A week into setting time aside to read

The defined reading time is working reasonably well so far. I finished
reading Sex at Dawn tonight. I had just started the book when I
decided to define a reading time. I would still be in the middle of
the book if I hadn't defined a time to read. Picking up the book and
getting started is the hardest part of reading in the evening. Once
I'm going, it's not hard to keep going. Getting away from all the
other low energy requirement activities is the challenge. Sex at Dawn
is not a particularly challenging read so that always helps too. It
wasn't a particularly good book either. I've read enough of these
books attempting to link our drives to our ancient past that I can see
through the flimsy arguments. They all seem to start with a desired
conclusion and build an argument with scant evidence and ample
speculation. You want to prove we're all slutty, there is data for
that. You want to prove that we're all driven to be in life long pair
bonds, there are data for that. We're highly social creatures with a
tremendous aptitude for adaptation. We can become whatever we need to
become. The only way to be human is to expand to fill your niche as
fully as possible.

So another owned book (that I've been curious to read for awhile) has
been removed from the I'll get to it someday pile. I took a peek at my
Resolutions to see if there are any other goals that I could pursue
with my next reading choice. Get my to read pile under 140 is not
happening but reading something I own is in the spirit of the goal. I
set a goal to read 5 Modern Library books. I've read 2 this year (The
Heart of the Matter and Death Comes for the Archbishop) so there is
hope I could get to 3. I could read a Dickens book. I'm not seeing
Dickens in my immediate future, maybe later this month. I'm thinking
Henderson the Rain King will be my next reading effort. I also have
Ginger Man on my phone. Those are both Modern Library books. They're
also pretty short. The effort starts tomorrow. Time to go to bed.

GROWing towards Book Shelf Zero

I had some largely useless training at work last week (some things
never change) that I was pretty much ready to forget the second I left
the room. The awful trainer was wrapping up the course by reviewing
GROW. The idea was to use the framework to develop a strategy for
achieving a well-defined (preferably measurable) goal. As she was
walking her victim through the approach, I decided that I would
subject my long standing reading goal to this coaching technique. I
will not belabor the details of the framework. Do a little searching
and you will likely find more than you ever wanted to know about
realizing a goal.

The Goal in this case is well-defined. Read all the books I own.
That's a big goal with a very simple solution, read more and buy less.

I want to say that simple statement obscures a more complex situation,
but that isn't Reality. Meeting my reading goals always comes down to
choosing to read rather than waste time on my phone, play video games,
or take a walk. I've explored this topic before, but deciding to read
rather than do something else is always the conflict. The fact that I
have to make a choice to read or do something else is an interesting
wrinkle. I have a set time to run (first thing in the morning), lift
(currently in the morning but that may shift back to lunch time), and
work. I leave reading to find its own place in my day. I mentally
pencil in reading time for the evening, but it's never a priority. I'm
happy to watch a football game while messing around on my phone or
something else right up until I'm ready for bed. Should I designate a
reading time?

Reading time is certainly an Option. The length of that time is one
thing to consider, but that could be decided by how much time I have
to allocate for reading. Looking at my regular weekday, I could read
after I eat dinner, after I get off the phone with T, or make it the
last thing I do before bed. I am pretty much always finished eating by
6:30. I usually talk to T at 8:30 so I could allocate some portion of
that two hours to reading. I could also read after I get off the phone
with T. That could be from 9:45 to 10:30 or so. Right before bed is
when I usually squeeze in a few pages. The big issue with right before
bed is fatigue. Drifting off while reading in bed is not uncommon. So
that leaves after dinner or after my phone call. I like to walk or do
other errands after dinner. That leaves after my call with T.

How Will I implement this plan? Well, how long will I read? At least a
half hour feels appropriate. I could always read longer, but a half
hour ensures that I get a good 20-30 pages of my current book read.
That's 100-150 pages over a week. Throw in some reading on the
weekend, and that's approaching a book a week pace. I will start
tonight. Not sure how much I will read on Thursday, Friday, and
Saturday as I'm moving out of the apartment and into our house, but I
will make my best effort. Not sure how much I will be moving that late
in the day anyway.

I will give it a week or two and report back.

