There's a hole in my reading schedule. I have three slots. One is a physical copy. The other two are for my Kindle. But here I am, missing one of those three slots. I have to read three books at one time, not two. Not one. Certainly not zero. I've been at zero before. It was a depressing time filled with sadness.
Imagine having a hole inside your chest. That's one book missing. But three? Oh no. That's three holes. How do you even get any organs in there? Everything would just fall out. All the food you'd eat wouldn't go anywhere advantageous to your health. It's all around a bad state of things. So I should have three books to read in the same way that I want my body to be missing those holes.
So about that hole, that single one. My situation is simple. I am reading two books, but I need to fill that third slot. I need to replace the void with a new story. This can be any one of the three slots. It can be a physical copy or one of the two Kindle slots, but either way, I need to find it and begin reading it.
But here lies the problem: I have no idea what the book should be... unless I do. I might have it planned out, but then I might not. It's really dependent on my present circumstances. In this case, I don't really know what to put there, but there are a few things that I can do to decide.
First of all: Has someone recommended a book to me recently? Ah, perfect. Something to cross off the list. That sort of backseat driving just won't do. No, sir. I don't have time to read a recommended book. I mean... I could. Is it something that really appeals to me? It probably isn't. Most of the time, it's just a book they read and they just want someone else to share it with. Understandable, but not for me.
Second: Do I already know a lot about the book? I hope not! If I already know the whole story, that could ruin the whole thing! This doesn't always apply. I might just want to read it for the novelty. Classics are often worth reading simply because they are classics! But no. I don't want a classic right now. Bother.
Third: Ah, here is an interesting synopsis. A boy goes on a journey and meets a strange man named Oliver. And Oliver tells the aforementioned boy that he can head east and find a cave that can be opened by answering a riddle given to him by a magical cat named Chorus. And inside the cave he finds a really amazing thing that is also mentioned in this overly descriptive summary of a book I no longer want to read. Oh, for heaven's sakes! I know too much. I don't want to read this book anymore. I need more ignorance going into my book. Perhaps, I should just avoid synopses longer than one sentence completely.
Forth: Ah, here we go. A story about a boy who gets three wishes but none of them work out very well and so learns that the important things in life are found without wishing for them, and so we all learn that even single sentence synopsis can ruin the whole thing. I don't even know what I was thinking.
Fifth: Book Titles. There we go. Let's judge a book by its title. What have we here? "The Phantom Kaleidoscope." Yes, this is fascinating. I carefully avoid reading the synopsis, but I do look at the cover. It's a lot of strange hypnotic imagery which has a sort of synergy to the title. Ah, yes. I am fascinated. I don't know a bloody thing about the book, but it might be worth looking into.
Of course, this book doesn't really exist, but it does sort of paint a bizarre picture of what I go through when I am seeking a new book. It's a problematic process that positively pains me to no end. It is aggravating in the extreme. Although I could be overstating it slightly. After all, it is something I have personally dealt with hundreds of times. If it was really so bad, I would have likely given up ages ago.
But here I am. I have a new book. I can begin reading it once that slot comes up on the docket. I'll stare at the title. Smile. Enjoy the cover for a bit. Smile some more. Maybe twist is sideways for no particular reason. Still smiling. Whelp, not sure what else to do with it. Might as well begin reading it.
This blog was written on July 24, 2022.
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Pretty much that in a nutshell. It is an annoying process that I have to go through fairly often. It's okay to have classics spoiled though. That never bothered me, although I still try to keep as much information about it away from my brain as possible going into it. I think we get better insights out of books when we go into them blind.
ReplyDeleteI do like your method of filling of a hole...heheh. It ensures that there won't be a bias, but also makes room for the unexpected. Good or bad, surprise is a spice of life.
ReplyDeleteYes! I want to be surprised!
DeleteWith all the books I have read, it becomes harder to find something that really interests me. After all, it will take time and effort to finish it. So, I need something that can keep me reading until the end.
ReplyDeleteI have stopped in the middle of books before. Sometimes I came back to finish them later, and other times, I didn't care to.
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