Alessandra is reading…

I started thinking about quality over quantity for books yesterday.

I want to read all of the books on my tbr and those that extend passed it. The only way to do that (in my mind) is to read as much as I can, as fast as I can. But here’s the issue with that…books aren’t going to stop being written and published (nor do I want them to). So where do I draw the line? How do I pick quality over quantity? It’s all about balance in life, but how do I know when the number of books I read is equivalent to the rest of my life? (Does that even make sense?)

I only truly try to surpass my number of books at the end of the year, when I’m racing through books. But this month I’ve also been trying to beat my previous January readings.

I struggle with the quantity of books read in another sense. I have so many goals for the books that I’m reading that I need a lot of this information going through my head. I need to learn about a lot of these different things that I’ve signed myself up for (farm animals, etc.) and books are cheaper than college classes. I need to find the best to homeschool my future babies with – while I know that it’s also good to learn as we go, I want to have some background to provide my kids with when it comes to literature. I want to read the books (at least some, it’s impossible to read all of them) that I’ve purchased and rescued to resell, so if I come across a reader who’s looking for something specific I can lead him/her towards the proper book(s). And I want to keep reading for my own enjoyment.

I think I just need to avoid this existential crisis about the quantity of books that I’m reading and just keep going. If I keep doing what I’m doing, I should reach at least a couple of my goals. I think. I don’t definitely know, but I’m going to fucking try.

Which brings me to another question – why do I read so much more in the winter? I’m curious if that’s because of the weather or earlier sunsets. That’s generally what I think of. But I also think winter isn’t only a time for nature to rest and reset – I think that’s when I do, too. Other than the holidays, I never have terribly huge things happen over the winter. Moving, puppies, marriage…it’s all happened outside of the winter.

I’ll probably nix the number thing anyway when I finish HP and start War and Peace. Tolstoy will surely humble my reading expertise. There’s something about the classic tomes that knocks me down a peg or two. Great Expectations took me about a month, so I’m guessing War and Peace will go the same way.

• reading lately
• hunt gather parent by michaeleen doucleff
• in the quick
• be strong in your values
• mama reading

(Thank you for coming to my reading therapy session.)