a library of a home. I love to read. I love to write. I love to learn. I love to create. I love to garden. Even if all of my children were grown, I would still have to choose, and would probably not ready more than a book a week, if that many, as if I did, I would have to cut back on all my other activities;)

I have to choose? I have a blog where I post when I finish a book.
http://calledtoliber.blogspot.com

A Thomas Jefferson Education changed the way I learned and how I live education in my home. The revised edition was even better.

I like a message I got from Pericles, as it show what can happen when a person has an eternal perspective and placed in challenging situations and are true to who they are.

Alas, Babylon was written when I lived in Florida and my father worked on missiles. I tried to remember what life was like then, and what we have today that we did not have then. Weird.

This year I have read:
1. 17 January- The Hobbit by J.R.R. Tolkein
2. 13 February- Twelve Greeks and Romans Who Changed the World Carl J. Richard
3. 19 February- Apology by Plato
4. 21 February- The Princess Academy by Shannon Hale
5. 21 February- Daughter of a King by Rachel Ann Nunes
6. 28 February- The Fellowship of the Rings by J. R. R. Tolkein
7. 19 March- Kazunomiya: Prisoner of Heaven, Japan 1858 by Kathryn Lasky
8. 28 March - Two Towers by J. R. R. Tolkein
9. 13 April- Mere Christianity by C. S. Lewis
10. 18 April- Teacher in America by Jacques Barzun
11. 20 April- Nicomachean Ethics by Aristotle
12. 24 April- Return of the King by J. R. R. Tolkien
13. July- The Choice by the Arbinger Institute
14. July- Marketing Gurus
15. August-The Five Minds of the Future by Garner
16. 8 September- Money…Its not Just for Rich People by Bolon
17. 10 September-Parable of the Ten Virgins by Freeman
18 12 September- The Grocery Store Game By Bolon
19 12 September- Charlotte Mason Study Guide by Gardner
20. 12 September- Little House in the Big Woods

It’s all about balance. :)

Ben,

You said, “It’s all about balance. :)”

I ask, “Is it?”

Actually, I hate the idea of balance and prefer rhythm and harmony. Why? Because I feel that balance can be a false principle and is often a cop out. Sometimes life requires you clear your plate and focus on one thing, and that is not balance. If I sat down and tried to plan balance, to make sure I hit every area, every day, it kind of ignores revelation, and even when I stop to do what I need to do at that moment, I can feel guilty because other things I planned did not get done. Call it the mom in me, who has been overly multi-tasking for years.

I used to be a detail person and would plan out every minute. Old planning technology was get a planner and fit it in. Then they went to prioritize. Now I ask, do I need to really do that, then prioritize, then calendar. new things still come up. I hurt child, a stranded friend, an event that took too long, children that need supervision, teasing, whatever. Yes, the best laid plans.

So now, I look at setting essential defaults in my life, first things and then the things that I would like to do, but can be set aside for the importance of the moment. I try to work on rhythms of these defaults. I feel this opens me to revelation, which usually comes from having more information than when I originally planned. Still sometimes even those thing I feel are essential get set aside in a moment of someone else’s need, and sometimes, even my own need.

In the end, it takes honest self evaluation to make sure we do not get life out of perspective, and that we are in the moment and not just busy doing good things, and missing the best. A friend once told me that BUSY was Being Under Satan’s Yoke. I see that as a truism in our modern world, where we can fake ourself out, talk about our business in doing good, and fall short, because it is too easy to get self absorbed and think what we are doing is more important than what we should be doing. I still have plans. I still prioritize. Oh, but I seek for a harmonious and peaceful spirit, which can ironically be there in the whirl of activity, but comes from being and seeking openness to heavenly direction.

Now, are you totally confused or what?

Donna,

I like that idea of rhythm and harmony. I think the balance part of it comes in with setting the defaults/essentials. Doing the essential things seems to help get me into the rhythm of my life, and things can unfold better from there.

I do like the idea of rhythm and harmony, and I think that when I say “balance,” what I really mean is something that encompasses a lot of what you said. To me, balance doesn’t necessarily mean doing everything every day, though of course that would be nice. (And rather impossible.) Instead, I think I mean that it’s rotating my main focus around often enough that I’m not neglecting any one area, at least not for too long. I’ve been neglecting music for years, for example, and that’s a pity.

[…] 2. Turns out being graduated didn’t quite give me all the free time I expected; I only read 60 books this year. And 28 of those were by the end of April — how on earth did I read more books in school than out? Sixty isn’t bad, but it’s nowhere near 100. […]