The Guitar Train Takes a New Route

I have never been into spring cleaning. For some reason this spring, I am really into it for the first time. I want everything in my house (especially the basement) and my life to be very organized. The clutter and huge to do lists are stressing me.

One of the biggest causes of stress is the amount of books I have in my home which I have never read. There are about 50 books I have bought in the past several years that I have not yet found time to read. I can understand putting off reading the books I have which are classics and I feel that I am supposed to read. They feel like homework assignments. I also understand not having read the books I have a passing interest in the topic or the author. I can’t understand the large number of Beatles, Genesis, New York Giants, and the New York Yankees books which I have yet to read. These topics are my passions, so why am I putting off reading these books? I am pretty sure they’ll be good reads. On the topic of The Beatles, I have “Tune In: Volume 1” by Mark Lewisohn, “The Beatles” by Hunter Davies, and “The Beatles, The Bible, and Bodega Bay” by Ken Mansfield.

There are two books I am hesitant to read because once I have read them, I will never be able to read a new book from that author again. Sue Grafton, who wrote the so-called alphabet of murder mysteries, is one of my favorite authors. Sadly she passed away in December 2017. I have yet to read her books “X” and “Y is for Yesterday”. She passed away before she finished writing the “Z” book in the Kinsey Millhone detective series. I will probably read her last two books as I did the last book in the Harry Potter series – slowly, savoring every word, knowing it’s the end.

 

On the other hand, there’s a certain liberation in knowing going into something that it is finite. I just began reading the Kurt Wallender detective mysteries written by Henning Mankell. Since the author has passed away, I know there are only a certain amount of books in the series and then I have done my “job” of reading them.

So for the next few months, I will be binge reading the books I already own at home. I will not take any more books out of the library which has been the biggest deterrent to reading the books I have at home. The list of books I want to borrow from the library is in the hundreds. I know this project will take several months since I can’t binge read as fast as I can binge watch TV shows and movies. I really wish binge reading was as fast as binge watching. I will also not be stressed by the 300 shows and movies I have waiting for me on my Netflix queue (including two TV versions of the Kurt Wallender books once I finish reading them). So I’m steering the Guitar Train to binge reading for as long as I have books to read.

 

Guitar Train passengers, which books do you have at home you’ve put off reading (and enjoying)?