As a result, I have about 300 books on my reading list, and so far this summer, I’ve only read three.
What’s worse is the reason I choose the books I do read. I seldom pick a book because I think it’s going to be good. I always have some sort of ulterior motive. And so it was for each of my recent choices.
1. The Happiness Project. I read this book for one reason: It was a best seller. I am incurably curious about what people like to read, and millions loved this book. Me, not so much.
Gretchen Rubin spent a year deliberately trying to be happier. She made a list of things she thought might accomplish that task, and she checked them off one by one, detailing her progress in her book.
It’s an appealing idea, and some of Rubin’s suggestions for happiness are interesting (“stimulate the mind in new ways”; “forget about results”). But I found a lot of her ideas either self-evident or weird. Does anyone need to be told that being nicer to people makes you feel better? Or getting more sleep? And, while starting a blog or “indulging in a modest splurge” may be fun, I just don’t believe they’re routes to bliss.
If you disagree, leave a comment. Maybe I just didn’t give The Happiness Project enough credit. I’d love to read another viewpoint.
2. Eat, Pray, Love. This book was also a best seller (four years ago—it takes me awhile to get to things). But that’s not why I read it. What intrigued me about this book were the online reviews—and how polarized they were.
A lot of readers loved Eat, Pray, Love—but those who didn’t detested it. What’s more, their dislike for the author was often personal and intense. “That Elizabeth Gilbert thinks she is so smart. All she does is brag about how skinny and cute she is and anyway she made so much money off this book it’s sickening.” I’m paraphrasing here, but you get the picture.
I’m with those who liked the book. I found it funny and engaging, and I enjoyed Gilbert’s lively style. Some reviewers compared it to a Jennifer Aniston movie—too much fluff and too little substance—but I don’t need to be transformed by every book I read. Sometimes entertainment is enough.
3. Harry Potter and the Sorcerer’s Stone. I had one very important reason for reading the first Harry Potter book for the third time: I’m finishing a young-adult fantasy novel, and want to make sure that NOTHING in my book remotely sounds like I stole it from J. K. Rowling. Not an idea. Not a character. Not a single word. So far, I’m in the clear. (And, if you are one of the four people in the world who haven’t read it, it’s terrific).
So that is my reading so far this summer. I still have a month before I start teaching again. Anyone have a suggestion for August?