I have heard that it takes three weeks to form a new habit (or maybe break a bad one?). I have also read that is a myth and it might take much longer to truly form a new habit. Two months? 66 days? I wonder if I can translate that into better bookish behavior? The behavior in question is my current neglect of all books nonfiction. Here's a new twist on an old theme--reading notes. Not, however, what I am reading, but what I am not reading.
I've only just noticed that of the books on my sidebar I have not a single nonfiction read on it. Curiously--as often as I give in to reading whims when it comes to novels, I am actually pretty conservative when it comes to nonfiction. With nonfiction I want to soak in as much information as I can, which means I am a slow nonfiction reader and I will only have one or perhaps two nonfiction reads on the go at once.
I've been shuffling several books around this year, and one is even a holdover from last year:
Letters from a Lost Generation: First World War Letters of Vera Brittain and Four Friends was a selection for Caroline's Literature and War Readalong from last year! I had this idea I would make a nice little project out of it--reading the letters and maybe a biography of Vera Brittain. I have several novels by her, too. Her book Testament to Youth was even made into a movie last year, which I still hope to see. I'm halfway through the book, however, and still plan on finishing it.
I was so enjoying Under Magnolia: A Southern Memoir by Frances Mayes. So why did I set it aside?
And there is my serial read, At the Source by Gillian Clarke, which I love when I pick it up and dip into it. I got as far as April! May, June, July, where are you?
And then the most recent--Gretel Ehrlich's The Solace of Open Spaces, which is a combination of memoir, nature writing, a rumination on great spaces and solitude. Sounds lovely to me. And it is a mere 131 pages--a day's reading (or for someone slow like me just a few days . . .).
So I need to form a new habit. How to pick up a book and stick with it until I finish it? Surely I can manage it with such a small stack of books. Choose one, and read it daily until I finish?
My reading has been really wonky the last year or so. Fewer books read. Fewer classics and now far fewer nonfiction reads (and I never read very many anyway). One of these is going to be slipped into my bookbag tomorrow. One is going to work with me and I am going to try and find my way back into some good nonfiction.
Do you like nonfiction? Do you read a lot or a little? Have you read anything particularly good this year? Am I just choosing the wrong books (I don't think so as I have enjoyed each one of these)? Maybe I am being lazy? Reading should never be a chore, and it never is with me, but I do want to be less flighty when it comes to my reading habits. Check back in a week and I'll let you know how it goes. Maybe my new habit will to be to write one post a week on nonfiction reading. I think I need a little more structure in this particular area.
I hereby declare that Wednesdays (well, probably Wednesdays but one day a week in any case) will now be 'Nonfiction Day' at A Work in Progress. Post #1 on July 8. It's official. I'll tell you all about my nice, new nonfiction reading habit next week, July 15!