Making reading a habit

A couple weeks ago my son and I went backpacking in the Medicine Bow National Forest. I’m not much of a fisherman. I try, but end up spending more time untangling the line and agonizing over what type of bait to use than catching fish. My idea of relaxing is reading a good book while sitting on a large rock overlooking a clear lake. As a consequence, my son packed a fishing pole and I packed a book, which was no easy task. How do you choose just one book? Typically I like to bring three or four books with me on a trip because I never quite know what I will be in the mood to read. Also, more than one book ensures I will always have something to read in case one of the books I brought ends up being a dud. Books are heavy though and when it comes to backpacking it is all about keeping things light.

I had a few books on my reading list I considered taking: Stanford University professor Tina Seelig’s “Insight Out: Get Ideas Out of Your Head and Into the World,” “The Road Home: A Contemporary Exploration of the Buddhist Path” by Ehtan Nichtern and “The Whale: In Search of the Giants of the Sea” by Philip Hoare. I selected Hoare’s “The Whale.”

I picked up “The Whale” in April at a bookstore in Portland, Oregon on my way to the coast. Published in 2008, “The Whale” won the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-Fiction in 2009. This award is the UK’s premier prize for non-fiction books. The book tells the story of Hoare’s obsession with whales. It takes him on a personal, historical and biographical journey to explore whales and the human obsession with these beautiful creatures.

A book on whales made sense while in the Pacific Northwest. They were on my mind and I even had plans for a whale watching tour. Months later, as I looked at this book on my home bookshelf, I realized I hadn’t read it yet. Then again there are several books on my home bookshelf that have not been read. What did legendary musical artist Frank Zappa once say, “So many books, so little time.” This book, however, was one of my newer acquisitions and I had been trying to get to it for a while. I knew I would have time in the mountains and that is exactly what was needed to read “The Whale.”

I sometimes think the true enemy of reading is time not interest. My goal for January was to read one book every two weeks. That is proving to be a little too ambitious. A book a month is what I’m averaging right now.

One of the goals of the library’s summer reading program is to encourage both youth and adults to take time to read. Youth that sign up are encouraged to read at least 20 minutes a day.

That’s a good recommendation for adults as well. The library’s summer reading programs have been incredibly popular this year with more than 2,000 people signing up. The program concludes Aug. 15, but that doesn’t mean the commitment to read needs to conclude as well. We are hopeful that participants will have developed the habit of reading if they do not have it already.

Reading is one of life’s pleasures. Making it a habit takes at least two things: a set time to read and something to read. The library can provide both.

Whether you participated in this year’s summer reading programs or not, I encourage you to make reading a priority in your home. Twenty minutes is all it takes.

 

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