if you’re not first-time visitor here, likely you know already I’m reading a lot of books.
a lot?
after years of considering each and every book, and then hoarding them in stacks (because I couldn’t get enough shelf space) I realized one of my early dreams - to have a full wall of shelves to store my books (picture opening this posts shows it point-blank, with some packages taking some view, sorry for that).
how much is ‘a lot’? well, for me, it means 2-3 books a week, on average above 100 per year. of course, it’s average - for vacations, I typically tend to take more (and I typically end up buying some additional ones when I run out of things to read), and thanks to pandemic I’m reading more than that. but that’s not race for records - simply said, with time reading becomes your second nature. but you can start with anything, at your own pace.
I always believed in getting knowledge and experience from others, therefore I do keep most of my books. as you can see, that part just grows, seemingly without any boundaries - taking in effect all space around.
why it’s worth your time?
simply said, books open mind and provide a nice escape from daily life, but at the same time enable you to gain knowledge, organize it internally in your own way. they also expose you to different languages, cultures, or events. besides, enriching your language and mastering all subtleties is one of the things others will immediately spot with you.
for me, dealing with a book is a challenge (and an adventure) in itself. there are books you don’t want to put down again (even after you’re finished). for me, this was, for example, the series about The Witcher by Sapkowski, books by Lem (almost all without exception), or Terry Pratchetts.
on the other hand, there are some that only after few pages you’ll recognize as a complete waste of time. my philosophy says that you should put them away and not waste your life trying to read them to an end - there are so many other books… I’m mentioning them on the blog rarely, but sometimes in the worth reading category you will find something like that marked as “don’t go there”.
instead of summary
do read books and do respect them. Terry Pratchett once said that “if you have enough space for books, I don’t want to talk to you.”
make sure you have a place for your most important books.
and do read. do read always.