Read

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, inculcating the habit of reading is one of the few things that I have always wanted to do, but always failed at. I have tried a zillion times - I read two to three books in a streak and then in order to give myself a break, I loose the track. One other constant issue that I notice when I look back is that I alway set a target for myself for the entire year  - a number small enough that I know I can practically achieve - something as small as four to six - and then having read half of it in couple of weeks - I cut some slack thinking I have too much time left and then the tomorrow never came.

Back at the beginning of 2019, similar to how I want to try something new every year, I started reading one of the novels that was lying on my shelf for quite few months. I had purchased it the previous time I had the zeal to read but never actually read it. By the end of February, I had achieved half of my year's target for reading six books. Unfortunately, the count never increased in 2019!

As a part of school curriculum, I remember reading novels like Treasure Island, Oliver Twist and a few other classics. The first novel that I myself read out of willingness was however a Chetan Bhagat book called Five Point Someone (judge me!). This is also because my english vocabulary is not very strong. Folks who have constantly read my posts over the last six months (woah! ) would realise that the main focus of the blog is not the command over the language but rather what the simple linguistic skill is trying to convey - ranging from my experiences and thoughts to few poems and fiction. 

During my four years at college, I remember trying to read a few novels and having succeeded at it but the total count was surely less than double digits. The fact that I was a very social person also contributed to it significantly. Ironically, there were few friends of mine - including a roommate - who used to read plenty. Funny memory - one of them once brought two suitcases from home - one with all that would be required for a semester and the other full of books!

At the beginning of this year, I had the opportunity to read ikigai - the Japanese secret to a long and happy life. The book - a philosophical guide was too short to be called a book and could very well fit as a long blog. A couple of months later when I returned home during the pandemic, my brother asked me to fetch him a soft copy of Sapiens. While I always dread reading on my phone, I however found the synopsis interesting and ended up reading the book. The gravity of the book ensured that I pulled it for a few weeks instead of wrapping it up in a few days. 

Sapiens - while enriching my knowledge about how the humans have evolved - also ensured that I developed a habit of reading at bed - probably the 21 day theory proved right! Since then, I have read few other books - To Kill A Mockingbird, Murder On The Orient Express and the first book of Shiva Trilogy - The Immortals Of Meluha. While I am on to the next book of the series - The Secret Of The Nagas, I feel a lot more determined to continue reading beyond this trilogy. A frequent reader would also be surprised to see the huge variation of genre that I have read this year. This is because I don't really have a strong liking for one over the other (yet) and also because I don't want to get bored by reading similar books and end the habit that I have so hard developed. Any suggestions on what to read after the trilogy?