Nearing the end of this awful Riftwar series

My predictions on Drizzt were sound. I managed to get that one wrapped up quickly. I pretty much focused on the events of Menzobarizon over what happened in Monticello and France so I have still not finished the Hemingses. I read a couple of chapters. I will finish it eventually. 

I started reading a book about an object from outside our solar system, Extraterrestrial, just to see what the book was like. I got into it and ended up finishing that on the plane ride back up to Vriginia. It was a short read. It had a different angle than I anticipated, but I am sympathetic to the frustrations of institutional inertia against new ideas. New ideas are risky. People who live in big organizations are highly risk averse. That was a book I owned (bought when it was on the Daily Deal) so I was able to check another one off that list. The Drizzt book (Starless NIght, for the record) was also a book I owned. They were both ebooks so I didn't lighten my physical shelves at all with those two. 

The book I"m reading now, A Darkness at Sethanon, is a physical book. I picked Beyond Psychology over this one just about 6 weeks ago. I read it on the plane flight back. That was a lucky stroke. That chunk of time got me deep enough into the book that I was sure to keep going to the end. I was feeling bogged down in the middle, but it picked up in the second half. I have less than 100 pages and there was finally a reference to Sethanon. The book is not good. It's very trite and the dialogue is so stilted and awkward. The pacing isn't good, the characters are boring, and it's just not a very exciting story. If I wasn't doing this NPR list (and I didn't have a Resolution to read a series this year) I would have left this series after the first book. I will be happy to have it finished in the next couple of days. 

My Florida life is moving faster than I anticipated when I was thinking about what it would mean to live down here by myself for several months. My time in this apartment could be ending soon, fingers crossed all goes well, and I could be in a house. I think my life will be much better in a house. I wish the schools were better in the area around my apartment because I prefer this area, but I"m sure I will adjust to Palm Harbor quickly enough. My books will be moved again. Maybe I will actually get a few of them read soon.

Beyond Psychology, finished

It took almost 3 weeks, but I have finished Beyond Psychology. I was trying to decide if it was a good choice to start my time down here with a challenging book like that or whether it would have been better to pick up something a bit more engaging. I could have built some momentum by reading a couple of Drizzt books or something equally fast, but finally finishing a book that I started and abandoned is a good precedent. That book lived in the back seat of my car for a long time. I would see it, think I need to get back to it, and forget about it again. I no longer have to worry about getting back to it. 

The main point of the book is solid, we are highly irrational creatures who think we are rational, but the data he used to support his points, myths and beliefs of early cultures, were tedious reading. I feel enlightened having read the book but I'm in no hurry to get back to Otto Rank.

So what's next? I am going to zip through a Drizzt book. I want to read something that is fun. I read a couple of chapters today and will likely read more before I call it a day. I also read a chapter of the Hemingses today. I think this is the 4th time I've checked it out. I have about half of the book to go. This book is not as tedious as Rank, but it's very long and dense. I feel like I've read a big chunk, but my progress has barely moved. I have had this book sitting in my Goodreads currently reading for a long time. Everytime I open that app I see that I have not finished this book. I want to get it done. It's interesting and a good read. I've just made the choice to read other stuff before this one and by the time I get to it my loan period ends. We'll see if Drizzt keeps me from it again. I don't think that will be the case but you never know.

I expect to see my reading progress pick up a bit over the next couple of months. I really need to start just hanging out in my apartment. Getting a house will be a big reading time boost as I won't spend hours a week driving by houses, but a couple of hours of just hanging out during the weekend needs to become a habit. That is part of my motivation to read something fun. It's much easier to stay here and read when I have something pleasant to read rather than forcing myself to make it through a handful of pages about the development of a sexual identity. This coming weekend will be a test. I'm back in Virginia the weekend after that so reading will take a back seat to spending time with the family.  

Another week down

I've managed to get through another week of my Florida adventure. Work is going fine. It's challenging not feeling like I'm really contributing, but I'm getting a handle on the process and information flow. I just need to be patient, keep finding ways to contribute, and slowly take over the group. It's going to be a process that takes time. I can manage that. 

