I wrapped up my first book that I both started and finished in 2018. I regretted buying Getting to Yes with Yourself after picking it up as a Daily Deal sometime in 2016. I read the intro and a bit of the first chapter and it just felt dull and inane. It was formulaic, thin, and a waste of time. It's still formulaic and thin, but it wasn't a waste of time. Learning to observe my feelings without judgement marks some pretty serious progress for me over the last year or so. I would lash out when threatened before I learned to just deal with my feelings. Lashing out only made the people around feel bad. Being vulnerable and authentic is difficult. You have to put so much on the line when you're honest about your feelings. I was taught to hide my emotions and coerce people to accommodate my emotional needs. That approach creates nothing but limits. It limits your opportunity to grow, it limits how deep your relationships can be, and makes it harder to get what you really want. This quick little book is a good reminder about being kind to yourself while being vulnerable and authentic. It's nothing life altering, but it's a nice reminder of a better way to live.
Two books down in 2018. I'm pretty deep into Flashman and the Dragon so it's looking like that will be number 3 for the year. I very much enjoy the Flashman books, but I've found that I get bored with them if I try to read too many in a row. I did two in a row a couple of years ago. The books follow the same basic plan. Flashman gets himself involved in an extreme situation (with deep historical significance) by pursuing a woman. The rest of the book is how he extricates himself from this dire predicament. They're very well done. Fraser maintains the Flashman identity in every line of the book. They're fun and entertaining in their own very unique style. I own another one with two more left in the series. It's a series I will definitely complete, eventually.
I finally bought a book earlier this week. I decided to go with A High Wind in Jamaica. It's a shorter book, 250 pages or so, and a Modern Library Top 100 book. I resisted the urge to buy a collection of three McMurtry books. I have a few of these collections in my to read pile. That would just be one more long book that I have to wade through. I decided it would be better to get something that doesn't make me cringe when I scroll by it in my Goodreads shelf. I tried to be clever and skip the Prime shipping so I could get Flashman finished before my new book arrived. I would not count it as bought until it was delivered. That would give me time to extend my book buying limit by another book (and get me a $5 credit for Amazon Now). I ended up outsmarting myself. I ordered my book Tuesday morning, opting out of the Prime shipping (delivery date was a week away, plenty of time to read Flashman). I ordered some books for my wife that evening, but this time I requested Prime shipping. Well, they ended up combing those orders for shipping. My book was delivered with my wife's books today (Friday). I discovered a way to hack the Amazon system, but I also gave myself a way to get a new book sooner. Oh well, I could always have some self-discipline and not buy a book for every two that I read.
I laid down some preliminary reading goals for 2018 this afternoon. I have had fairly ambitious reading goals (beyond reading a certain number of books) in the past, but I have never completed all of them. I will pick a group of books that I want to read. The group usually represents a mix of reading ambitions. Bucket list books like War and Peace usually show up. I try to get some of my series in there (Mistborn has been in every goal, I may actually read the last book this year), and I try to dig deep into my pile to find something that hasn't really been on my radar recently. I have a Mozart book that was one of my free books when I joined the History Book Club years ago. I read a few pages of it years ago. Maybe I'll work on that one at some point this year. I wouldn't hold my breath that it will get read though.
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