Back At It

After being hung up on it for a very long time (which for me amounts to a few months), I finally have dispatched the novel "Wicked" after a concerted effort of some hours the other day. I was relieved to have been done with it, but dispirited by the thought that I could have done so long ago and moved on to other books. In all that time, I read a page here and there on buses and trains, but mostly was not doing any reading outside of the computer setting.

This is something that happens with me. I begin with much enthusiasm upon the selection of a new book, and if I do not diligently keep up with regular reading sessions, that fervor diminishes and the book languishes in idleness. If it's a library book, I break out of it in time to blast through it at the last minute. If it's my own (or borrowed from someone with more lax rules than the Los Angeles Public Library), it could lay there indefinitely, eventually being returned to the bookcase with a forgotten bookmark in it.

I really did feel revitalized after putting down that last book. I felt an irrepressible urge to keep it going, and so I rushed to the bookcase to see what I had on hand that I would love to complete once and for all. I knew that there would be more possibilities if I could hang on until something might be acquired from the library, but then I am on a campaign to whittle down my pile of unread books here at home. I resolved to stick with that.

I settled on the dour antiwar novel "Johnny Got His Gun". I never read it, but did definitely start it three years ago, as the time-stamped security pass tucked into the point where I gave up attests. I always prioritize the completion of unfinished business where books are concerned, and so I am attempting to start a habit of reading before bed. I expect this to improve my recently poor reading productivity, and also to ease me into better sleep habits as well.