Of Books and Happiness

I have loved books and reading all my life, but in recent years my reading habits have declined. I read voraciously as a child, avidly as a young adult, and sporadically in recent decades. I have lots of books I've loved.

 

Above are my favorite books. Below are the children's books I've collected.

 But for all of my love of books, how much do I actually read? Not much. I read for a few minutes before bed each night, perhaps a page or two. It's shameful! I claim to be a reader, a book-lover. I feel like someone who claims to love traveling but no longer owns a passport.

What happened? I'll tell you what happened. #1) I had children and began working. #2) The internet invaded my personal time. 

Reading takes mental energy; it is no passive activity. One must engage the story and retain information from the previous 220 pages in order to comprehend the remaining 156 pages.
Right now, that's where I am in Tolkien's The Silmarillion.

It's a thick read, compared to many. I spend much time thumbing through the Index of Names in the back, reminding myself where Dorthonion is, or who Finrod Felagund is. Tolkien's world is worth knowing, worth turning my brain on. But if I read it two pages at a time each evening, I'll finish sometime after 2020!
Under our Christmas tree are about a dozen books for me. (That's embarrassing.) I do love books, I love finding them, and buying them, and fingering them. I told myself, "These are my reading list for the next year." But truthfully, I did not finish my books from last year. Some still sit in their pile, under dust. 
I must get after it, discipline myself, and become a reader again. I must keep my brain engaged, stop scrolling Facebook, and make myself sit for more than five minutes at a time, and put pages between my fingers. Mustn't I?
Have I lost my love of books? Is it wishful thinking to want to be a reader again? Have I lost my ability to concentrate on a plot? Can my diminished brain only be entertained by a screen? Oh, I hope not.

I finished "Punkin and the Littlest Mouse." Here is the cover.

We will be making copies soon at Staples from this original. The cover will be card stock, and the pages will be regular paper. The illustrations will be in color. If you already told me you want a copy, I have your name on a list! If you haven't told me, do so. 

I want to return to books. Somehow, I must extricate my brain from my laptop and immerse myself again in a slower, more creative world, a happier world with less bickering, politics, medical advice, and national tragedy. Don't worry -- I'll still visit your blogs :)  But if I'm not here as often as before, you'll know ... I'm just reading. And being happy.