Yesterday, I had to brush snow off my windshield before pulling out of the driveway early in the morning. This thrills me to no end, because now I know it’s reading weather. Sunset today will be at 4:31pm, so now we have that winter instinct to get cozy and be sedentary. Of course, we probably turn to the television for passive entertainment, but except for the occasional viewing of the spectacle that is known as professional sport, this is the perfect time of year to kill your television. Try reading a book instead.
I know – you don’t have time to read. Me either. But let me share one of my favorite stories, as told by historian David McCullough:
“Once upon a time in the dead of winter in the Dakota Territory, Theodore Roosevelt took off in a makeshift boat down the Little Missouri River in pursuit of a couple of thieves who had stolen his prized rowboat. After several days on the river, he caught up and got the draw on them with his trusty Winchester, at which point they surrendered. Then Roosevelt set off in a borrowed wagon to haul the thieves cross-country to justice. They headed across the snow-covered wastes of the Badlands to the railhead at Dickinson, and Roosevelt walked the whole way, the entire 40 miles. It was an astonishing feat, what might be called a defining moment in Roosevelt’s eventful life. But what makes it especially memorable is that during that time, he managed to read all of Anna Karenina. I often think of that when I hear people say they haven’t time to read.” (From “No time to read?” Family Circle, March 18, 2000: 156.)
I love this story. I think of it whenever I sit down in front of an entertainment device, be it a television, computer, or whatever. We do have time to read. We just choose to spend that time doing other things. McCullough continues: ““If the average American spent the same amount of time reading that he now spends watching TV, in a week he could read: all the poems of T. S. Eliot and Maya Angelou, two plays by Thornton Wilder, The Great Gatsby—and more.” Of course, he said that in 2000, before smartphones were everywhere and we could carry Facebook around in our pockets.
Imagine how much we could read if we shut all of that off, too.
Maybe you can find some time to read, but you don’t know what to read. Amazon can be a fun source of recommendations. So too LibraryThing. If you read mystery/crime/thriller/spy/suspense novels, then you should bookmark Stop, You’re Killing Me, where you can peruse chronological lists of books by author or character, or browse books by genre.
Another site is the Readers Advisory Link Farm. It contains links to lists of bestsellers, to websites devoted to particular genres, and to sites that regularly feature book reviews and recommendations.
You can always visit the New York Review of Books for ideas.
Of course, the goal here is not to curl up with a good website, but with a good book. So don’t get too caught up in tracking down the Perfect Book to Read. Sometimes, the Good Enough Book is all you need. Or even just some Brain Candy.
I’d love it if you’d tell me what book you’re reading, in the comments below.
Posted by McKillopCataloger 
