January Reading Report

At the beginning of the year, I wrote about how well my wife read in 2017 and how poorly did I. She has a habit I called “mindful reading,” which is nothing less than reading a single book at a time without being distracted by other books. Maybe it should be called “non-ADHD reading.” No matter the term, she reads a book, finishes it, and then moves on.

Why not try it myself?

No reason at all. So in January, I set about reading mindfully. I selected a book and read nothing else until I finished it. My only bonus: I simultaneously read a physical book while listening to others during my day job commute. But the main thing was whatever book I was reading/listening to, I finished it.

And I ended up completing eight books in that single month!

Yeah, some of them were shorter pulp novels from the 1930s but they were books. And I consumed eight of them. I was really thrilled and I realized how simple a thing it is to choose a book and just focus on it. None of them were bad—because I will not finish bad books. Life’s too short to read bad books.

Here is what I read and the format:

• 2 Jan 2018: Starfire: A Red Peace by Spencer Ellsworth (audio)
• 11 Jan 2018: Mastermind: How to Think Like Sherlock Holmes by Maria Konnikova (audio)
• 14 Jan 2017: The Shadow: Partners in Peril (audio)
• 21 Jan 2018: One Small Step Can Change Your Life by Robert Maurer (review on Wednesday)
• 23 Jan 2018: Talking About Detective Fiction by P. D. James (audio)
• 26 Jan 2018: The Shadow: The Shadow Unmasks  (audio)
• 29 Jan 2018: Longarm and the Border Wildcat #229
• 31 Jan 2018: Doc Savage: The Polar Treasure (audio)

So much for January. I don’t expect every month to be this productive but it was nice to start the year off on the right step.