I'm still reading Beyond Psychology. In a previous post I wondered if I would have the mental energy to do much reading while I was learning a new job and figuring out how to live on my own (temporarily!). My mental energy is there, I just have other things to take care of. Cooking dinner, walking, talking to T. There isn't much time to squeeze reading in around all of that. I get in a few pages before heading to bed, but it's not like I'm reading for hours on end. I'm not going to do much reading tomorrow as I will be heading to WDW to get my annual pass and see Happily Ever After one last time. I'm also running in the morning, driving to the beach for the run, and I am looking at a couple of houses before I head to Orlando. I may read on Sunday.

I think I will be more willing to read when I pick up an exciting book. Beyond Psychology is very interesting and worth reading, it's just not exactly a thrilling page turner. I may read some Drizzt or something else zippy and fun to get some reading momentum going before I pick up another challenging read. It will also be easier to read when I have a comfortable chair. The beach charis are fine for the beach, but they are sub-optimal for a nice lengthy reading session. My foton comes next week. I wouldn't be surprised if my reading pace picks up after that is put together (yet another activity that I will need to take care of one or two nights that week).

Progress

I have pushed past the point where I got stuck in my first attempt at Beyond Psychology. I finished the chapter where I stopped reading while sitting on the beach this afternoon. It was a lovely way to spend 40 minutes or so. I always want to read at the beach, but my family usually takes my attention away from whatever book I am trying to read. It was nice to read, but I would rather have my family with me. I spent most of the afternoon running errands. I started my day with a run, which was not very good but at this point I'm just trying to get back into a consistent running routine, and the afternoon exploring and getting a few things that I need to make my life a bit better. I did squeeze in 20 minutes or so of reading before I headed out for my errands. I took a beach chair and my book with me to make sure I had the option to stop at a beach and read. I'm glad I did. I wanted to read some more this evening, but I got wrapped up in other stuff. 

I have no real plans for tomorrow. I want to hit the gym and I will talk to T while taking a walk (doing our best to maintain our Sunday morning walk while being several states apart). I will likely watch football. It's been years since I watched network coverage of the games. I've always watched on Red Zone. At least there will be two games on during both the 1 and 4 windows. I will make an effort to read a bit at some point. I don't want to lose my Beyond Psychology momentum.

A quick observation about my new living location. I really like living here. I like the proximity to the beach, I like living in an area with so many sports teams, I like that I have to resist the urge to just drive to DIsney World. The only thing missing is my family. They will be here soon. I just have to make it a few months. Once they are here, things are going to be really great. 

Two days in...

I'm two days into my adventure of living in Florida. I've been taking care of several small tasks and starting a new job so I haven't exactly been bored. One small task that I took care of my first night here was getting my books on the one small bookshelf that I brought with me. I knew I brought more books than I had room for on the shelf. There are books on the top of the bookcase and a small pile on the floor. I will box up books as I finish them so maybe I will be able to get the books off the floor relatively soon. Time will tell. 

I started reading Beyond Psychology on the flight down. I tried reading the book a year or two ago, but I got bogged down about a third of the way through. It sat in the backseat of my car, ignored and unread after I abandoned it . I rescued it before I traded in the car and dropped it in my bag as I was packing up the night before my flight. My original plan was to read the 4th book of the Riftwar Saga on the plane. I thought it would be nice to get that series wrapped up before I started pursuing other reading goals. Beyond Psychology won. The first chapter is great. The second chapter starts strong and gets bogged down in primitive culture stuff. The third chapter gets a little pedantic too. That's what held me up last time. We'll see if I can make it through the entire chapter this time. 

I did finish Death Comes for the Archbishop while we were here moving me in. The book is still on my nightstand. It was very solid. It wasn't quite what I expected, but I was pleasantly surprised by the story. I lived in New Mexico for a decent chunk of my youth. That personal connection resonated with me. It's definitely worthy of being a Top 100 novel. 

I'm going to cut this post short so I can spend some time actually reading. I need to decide the best time for me to read. Is it in the evening right before I go to bed? Is it in the early evening? How much will I read on the weekend? I think the weekend will be big reading time. I'm thinking of taking a beach chair and a book and heading to a park we stopped at while doing some family exploration. I can get many pages read in an hour or so of hanging out at the beach.