Spend a whole day reading a great novel.

OK, I have two days off in Dec and am going to try and do this on one of those days. It will depend on other priorities coming up – might even be moving house – but if I keep promising myself I’ll do this then eventually it will happen!
It turns out I’ve read 50 books so far this year – I’d like to either try and beat that next year, or make more of them more challenging reads (I’ve read a lot of genre fiction this year). Get the balance right between absorbing, surprising reads out of my comfort zone, and comforting, relaxing reads.

Bank Holiday Monday
Now just to pick the book

As an English major, I have spent many a day off reading the whole day away. Yet I haven’t spent the whole day reading something I WANT to read in an amazingly long time. I used to do it all the time, especially during the summer. There are a lot of days when my fiance has work and I have off – perfect time to achieve this goal!

Dozens of times,

The Truth About Forever,
Harry Potter, of course,
Dear John,
My Sister’s Keeper,
+++

next week so might get a chance to do this. If it rains all week then I might get to do this 7 days in a row…

I didn’t realize this was something that needed to be a goal. I do it all the time. I mean, this is what Sundays were made for!

Almost every Harry Potter novel I’ve spent the whole day devouring. Sans the last one, as it was released around the time when I met Adam, so I was a bit busy doing other things!

So my original day was supposed to be tomorrow, a day my wife had said she’d be out of the house and would give me a lot of space. Which was good, because she kind of thinks spending an entire day reading is kind of silly (plus she’s getting stir crazy after only one week’s vacation). HOWEVER. My friends called a couple of days ago and said that they couldn’t move on the 28th (i.e., today) but needed our help on the 29th. So I simply planned on changing the day: read today, help move tomorrow.

So I was trying to do my reading, but my wife kept sticking around the house. She didn’t want to go out. Not that I mind her being around, you understand, but it made me feel uncomfortable. Because I wasn’t just “being silly” any more; I was being silly and she was around to see it. Which made me self-conscious and on edge, and because she was stir-crazy but didn’t want to leave either, she was on edge as well. So we were uncomfortable and irritable all day. Plus my book is hard to read without giving it my undivided attention, which I couldn’t do thanks to the self-consciousness.

So long story short: I probably read for a good 5.5 hours of my day today, but it was awkward and sometimes painful and I now kind of have a headache. And on top of all that, I don’t really think that my day qualified for “spend a whole day reading a great novel”, because 5.5 hours does not equal “a whole day”. So I’m keeping this one on and I hope I can grab a free day before I go back to work, one where my wife isn’t around and we can both not feel bad about my “waste” of a day. Yeah, not a great day.

I have to change my reading day. It’s still going to be in December; I’m getting this done before 2009 rolls around. But my very good friend is leaving on vacation, and the 22nd is the only day we can get together. But I’m drawing the line: December 29th is the new day for reading. And my wife says we have no plans that day, so I’m sticking to this one!

In order to successfully tackle this goal, I need to find a day that meets the following criteria:
1) I don’t work that day
2) My wife is out of town or similarly occupied
3) No pressing family concerns or rehearsals

After consulting my calendar, I have discovered that no such day exists until after New Year’s. But, considering I have two weeks off during Christmas vacation, and I figure that my wife will need to do some Christmas shopping and/or family business during that time, I have picked December 22 as my reading day. It’s on the calendar and everything!