Blogging vs. Booking

I haven't read a full book since I started this blog. That's over 6 months, folks. You may have noticed the Book List link on the sidebar. It's an embarrassment. I promise, before I blogged, I read a ton. But now instead of sucking up everyone else's good writing and ideas, I've switched to "blow" mode and am upchucking everything inside my brain onto this blog. It's disgusting. Today my brain hit empty and I realized I need to refill my head. I went to the library and got three books off the New Release shelf. I've started each of them already but can tell that I won't be finishing two of them.

In my past life (pre-blog), I would read anything. I had developed an appreciation for the writing process and would take the time to acclimate to a writer's style and quirks. I used to regularly stay up all night reading books putting such essential things as potty breaks and tooth brushing on hold. But after 6 months of blogging reading has become excruciatingly difficult. In the blog world, everything is short and snappy. If after 3 seconds a blog doesn't scream "I'M GREAT" then it is passed over never to be viewed again - after all, there are millions of other blogs available for perusal at a moment's notice. I've let this mentality seep over into books and haven't gotten past a Chapter One since November. And today it hit me - I'm a disgrace.

I'm going to fix this. Books, once loved, can be loved again. My attention span, shriveled and short as it has become, will be stretched on the rack and made to scream for mercy. The book that I have high hopes for is a biography of Abraham Lincoln's life and is the standard length of 250ish pages. I tried really hard today to get through the introduction but found myself nodding off after 2 or 3 minutes. But I have to read it. I have to prove to myself that I haven't irreparably damaged my brain by blogging. My worst fear, of course, is that I'll never again be able to read a whole James Mitchner novel or read the Chronicles of Narnia start to finish in a week. My brain will be permanently on strobe light mode frantically lighting on any random tidbits it can grasp then losing them forever.

My goal is to add one book a month to my Book List. Hopefully, this will start undoing the damage I've caused by blogging. You'll excuse me if I cut this post short. Spike is stuck at work all night and Abe and I have a hot date on the living room couch. Caio!