To All the Books I will Never Read
To All the Books I will Never Read
When I am reading a really good book though, I don’t want it to end. I want the story to go on forever. Even if it is just the characters getting breakfast, I would read that story happily.
Do you know what my worst fear is? Dying. Wow.. real original right? That’s a lot of people’s worst fear, huh? Hear me out, though. Departing this world without reading all the books I might have liked if I ever had the time to read them. Now, I own an embarrassingly large number of books, some of them unread (*sighs* Yes the rumors are true, I didn’t read those Twilight books). But if you read enough, you know that it will never be enough. It’s a catch 22 situation. The more I read, the more I am struck by the realization that I may not read all the books I will enjoy. My Amazon wish-list for books alone is over 150 for this year, that’s not counting the 50 I already bought, and it grows every day. Whenever I find someone recommending a book they really liked that’s one more on the list. (On that note, please tell me your favorite books?) Those are all just fantasy. How am I gonna read crime, thrillers, romance, YA, contemporary, Classics and sci-fi? I don’t have enough time.
There you have it folks, my greatest fear is that I will skip on the books that I might have enjoyed, had I gotten the time to read it. More books are coming out like every week that I want to read if you think about it. (Rule of Wolves just came out and I haven’t gotten my hands on it, can you believe it?) When I am reading a perfect book though, I don’t want it to end. I like the story to go on forever. Even if it is just the characters getting breakfast, I will read that story happily. Coffee shops are also fun, I suppose. So sometimes I end up reading fanfiction to keep the story going. (*side effects include loss of sleep, binge eating and uncontrollable sobbing when it’s over, please don’t attempt at home.) So I waste enough time not just on books, but on fanfiction, fanart and so on. Then there’s the whole deviating from my to be read the list and going on a reading spree of all the books by the same author. So you can imagine how tiring it must be for me to stick on to my reading schedule. Yeah, I have a reading schedule, sort of. I plan in my mind what books to read each month. One month into 2021, I am already 6 books behind schedule. (whatever will I do?)
Then, of course, there’s a panic that happens every time I encounter a supposedly good book, but I’ve never heard about. If I haven’t even heard about this book, what else am I missing? Am I even reading the right books? I would never know. The sensible thing to do is stop this line of thought. So what if I didn’t read all the books I might like? (*sobs*) So what if I haven’t heard of some of the best books that came out recently? (oh the horrors) I will still have a read and re-read plenty of books that I enjoyed immensely. Right? That’s a healthy mindset, of course. But if you know me, you know I am not all about fit and healthy.
What then is the problem to this solution? (books are never the problem)So here’s the plan. Read 100 books every year. Each year pick a genre, for this year it’s the fantasy genre for me. I picked m favourite first, and I am planning on reading a hundred books. Next year maybe I will write crime thrillers, then romance and so on. Every 5 years, I will update with say 20 books from each genre. Now, will this go according to plan? My bank account is probably praying for my plan to fail. Amazon and the stupid ads are winning already, though. I feel like I am not even making any sense anymore. Probably because I have to sleep. Like George RR Martin said, “Sleep is good, but books are better”. I also googled how to read more books, and it just says to read 30 minutes daily. I already do. And that’s not enough. Audiobooks are really great though, in that aspect. We can paint and read; we can literally do something else and read. But not read and read. Doesn’t work. (I didn’t try it).
PS: Do let me know your favorite books in the comment section below so I can add to my list. My bank account says, bye.
*Apologies to people who expected a real fear. But if you know me enough, you know that I resort to humor when faced with real-life problems. When life gives you lemons, make terrible jokes is the motto I live by.