CHANGES TO READING BOOKS: A REPORT FROM A FUGITIVE.

Reading at least a book a week? Managed that last year.
   This year, I found myself managing things differently. I decided not to keep count. That week, when I read three...or four...books? The score I kept was vague.
   And I kept no monthly or year-thus-far score at all.

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As I still have a backlog, book purchasing remains low. I know I have loads of books to read: entire bookcases of weighty tomes. But keeping annual count no longer features in my plans.
   I am reading. And I am not purchasing many books. So the pile of books to-be-read must fall. Unless the paperback fuckers are breeding in the stacks.
   This is a suspicion of mine.

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Reading books to order feels like grinding along in a car with no wheels, sparks flying out of every orifice - maybe I mean the car's every orifice, but I can't be certain of that.
   But reading spontaneously and noticing that I just polished off three (or four) volumes...yes, that's preferable to the sparky alternative.
   And so. I always read what I care to. That hasn't changed. But I will read when I want and how ever much I can cope with, without keeping count.
   Blogger warned me of changes to the system. Open Identification comments are no longer supported. This means a few comments on the blog were rendered anonymous.
   It's easy enough to work out who wrote what, even though ANON is now the nameplate on the door.
   The comments are still there, despite changes.
   And I feel the same about these books. I am reading them, even if I am not keeping score on a scrap of paper skidding around the desktop.
   I used the scratch method of counting to four, IIII, and then striking through diagonally, with a warning in weeks at the top to let me know if I'd lost the plot.
   Wait a bit. Only one month left and I must read eighteen books to claim I read 52 in a year? Better get on...with reading really slim volumes.
   No more of that. Annual reading challenges shouldn't be slogs into deserts. Park your arse at the oasis and sip a book or two instead.

Some reader comments have been rendered anonymous. If you are affected by this change, remember the affectionate name for the blogging site is Bugger. And it's not affectionate.