Choosing Books to Read
Before the golden age of television 24/7, I read maybe three books a week. And that was while working full time in an office. I am getting back to reading (and listening in the car on the many long journeys that are included in my fabulous life now), and I have had an aha moment: The way I choose a book to read is a metaphor for the way I live my life.
When I’m browsing Amazon, before I read what a book is about, I check out the comments of strangers. How crazy is that? I don’t know these people or their taste, but if they say a book is unreadable, I move on. The metaphor? Caring more about what some stranger thinks than what I think — for example, when I’m explaining that the reason my credit card didn’t go through is because the bank doesn’t like where I am shopping (what is that about, anyway?), not that I’m overdrawn on the card. I don’t want the stranger to think I have no money.
On the other hand, if someone in the realm of that which I aspire to be says it’s a good read, I’m in. Take, for example, Bill Gates’ latest list of five books to read for pleasure (key word) this summer. I assumed they would not be techie, smarter-than-thou books about water in Africa, and so I took a look. “The Power” by Naomi Alderman is at the top of his list because his daughter Jennifer (recently married to an equestrian rider, a rider herself, and a doctor doing her residency at Mount Sinai this year), who I think is the coolest person ever, recommended it. I should say with full disclosure that I do not know Jennifer, nor does she know me, and while viewing her fabulous life via her Instagram account is not exactly real, I felt that if she liked the book, I’m in. It’s on my living room table now, waiting to be read. After it arrived, I took a look, and I’m not sure Jennifer and I will be BFF’s after all. I didn’t read what the book was about before I purchased it. I just figured that if it was a favorite of Bill’s and Jennifer’s, I must read it. Bill and I have absolutely nothing in common. Jennifer and I both ride horses — or in my case — rode horses, but I was more of a walk, trot, canter rider than a leaping-six-foot-fences rider. I have no desire to be a doctor, although I like knowing them for obvious reasons. Admiring people doesn’t mean one should aspire to become them.
But my last example is the strongest: I read the last page of a book in a bookstore before buying it. Yep. I do. Sometimes even the last few pages. One might say that defeats the purpose of bothering to read it, but I like knowing how it’s going to end. I like starting journeys in life where I know the destination. I enjoy them more than “Surprise, the murderer was the ex-boyfriend of her best friend’s mother because the two of them made fun of her in elementary school.” I have goals that might not be attainable, but I do have a plan to attain them. Why I don’t always succeed is not the point of this missive, but perhaps we can tackle that another day. Today, I’m realizing that maybe I need to change the way I select my books and see if I become more daring in the life journeys I choose moving forward.
I should read the book’s description, check out the author and what else she has written, and I should ascertain myself, based on my own taste, what I will read next. Stay tuned.