Prologue

“No matter how busy you may think you are, you must make time for reading, or surrender yourself to self-chosen ignorance.” -Confucius

The beginning of each year, in the minds of the majority of Americans, is a time of new beginnings, rebirths, and fresh starts. As a highly goal-oriented person, I am among the millions who create lists of resolutions, determined to be “harder, better, faster, stronger” (as the Daft Punk song goes). But one thing I always want, and never seem to attain, is more time to dedicate to people and things that matter to me most. So as a newly and happily married, childless, and (mostly) stable person, the question is: what are those things?

Some answers are obvious: my family, my husband, my friends, my cat, my job.  And then we have other passions. These are passions that became hobbies that become "when did I last do that" things which are often pushed to the side for the sake of goals like working out, organizing, eating healthier, and so on. For me, I always think, gosh, if I had more time in the day, I would read more. But since I don’t have a time turner like Hermoine and Julius Caesar isn't around to create a new calendar, I suppose this year is as good any to truly and honestly find the time to book it.

To be honest, I feel like I’m always booking it. Matt, my husband, rolls his eyes at how I tend to book it in the morning: I sleep in as late as humanly possible and am therefore forced to rush through my entire morning routine, usually losing important papers, burning my bagel, and forgetting to feed the cat in the process. And after a long day of teaching and coaching, I book it home to make dinner, shove laundry in the washer, and grade papers before I zonk off to sleep.

But I’m hoping this blog will bring out a new type of “booking it”: a type that allows me to breathe, focus on my most important tasks in life, and give me the chance to read the books I choose. Hopefully I am reading these books while snuggled up with some hot chocolate and Wilson, my gray tabby cat. Or maybe I am stretched out on the hammock at our family farm, waiting for a sweet corn customer. Or very likely I am sitting at my desk at school, reading my Friday away with my English 10 students.

People always say reading is a chance to “escape from reality.” And while this is true, I also think it allows us to ground ourselves more deeply in our reality in a way that thus far in my quarter century life I have not found anywhere else. It gives me a new lens to see my world and how I connect with the people in it. I love talking about books and sharing and receiving recommendations. I love trying to make my world and the world of others a better place because of what I choose to read and perhaps, choose not to read.

So here is my blog. Whether through the blog, because of it, or in spite of it, I hope to read more than I did last year. In 2013, between planning a wedding, moving twice, earning a full-time job and coaching position at my high school, and numerous other adventures, I was able to finish twenty wonderful books. Can I double it for 2014? Maybe. But what I hope for most is the chance to learn about myself and connect with others through the books I read and continue to create a life that I deem worth living. And this, my friends, requires making the time to book it.

This is a blog about books and how they can make us better people. I am confident it is a journey worth making.