It's all about being brave!
I have a feeling if you're reading this - you like to read. Reading is an escape. Reading can make us smarter. Reading can open our eyes to the world. Reading can make you horny, or teach you to cook.
Reading is awesome!
A reader lives a thousand lives before he dies... The man who never reads lives only one. ~ George R.R. Martin
Okay. Take a minute and think about the books, magazines, blogs, whatever's, you've read... I bet you can think of at least three which made you change the way you think. (And for sure at least one!) So as a reader you know that reading is something you'd add on your "love about my life" list. Excellent. Now we're heading somewhere.
First, figure out your favorites.
Okay. For some of you this is the "duh" section. Goody for you! But for some people this is a bit hard. Why? Because their Dad LOVED autobiographies. But you hate them. Detest them. Detest so hard you'd rather lick a pile of unidentified goop on the ground than read an autobiography. But Dad insists. Or your boyfriend insists. Or your english teacher insists. Or your favorite rock star insists.
Heavy sigh... the one wonderful thing about having freedom? We get to use our voice. Use your voice (even if you do it privately so as not to cause a family argument). If you love Science Fiction because you can envision yourself populating Mars, and have even considered throwing your name into the hat to go there forever, than you've got to own that. Science fiction readers of the world - unite!
Books are meat and medicine and flame and flight and flower steel, stitch, cloud and clout, and drumbeats on the air. ~ Gwendolyn Brooks
People are very, VERY happy to tell you what you "should" read. It's irritating and makes an almost physical reaction set in for me (think... slap really hard). I do not like to read about how to make money. And yet my friend insists if I read some of his collection of books on how to get rich, I'll get rich. Um. No. Just...no.
This didn't stop me from having three books on finance on my shelves for a couple years. Hell. He was making money and seemed happy - why wouldn't it work for me? Well... because I detest reading about finance, money, and how to make more of it. I decided to abandon all hope of reading those books when I went through my vegetarian stage and used the books to squeeze water out of tofu. That was the most useful those books ever were for me.
Embrace your choices! Trust me when I say - if you can own your choice? You'll be tremendously happier.
Second, start putting your favorites in your house.
For those of us who have books (okay, we have rooms full of books) this is another strange suggestion. I like books. Okay. I love books. I have a stack by my bed in the "waiting to read" pile. I have another stack "read 'em, will read again," right next to it. And then I have shelves of books I loved, a pile to go to friends of the ones I don't mind not rereading, and then some that I think are so bad they can only go to a thrift store.
So the writer who breeds more words than he needs, is making a chore for the reader who reads. ~ Dr. Seuss
I visited a friend and sat down while she made us some coffee (I'll drink that black stuff too!!). Her perfectly decorated coffee table had some perfectly lovely coffee-table books. I picked one up to look through and felt horrible when a big "crack" sounded as I opened the book randomly towards the middle. Hm. Turns out she'd never really looked at the books. She'd gotten them at a bookstores "going out of sale" sale, having decided they'd look perfect on her table.
They did. They looked good. But she'd never looked through them.
If this is you? Ask yourself if those books make you happy. If you think of picking them up to knock some sense into your hubby? Okay. Keep them. However, if you curse every time you dust and hate the heft? Get rid of them. While I'm all for reading good decorating advice in efforts to make my place look lovely... don't make yourself nuts. (Go to Pinterest and just start a tab for "things to make my place look lovely" and call it a day!)
But if a book is not bringing you happiness? Get rid of it.
Third, ignore scoffers.
You house is your own. Your bookcases are your own.
If you want to have shelves of knitting books and just looking at the titles brings you joy? Do it! Don't let the haters, the scoffers, the critics make you put them away, or hide them in a cupboard. This is your home, not theirs! For example you may enjoy the purchase of "Extreme Ironing" by Phil Shaw; or, "How to Avoid Huge Ships" by Captain John W. Trimmer; or, "The Particular Sadness of Lemon Cake" by Aimee Bender. Yes. I chose these books simply for their interesting titles. (Heck, you could start a collection of books with odd titles. I guarantee this will be a conversation starter even if the book is never opened.)
Once you learn to READ, you will be forever free. ~ Frederick Douglass
Four, celebrate your reading.
You may now feel free to move about the bookstore, credit card in hand, with freedom!
Reading is not something anyone should force on another. Reading is not something anyone should choose for you. And finally, reading is not something you have to do in a certain manner.
You like blogs? Read those. You like magazines? Read those. Newspapers? Wonderful! Books? Great! Old menus with (uh... attrosous, er... atrosos, um... atrocious?) ...with bad spelling? Wonderful!
Reading is a celebration of 26-letters, put together in new and creative ways, that bring light into your life. Live your reading, you, cat-fur-knitting, hummus-only-cookbook, diaper-changing-guidelines, curse-words-for-nerds freaks!!
You have permission to be yourself and fill your shelves. Enjoy!
PS - for some amazing quotes on books and reading go here:
https://www.cmlibrary.org/sites/default/files/documents/Quotes.pdf