I read what I want…

The Sunday Salon, What I'm Reading

…except when I don’t…

…read at all because I think too much about reading what others want me to read.

This is what has happened the past couple of weeks as I thought I should read two books that I don’t really want to read:

  • Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
  • Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.

Both might be, and probably are, fine books, but really it’s not what I want to read.

I think tomorrow, Sunday, which for me has become a day I read or at least make the attempt to read, I will read All Things Wise and Wonderful by James Herriot. I already have read All Creatures Great and Small, and All Things Bright and Beautiful, and this is the third book in the series, according to the U.S. publication order of what originally was eight books in total in the U.K. The final two were published under the same titles on both sides of the Atlantic: The Lord God Made Them All and Every Living Thing. I think I will take a break from the series after this next one and finish those two later in the year, maybe during a couple of readathons.

Beyond that, I’m not completely sure, but I did clear most of my hold list at the library, except for Let’s Go (So We Can Get Back): A Memoir of Recording and Discording with Wilco, Etc. by Jeff Tweedy, the lead singer of the band Wilco. This probably won’t shock you, for those of you have been “following” me for a while, but I’ll probably be reading a mystery of some kind after All Things Wise and Wonderful.

Over the last two weeks I have mentioned on the blog here about changes coming to the library where I work. Now that those changes have been made publicly, I can mention it here: starting in April, the library is adding Sunday hours, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.,, and changing its Saturday hours to the same times to be consistent.

For those of you in larger areas of population, that might not seem like a big thing. However, for those of us in small areas like where I live and work, it is…or can be at least in theory, especially in light of blue laws which used to be in effect across our state (Pennsylvania). Those laws are gone, but in our small town, a lot of businesses still operate under their shadow.

As staff, we are making the best of the situation while trying to get our heads around all of the implications for us personally and for the community. Intertwined for me with all this is that I’m turning 50 in June, which happens to fall on a Sunday, and I’m beginning to think/rethink what I’m doing with my life. And that isn’t all a bad thing.

Along those same lines, “think/rethink what I’m doing with my life,” my wife and I this past week decided to delete our Facebook accounts. She already has deleted her Twitter and Instagram accounts, and I will be soon. We will be deleting our Facebook accounts at the end of Lent (April 18), to give us time not only to say goodbye to our friends, but also to download any photos we might not have other places and disconnect any logins we have with other accounts (example: signing in with Facebook for Goodreads). Our reasons why?

…and the subject of another blog post (or two, with one being from my wife, which she already is working on and the other one that I have yet to formulate). Stay tuned!

So do you always read what you want? Either way, what are you reading lately? Anything good?

In case you missed it, on Wednesday, I posted my look back at last month and my look ahead to this coming month.

Published by Bryan G. Robinson

Blogger formerly known as Unfinished Person. Still an unfinished person...

Published

23 thoughts on “I read what I want…”

  1. I honestly have not been reading a lot lately, but I am slowly getting back to it … and reading blogs again! Life has been hard lately, and books just seem to have taken a backseat for probably the first time in my life. I picked up a little Sookie Stackhouse this weekend because I needed something light and it was just what I wanted and needed to read right now!

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  2. Reading plans are made to be broken. This from the woman whose blog name is Whimpulisive 😉

    Seriously – if you don’t read what you’re in the mood for then you’re putting pressure on yourself to read something you don’t want to read and you’re putting pressure on the book to be something it’s not.

    I really want to reread the Herriot series. I read most of them ages and ages ago. I’m thinking of trying the audio editions.

    I use Facebook primarily to interact with a certain group of friends who live far away from me. We have a private group for that. I’ve managed to curate my Facebook friends well enough that I rarely get annoyed with it.

    Good luck with the upcoming scheduling changes.

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  3. You know the trouble I have when choosing a book. It’s because I want to read what I want at that moment to match whatever mood I am on but stuff like book club messes it up. I also have to read more than one book at a time because of club reading and/or review reading so there is usually a third book which is the book that I just want to read for my own reasons. So, three books at the same time which means I don’t make much progress.

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  4. I always read what I want because … hello … I’m not in school anymore. Duh. Yeah… so that’s all a lie. I just read two books (didn’t finish either) for Jonathan’s homeschooling group book discussion and then one was snowed out and I slept through the other one. Didn’t enjoy either book. But now I read for me and me only 😀

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  5. I get the facebook thing. I personally enjoy seeing what people I don’t get to talk to regularly are up to. But, I’ve also unfollowed a lot of people, including family, whose posts just made me angry.

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  6. I’ve seriously thought about deleting my Facebook account but at this point it is one of the only ways I communicate with friends who don’t live near me. Sigh. I hope you stay in touch.

    I’d like to invite you to join my reading challenge which encourages you to read books you own. Chekc out the details here: ‘My Own Books Challenge’

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  7. I’m not a fan of FB but it has been a wonderful way to keep in touch with family who live far away. My dad (92) deleted his account but then several months later he started it back up again; he missed hearing about the family. My wonderful husband hates FB and hates cell phones. He considers these an invasion of his privacy. I admit that I feel happier when I take a break from social media. On the other hand, I live in a very small town; I’d never have met others who love reading as much as I do without social media.

    I thought Eleanor was a great portrait of a person. Nevertheless, (and I must say, sadly) not everyone likes the exact same books as I do (and wouldn’t it be a much better world if they all did?)

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    1. I understand where you (and your dad) are coming from too. And I also have met others who love reading through social media but most I met through blogs. I also understand your husband’s point of view. It’s not that I don’t necessarily want to read Eleanor, but not now…its also a matter of timing.

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  8. The smaller library I work for is open on Sundays from 1 to 5, and we are the only library in our county that is open on Sundays. That’s the one day a month I work there—on a Sunday—and I have to admit that I don’t like it. Our patrons love that we’re open on Sundays, but I personally don’t like working them. I wish the hours were earlier in the day, like, 9-1.

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  9. This may be a duplicate comment, please delete if that is the case!

    So, I have lots to tell you. First off, I liked Eleanor Oliphant but I didn’t want to read the Crawdad book. Lots of people liked it and told me it was one I ought to put on my list, but I didn’t like the sound of it. Overall my favorite is mystery genre. So read what you want because when it comes down to it, most people don’t care what we read. I visit lots of book and food blogs and frequently get good suggestions for my personal taste. But many times it’s a review on a book I don’t have an interest in. Hope that didn’t come off as snarky as you can’t hear my tone/voice.

    Next is about FB. Doug and I were on about 10 years ago, decided to delete the account. Read how to actually delete rather than “suspend” account, I was using my yahoo mail account,
    About a year and half ago a friend’s husband died, young and unexpected. While we write via email, I decided to get back on FB to connect more. Long story…..Anyway….I tried to set up using gmail and for whatever reason, it didn’t work. SO I tried using my old yahoo account email thinking it didn’t exist with FB. Oh man, at first it asked me to scan my drivers license to prove I’m me. I wasn’t going to do that! Lo and behold, about a week later that old FB account with my old yahoo mail login was active. There were even a few photos of my dogs. So I tell you and Kim all this to let you know to delete all photos and maybe even timelines of conversation because the liars at FB don’t actually delete your account. I’m off it again this time permanently.

    My birthday is also in June, I’ll be 63.sorry to have such a long comment but you and Kim needed to know about FB and their practices.

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  10. I’ll have to google blue laws. Never heard of it. This small Arkansas town drives me nuts with their hours. Closed Sunday. Close early Saturday. Restaurants closed on Sunday & Monday or Monday & Tuesday. One is closed Tuesday & Wednesday!!!! I need everything to be open 24/7/365 for my convenience LOL

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