Ready, set, read?

I’m attempting to read 28 books in 28 days which is the kind of thing that probably makes people question my sanity. A few other people have tried this (and succeeded) and that’s partly where the inspiration comes from. The more I thought about it the more I felt like it might be a way to a) get a bit of my book-FOMO out our the way b) finally read a bunch of books that people have recommended over the years and c)get back into having fun with IG i.e. post more often.

If we start from the beginning: what do I mean with book-FOMO? Time is not unlimited and I always worry that by reading one book I might not have time for another. Orr that I’m reading the wonrg boom at the wrong time. That’s what got me into the mess of reading several books at once (which wasn’t great either). It should be noted that I’m the relative boss of that anxiety (and luckily I’m a bit of an idiot/blessed with a very Nordic mentality) so I just get on with it. Book after book, I just read. I have learned to give up on books I don’t like but I rarely end up in that situation anymore. But still. That great reading experince could be around and I’m not enjoying it becasue I’m not seeing it on IG (a very relevant fear) or becasue I’m not reading books people have said are great.

The second point feel more relevant actually. So many books that I have seen reviews of, that have sounded interesting, that people I trust have recommended remain unread by me. They are just in my  basket at the online bookseller (I use that as a memo pad for books I want to read). So. many. books.  However, I did notice that many of the books were short as I am indeed always on the lookout for smaller books so I don’t break my back slogging them around everywhere. This is where the idea really started to take root. It is doable and more it is worth doing a “reading sprint” in order to get things out of the way. Not everyone feels the pressure of those kind of things but I do.

What I have also felt unease about is my relation to instagram. We can discuss my issues with the “input” side of things (i.e. what I see) but for now lets focus on my output. It has been irregular and mostly I feel my pics aren’t great. When I don’t post that often, or rather in its and spurts, I lose my voice and I loose the natural touch ans ease with which I used to take photos. Part of that is all the other things in my life needing my attention and the fat that winters are dark don’t help as it make taking good photos very difficult. By posting every day I hope to get back into the swing of things.

So, if those are my intentions, what is my strategy and what are the “rules”.

• I’m being very generous with what I as define as a book. I draw the line at little black classics and that sort of thing. But novellas, graphic novels: it’s all good.
• The aim is a book a day. Nevertheless, by saying “28 books in 28 days” there is some wiggle room to read a few bigger books.  And I do want to read poetry during this time and that is rarely great read from cover to cover.
• The jury is out on the rereads. I haven’t made up my mind if I’ll allow myself some rereading during this challenge. On the one hand that sort of defeats the purpose, on the other hand it might just be the thing to keep me sane during all of this. My head might be a right mess with all the impressions, characters and storylines and rereading is the remedy?

A part from that? Load up on snacks, make sure I have coffee and tea to last me all through the month, warn people around me that I’m doing this and frequent visits to the library to pick up books? These are some of the books I hope to read, I’m also in line at the library for a few more  titles (fingers crossed that they turn up) and I might just visit a bookstore or two.

All I need now is a cool hashtag for this. Any suggestions?

-Suss