Reading

I was certain when I gave birth to Emry that my days as an avid reader were over. But you do find ways to do what you love. And having to feed her six or so times a day for nearly a half hour to forty-five minutes at a time…well, I found lots of opportunities to read! Now she doesn’t eat as often or as for long, and she also loves to try to play with my book while she eats. So, my reading has now fallen off somewhat. Except I still love it. So…

I thought I’d try one of those reading challenges on the internet. There are probably as many options as there are books to read. Some of them were rather interesting. Others would indeed be a challenge. Still others I wouldn’t touch with a ten-foot pole (like anything with a book suggestion from Oprah!). After looking around a bit, I finally came to a conclusion that I would just make up my own this year, and I would make it simple. I will read through the alphabet – three times.

For those of you who are smart alecks, I’m sure you think that’s not a problem. How long does it really take to read the alphabet? Emry and I do it dozens of times a week. Very funny. So, what do I mean by that? Simply that I am going to read a book for every letter of the alphabet. For example, I could read Anna Karenina  for “A”, The Berenstein Bears No Girls Allowed for “B”, Caroline Saves the Day for “C”…you get the idea. And I’m going to do it three times. My rules for the challenge are simple: any books counts (even ones I read with Emry), I don’t have to read them in alphabetical order and at least 90% of them must be new reads (not old favorites I re-read nearly every year). I don’t think the letter “Q” will be a problem, but I may have to go with “X” anywhere in the title counts!

I know, I know…for those of you are wired to calculate numbers, that is 78 books. But I average about 80 to 90 books a year anyhow. I just thought doing it this way would make keeping my list a little more interesting. And, maybe, help me cross off some of my “want-to-reads” from my numerous lists, not to mention the ones on my own shelves I’ve yet to read. We’ll see how it goes. At the end of the year, I’ll let you know!