I’ve always been a wee bit jealous of those who love to read; because I don’t. For me, a nice New Year’s goal would be to read ten pages a day. It sounds easy, but ten pages every day for 365 days is 3,650 pages; the equivalent of twelve 300+ page books. That is also approximately 1,003,750 words! Thankfully, I don’t have a problem with math.
Over the holidays I revisited the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo book series. I had forgotten how good (and complex) the plots were. It was an excellent reprieve. I eschewed sleeping, chores, and duty to read, read, read.
This pre-notion of curling up with a good book and sipping hot tea sounded so satisfying and civilized, but in doing so I began to feel a little bit negligent and guilty. When the book ended, I was left sad and wanting more which, if you don’t know, is impossible because the author Mr. Stieg Larsson died shortly after publishing.
In the past, I’ve found this reading goal hard to achieve, because 1.) I fall asleep 2.) I can’t find enough material that interests me 3.) I get busy and forget or 4.) oh yeah, I’m dyslexic, so it’s usually a slow-going activity. But practice improves everything, especially reading.
By re-reading this book series, I reaffirmed that dyslexic or slow readers can read for pure enjoyment, too. You just need to know how. For me, it is all about the author, their style of writing, and sentence structure; authors that grab my attention are Wally Lamb, Suzanne Collins (The Hunger Games) and Margaret Mitchell. I don’t like flowery descriptive paragraphs, which is why I typically forgo most “Classics.” I want a fast-paced plot that keeps me interested. I really don’t care what the characters are wearing or how blue the sky is–just keep it rolling. Short sentences and paragraphs preferred.
If you don’t want to fork out the money to buy a book that you may not read, then try using a Kindle or other electronic device to download e-books. The books are cheaper, you can electronically exchange them, rack up reading points for a freebie and read in the dark without disturbing your bed partner. You can also limit how you view your pages, thus circumventing that overwhelming angst from seeing how thick the book is or how long the pages are. You only see what you need to see. That’s big for people that are dyslexic. Like the old proverb says: “The best way to eat the elephant standing in your path is to cut it up into little pieces.”
In 2019 try reading ten pages a day, or even five pages, just for yourself. Six books this year sounds pretty great, to me!
