One of my 19 for 2019 goals has been to read one book at a time. By and large, I’ve been good at it. I’ve been able to focus on just one book, two max. As a compromise, I’ve allowed myself to have one fiction and one non-fiction book on the go at the same time, but never two of the same kind.
Today, I slipped. A few days ago, I started The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie, which, at first glance seems to be a little mysterious and surrounding a dead body found in a garden. It was recommended when I got my personalized recommended reading list from the VPL. So far, I’ve read nine of the recommendations and all were really good. I’d already read two others before the list was sent to me and I’ve had trouble tracking down a couple more. I have great faith in my list maker – she has largely knocked this list out of the park. She knows what she is talking about. This book, though? I’m struggling. I think it has to do with my aversion to kids as protagonists. The sharper and cuter they’re written, the less tolerant I am. And by the time this morning rolled around, I needed a break.
So, I picked up one of library borrows from last week. That’s a lie. I picked up both. I was feeling indifference that was off the charts and needed something to snap me out of it.
Our library trip had been postponed until the afternoon because Kevin was busy in the morning. When we finally got there, I had one book on hold. I’ve set new borrowing guidelines for myself – no more than five books checked out at a time – but my girl Sarah has messaged me this last weekend:
My answer, as always, was “YES!” Or at least something along those lines. (I just checked and it was, “ALWAYS.”)
She and I don’t always agree on books (though sometimes we do), but I think we’ve become pretty good at sorting out each other’s style. I think we can give quality answers to the question, “yes, but would *I* like that?” I think deep down she must have known I’d like this one and that’s why she’d mentioned it. I haven’t put it down since even before we got home (I read 50 pages at Starbucks.) I had to stop to write this, but will definitely finish it before I sleep again.
I’ll get back on track with reading one book at a time tomorrow. (I hope.)
Want to get your own personalized reading list? Go here. You have to answer a bunch of survey questions (books and movies you’ve loved, books and movies you’ve hated, mainly) and someone will get back to you within about a week.
