A Trip to the Library

This morning, towards the end of my run, I stopped at the library. My intention was to get only one book. I walked out with four. I forgot how much fun it is to just roam around a library with no particular book in mind. I made a list for the Reading Challenge, but like everything else in my life, I'm not really sticking to it. My moods change and with that, my preference of reading material. I've been doing a lot of reflection on this whole reading thing. Part of me wants to use the opportunity to step out of my comfort zone and explore genres I might otherwise pass by. The other part wants to stick with what I know I like; I don't want this to turn into some kind of torture. I want to enjoy what I read. I was reading another participant's reading list and I loved the way he broke it down. He chose a title to read from a variety of categories, ex: a classic novel, a historical novel, an Oprah's book club choice, etc. It was a great way to make a list in my opinion. With that being said, I have decided to set a few guidelines for myself:

1) I will not require myself to finish a book I really don't like.

2) I will commit to reading at least 100 pages before making the decision to stop reading.

3) I am allowed it read only 50 pages if I really, really don't like it.

4) I will choose my books and form my list one book at a time. After I finish a book, I will pick a category and then a book that fits into it.

5) I will knit at lunch and read at night, except Wednesday nights because Lost is on.

6) I will not always read in the same place in my house. I will pick a new place every so often to kind of mix things up.

In the end I don't know why I am putting so much thought into this whole thing. It's not like I can never read again once this challenge is up. This whole thing reminds me of all the summers I spent reading as a kid and then logging my finished books at the library. Every time you reached a certain amount, you got to choose a reward. Two prizes I remember getting were a ticket to the A's baseball game and a copy of "Charlie and the Chocolate Factory" (which I still have and read every so often).