I’m not a good reader with my eyes. I think we’ve established that fact. Yet in the past week, I have finished three books with my eyes and started on a fourth, not to mention completed a 17 hour audio book and made plans to start another audio book tonight.
The trick? I haven’t been in the office. I was on vacation last week and today I’ve been working from a remote location because I have a training tonight. I haven’t been online or distracted. I haven’t been looking at my to-do list that causes me to feel overwhelmed and behind (like I do at this moment, just writing about it.) I’ve been able to lay down and read—which is my most successful reading position—and I’ve been able to put the book down and rest my eyes a bit after reading for awhile. For the past week, it’s been a little reading here, a little resting there, and…well…the pattern has allowed me to read much more successfully than usual.
I finished “Same Kind of Different As Me,” which I had started in February. I started and finished, “Great Love for Girls,” a New Hope study that some people had asked me about for work. I started and finished, “Thin Enough,” another New Hope book—this one detailing one girl’s journey through disordered eating and food addiction. And I’ve started, “Do This And Live,” a WMU book written by my friends Suzanne and Kym and one that, ironically, shares about the meaning of life and living life to the fullest (which I ecclesiastically addressed on Thursday).
On the docket, I have a whole bunch of Bible studies to read, two books on the history of WMU, and one book that serves as our focus book for the year. I also would like to finish a couple of other books that I’ve started at home AND read two books that I bought last night—“The Dark Night of the Soul” by St. John of the Cross and “Essays by Famous Black Americans.” Unfortunately, if I’m ever to read those, then I may have to stay on vacation for the next two months OR work from remote locations each day…and…well…for some reason, I don’t think that’s going to happen! J
As far as reading with my ears is concerned…I started and finished Jodi Piccoult’s “Sing You Home.” Jodi Piccoult is a good writer, but she is not afraid to address difficult social, moral, and theological issues head on…and…well…that doesn’t always make easy reading for this thinking feeler! Tonight, I’ll start Alice Walker’s, “The Color Purple,” and I’ll once again listen to Walker’s laid back, rhythmic voice as she reads a literary masterpiece that, I’ve heard, is dramatic and difficult in its own right. [When my book club read “The Color Purple” a few years ago, Walker hadn’t released an audio version, so I didn’t bother to read it with my eyes. I’m excited to finally read it now.]
Notice the difference in book selections: I’m reading non-fiction with my eyes and reading fiction with my ears. I can’t imagine setting or keep names straight or let my imagination wonder when I’m reading with my eyes. I read what’s on the page—literally on the page—word for word, and if I skim then I fear that I’ve missed something and make myself go back and reread it, sometimes 5 or more times. You can imagine why it takes me so long to read! And, well, sometimes, I really do think that I have some type of reading disability.
I suppose that there is no major point to this note. It sounds silly to say that I’m proud of myself for reading so many books with my eyes, yet I am. And I hope—really hope—that, somehow—and I haven’t figured out how—when I get back into my normal schedule and routine tomorrow that I’ll figure out how to keep reading with my eyes, how to keep feeling accomplished, how to keep feeling calm and relaxed, and not how to get swallowed by that doggone to-do list that feels like it has fangs that chase me and want to eat me alive.
What about you? Are you an eye or ear reader? And what books have you read recently. And, most importantly, what book should I read after “The Color Purple”? I’m very open to, and asking for, suggestions!
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