:: Even when I don’t love a book, I learn something. Reading for work is still reading. And reading is bliss.
Every month, I have at least three books that I am required to read for work. I write book reviews for a magazine, I write book reviews for this blog,* and I write blurbs for other authors’ books. It usually works out to one book per week of required reading. (I read these books in addition to the books that I read for research or just for fun.)
Note: Mine is not an unusual position to be in. Many authors and book reviewers are similarly situated.
Here’s what I realized, though: half the time I feel like I’m sitting under a big pile of books that need reading. Cue When Harry Met Sally Reference: I’m “(c) home, desperately want to [insert activity here], but trapped under something heavy.”
HOWEVER: Nothing in adulthood has come close to the college seminars when I had to read a book every week (and I always did the reading), forcing me to analyze texts for their strengths and weaknesses, discover new writers I wouldn’t have chosen on my own, reading more words and keeping the TV off, than my heavy pile of books.
(Or, in my case, the super-light bytes of eBooks, my preferred format. I’m not actually in any physical danger of being trapped.)
Even when I don’t love a book, I learn something. Reading for work is still reading. And reading is bliss.
*If you are interested in having your book reviewed, you can view my book review guidelines.
