Introduction: When Was the Last Time You Took Your Reading Up a Notch?
I read broadly, and I read books of varying levels of difficulty. As part of my informal liberal arts education, I am reading the classics. A few days ago, it occurred to me that the books I am reading should be global because we are living in a global world.
Over the past three days, I have been creating my 30-60-90 Day Plan, and I have been intentional about the books that I intend to read during the next three months, making sure that not only the books are diverse by their subject matter, but diverse in terms of where the authors were born.
Because reading the classics is often an excursion into the world of deep thought, to make sure that I stick to my goal, I am also reading books I love such as chick lit, detective stories and murder mysteries. How do you decide which books to read, and how do you make sure that you are always taking your reading up a notch?
Over the past few months, Indigo Gifts and Music, a chain similar to Barnes and Noble, has been featuring two for $15 on selected mass paperbacks. A couple of weeks ago, I noticed Patricia Cornwell’s Dust, a Scarpetta Novel, and Sara Paretsky’s Critical Mass, a VI Warshawski Novel, so I purchased them. I have been reading both series since 1995, but a few years ago. I realized that I no longer enjoyed the books because I was finding them too predictable. When an author has been writing a series for such a long time, it is very difficult to keep things fresh, and I lift up my hat to them.
I had made a promise to myself that I would stop reading all the series that I had been reading since 1995, and there are four of them. I broke that commitment when I purchased Dust (A Scarpetta Novel)
and Critical Mass: A V.I. Warshawski Novel
. I read Dust in no time and I have yet to begin Critical Mass. I did not enjoy Dust and it has nothing to do with Patricia Cornwell’s writing because she writes very well. And I will go as far as to say that I am sure that people who love murder mysteries, and have not been reading the series for as long as I have, would love the book.
So why did I choose to buy the books? Because they are comfortable and I know the characters very well. They are like old friends who I know what to expect from. I have become complacent. Yes, I am reading some difficult to understand books as a part of my informal liberal arts education, but I think that when I am reading for pleasure, I also need to step it up a notch. Am I being too difficult on myself? Recently, I read, summarized and enjoyed Daphne du Maurier’s Jamaica Inn, which is a mystery and romance story, but while I was reading the book, which is set in Cornwall in the 1830s, I was also thinking about modern day technologies that would enhance the story.
Final Thoughts: When Was the Last Time You Took Your Reading Up a Notch?
What I have to do now is to let go of my old friends Kay Scarpetta and VI Warshawski, and embrace some new friends as I go on a new journey. when was the last time you took your reading up a notch?
