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Sunday, May 1, 2016

Literary Stimulants.

I liked this phrase from Elizabeth Berg. I don't remember the context for this, but I like how it sounds. It makes me think of coffee beans in canvas bags and the deep, dark smell. Books are persuasive as ordinary objects--their own tickling, musty scent; the color of the pages as they; the color of the pages as they age; and the slick or pebbly quality of the cover.

At used bookstores, I like the hungry feeling I get, wanting to gather as many books as I can and tuck the top of the stack under my chin. It doesn't even matter if I never read some of them. Some books just belong in someone's home. Seeing all the books I have at home does make me want to read. Sometimes, I'll drill into one book. Other times, I'll read as many as four books in different genres at once.

Some bits of books push me to improve my life and self. These may be self-improvement books, but novels may do it just as well.

So literature can stimulate me to do or be something new, and that something can stimulate my desire to read--to be literate and literary.

Looking at GoodReads and seeing what and how much others are reading remind me that I need to be reading more. GoodReads' annual reading goal pushes me too. Right now, I'm on track. I like to be ahead, but that takes a major push.

Josh and I talk about our reading goals, and we try always to be aware of what the other is reading. If one of us is not reading, we give the other a push. Just talking about books as I might with Mom stimulates me to read and be more aware of the literary world.

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