Reading, in this century

In my rough analysis of where 2008 went, I realized that I hadn’t read a single new book last year. The few books I read where books I’d already read. The new books I’d started reading ended up disappearing into the black hole of TV, work, and other “matters of consequence.” And I still have the nerve to list reading as one of my “hobbies and interests” on Facebook et al!

The truth is, I love to read. I love how a book can pull you into another beautiful, tragic, joyful world and keep you there for ages and ages. In fact, one of the saddest things I know is having to finish a book. It’s so sad, my separation anxiety acts up. I breeze through the final chapter instead of relishing it, so much so that when I’m done with the final page, I actually breathe a sigh of relief that it’s over and done with. It’s like me saying, “I loved you, yes, but I knew it wasn’t going to last forever, so goodbye and thanks for the memories and see you around in my bookshelf!”

When 2009 rolled in, I promised myself I’d get my literary life in order. As a show of faith, I propped up my paperback Love in the Time of Cholera—the Vintage Books edition that came out with the movie, and the one with the most compelling blurb: “In their youth, Florentino Ariza and Fermina Daza fall passionately in love. When Fermina eventually chooses to marry a wealthy, well-born doctor, Florentino is devastated, but he is a romantic. As he rises in his business career he whiles away the years in 622 affairs—yet he reserves his heart for Fermina. Her husband dies at last, and Florentino purposefully attends the funeral. Fifty-one years, nine months, and four days after he declared his love for Fermina, he will do so again.”

You just know ending it is going to be heart-breaking. This is why I haven’t read it at all, despite buying it two years ago. But this year, I will. In February, to be exact, because this month, I’m reading the delicious Eat, Pray, Love by Elizabeth Gilbert.

I’ve decided to commit to one book a month. I could read more, and I do hope to read more, but one book a month for 2009 is twelve books more than I read in 2008. 

Recently, though, life gave me another mode of playing catch up with my reading. I was visiting my cousin Joey over the long holiday, and she told me about A New Earth by Eckhart Tolle. I’d heard a lot about it already, of course, thanks to Oprah, but I’d never really gotten around to reading it.

“You can listen to the online classes,” my cousin said. “Oprah had a whole series of them.” Then she gave me an extra 1GB mp3 player she had lying around. I’d been considering getting an iPod for weeks—the only thing holding me back is that there’s no recording feature; I’d have to buy an accessory for that—so I figured that a no-frills mp3 player was a good trial run. 

As it turns out, an mp3 player is a pretty good gadget, even for someone like me who doesn’t really listen to music a lot. I haven’t made the time to download any of the A New Earth classes, but I’ve been on a podcast-downloading frenzy. I’ve been listening to talks by people like Jim Rohn and Bob Proctor. I’ve found some great websites that offer free audiobooks of well-loved classics that are on public domain (like Louisa May Alcott’s Little Women and D.H. Lawrence’s Women in Love). Best of all, I’ve found recordings of whole courses from excellent universities all over the world. I’m so excited, it’s like I’ve just discovered my sense of hearing.

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