August Reading

My August books were largely forgettable (perhaps that was my fault for picking so many memoirs) but I enjoyed them while reading. Of course, Anne of the Island didn't disappoint.

I did copy down a few quotes from the most thought provoking book I read this month by Alan Jacobs, The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction. What pleased me about this slim volume was the author's opinion that reading should be enjoyable and not just based off of a list. Sometimes I feel guilty about the "frivolous," but just plain enjoyable books I read, while so many others are embarking on massive reading lists largely comprised of classic titles. I wonder if I'm wasting my time and my brain. While I truly enjoy reading classics, I don't care to read them only. I believe wholeheartedly that there are worthwhile books that have been written in my lifetime and I want to read a variety. So, as Jacobs exhorts, I read at whim. And while reading from The Best of...lists might strike your fancy, I'd also like to suggest that you pick a few books up merely to read at whim.


Quotations from The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction:

Read what gives you delight--at least most of the time--and do so without shame.

So the books are waiting. Of this you may be confident: they'll be ready when the whim strikes you.

The existence of the text is a silent existence, silent until the moment in which a reader reads it. Only when the able eye makes contact with the markings on the tablet does the text come to active life. All writing depends on the generosity of the reader. (Alberto Manguel)

Our goal as adults is not to love all books alike, or as few as possible, but rather to love as widely and as well as our limited selves will allow.


Completed August Reading List:

The Pleasures of Reading in an Age of Distraction by Alan Jacobs
Tolstoy and the Purple Chair by Nina Sankovitch
My Year With Eleanor by Noelle Hancock
Anne of the Island by L.M. Montgomery
Planting Dandelions by Kyran Pittman
Yoga Bitch by Suzanna Morrison
29 Gifts by Cami Walker

Read for Work:
The Name of This Book is Secret by Pseodonymous Bosch
How to Be a Pirate by Cressida Cowel
How to Train Your Dragon by Cressida Cowel