Finding Time to Read

There used to be a time when I had all the time in the world to read. I would get out of school and walk to the library that resided on our town square. There I would spend hours walking the aisles looking for books to read. I didn’t skimp either. I would check out as many as my arms could hold, and I would have them all read by the time they were due. My secret was to read a chapter out of every book every day.

As I got older and the chapters got longer, I started checking out fewer and fewer. I still read a great many books during the two week check out period. ‘Lord of the Rings', ‘Dune’, and many other great science fiction classics, as well as, books on astronomy, physics, animals, and any other subject that caught my eye. And, boy, did I have big eyes!

When I became an adult, I joined the Navy. My reading didn’t slow down any, but I did it one book at a time. It was kind of hard to find a place to keep books when all you had was a coffin locker or stand-up locker to keep your belongings. Now, my friend, Big Jim, he read the entire ‘Mission Earth’ series in about two weeks. If you’ve never heard or read it, it is a 10-volume series with “Battlefield Earth” being the first book. Most people probably remember BATTLEFIELD EARTH as the very bad movie with John Travolta. Anyway, Big Jim put all 10 volumes away in two weeks. Don’t know how he did it, but I don’t think he slept very much.

Now, I’m a widower with a three year old little girl. I run a fan site and I try to help promote a local author. You’d think that I had a lot of time to read. Nope, somehow it gets sucked out of my day. But recently, I’ve been scheduling time. As if I’m having an old friend over for a conversation, I put an hour or two away on the calendar every day before the kid gets home, and I read.

Which has helped me finish the book that I’ve been reading by Gloria Oliver, ‘The Price of Mercy.’ A very good book and I should have a review up in the next day or two. I’ve finished it just in time, because Neil Gaiman’s new book, ‘The Ocean at the End of the Lane’ just arrived this afternoon. Hopefully, I can have it finished by the time Monday night rolls around. Mr. Gaiman will be in town reading and signing and I’ve got tickets. If you don’t have yours yet, check out the Dallas Museum of Art ticket page and on the calendar to the right side of that page, click on the 24th. The show is at 7pm. I’m kind of hoping his wife, Amanda Palmer, shows up.

So, do you have all the time in the world to read or do you have to do something drastic like schedule time? Where is your favorite place to catch up on your reading?