I love books. I love the smell of them, the feel of them, the excitement as I turn the pages to that first word. I love to see them all on my shelves and I would give up tv and music before I gave up my books.
And I have suddenly got so many new reads, I don’t know where to start. Here, in fact, is a partial selection of my to-read pile, which I want to make my way through so I can get to the next dozen or so!…
Do I choose a fantasy, a romance, a classic, a murder mystery, a police procedural, a spy thriller, a literary fiction, a non-fiction, a poetry anthology? Do I try something a bit new for me, or something more familiar?
This is not a problem, I know 🙂
Most importantly, I want to find a new voice to add to the written chorus of my life. I want to keep seeking out writers, in every form, who I haven’t discovered before and who bring a new dimension to my reading.
A while ago, I thought about going back to my studies and taking a qualification in English Literature (language, not origin!); it would give a depth to my experience of reading. It’s what I imagined I would do, when I was a little girl, and before the discovery of social sciences changed my worldview.
But every time I think about it I wonder what I would lose at the same time. I wouldn’t have time to explore everything I wanted to because I would be so focussed on a few books/plays/poems. Almost certainly, I would spend time with a writer who doesn’t bring their world to life for me (there are a few, although happily it is only a few). I might lose my joy in a particular favourite.
I don’t need another qualification and I don’t want my love of reading to be diminished (it happened once before, which I lay squarely at the feet of King Lear!), so I never go beyond the thought. But it is always there – because reading is a huge part of who I am and what influences my own writing.
Maybe one day. For now, I will choose a book from the horn of plenty that is my bookshelf, and revel in the fact that I can read whatever I like. Not everyone can say that, and I know how incredibly fortunate that makes me.
Happy reading,
EJ
🙂
Becoming a writer 
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