read more critically

All Consuming has worked wonders with this. There is still some more progress I could make on this. For example I could think more about the writing techniques used or more actively seek out other points of view on the books I read. However, I am satisfied with my progress. I no longer simply put the book back on the shelf, but take the time to think about it a bit longer and write an entry with some of my thoughts.

Anyone who knows me knows I read a lot of books. Yet unless it’s part of my Literary Studies classes (which have now ended indefinitely) or someone asks me, I rarely take the time assess what I’ve read too deeply or take the time to record it.

I have a terrible memory. Someone can ask me what I thought of a book I read earlier in the year and I’ll be unable to tell them.

I hope this goal will help me with these things.

That was an entry from my goal on giving All Consuming a try. It still remains true to some degree. While I think it is certainly important to relax and enjoy a book, I often find I enjoy it more if I am actively engaging with it, seeking different ways of seeing it.

Plus, as a writer, I should be engaged in seeing how others do things… what techniques I could try out for myself, noting what the writer has done appallingly, finding out what has already been written about and how.

I’ve started carrying slips of paper in the back of my books where I can jot down thoughts as I read. I plan to continue utilising All Consuming and Bookcrossing, and I hope to become a more active member of a literature forum I’m part of.

I don’t know if I’m doing that but I’ve joined a book club. Discussing books makes me think more about it.