A resolution I can (probably) keep

December 28, 2012 by Julie @ Outtakes on the Outskirts | 9 Comments

I’ve had The Carpenters stuck in my head since Tuesday.

“Greeting cards have all been sent. The Christmas rush is through…”

I had a fantastic Christmas, don’t get me wrong, and I hope you all did too. But after several late nights in a row in a frenzy to finish making gifts and bake, and several hours traveling on the road, I’m beat. I still need to finish sewing hankies for my father and finish the pair of socks I’m knitting for my mother, but that’ll get done soon enough.

What I’m focusing on now is the upcoming year. Usually, probably like every other earth-dwelling human, I tend to make a monstrous list of resolutions for myself and if I’m lucky, one sticks. These resolutions are generally some type of self-improvement, like drinking more water, getting more exercise or spending more time with my Bible.

Not for 2013. For this upcoming year, I’m giving myself permission to do something I rarely get to do anymore because I feel guilty for making time for myself when there are dust bunnies in a corner.

I want to read more in 2013. That is my resolution.

I’ve loved to read since I was a kid. I love to get so lost in a book that someone has to yell at me at least five times before I realize I’m being paged. I don’t give myself much time to do it now that I’m an adult, and I miss it.

I have a helper in this resolution too – a Nook! Mine is a hand-me-down, but I’m still pretty excited about it.

I’ll admit I was skeptical of eReaders until I devoured several chapters of “The Hunger Games” on the Nook Wednesday night. I didn’t think a screen could replace the smell and feel of an honest-to-goodness paper book. In a way, it still doesn’t, but the Nook isn’t the devil that I had convinced myself it would be. My biggest concern was eye strain. After spending several hours a day staring at words on a screen to pay my bills, the last thing I wanted to do was to spend my leisure time staring at another screen.

To my surprise, the Nook screen is very similar to reading text on paper. I forgot I was reading on an electronic device until I “turned” a page and the words dissolved into the next. How it fits in my hand is similar to a book as well.

Now that I’m hooked, I’ve made a list of must-reads eBooks for myself. Some of these are books I’ve been wanting to read for awhile and others I’ve taken from NPR lists of 2012′s good reads.

Here’s a sample of what I’d like to read:

“The Help” – Kathyrn Stockett

“Water for Elephants” – Sara Gruen (started to listen this one as an audiobook, but I’d like to finish it)

“The Holy or the Broken” – Alan Light

“Some of my Lives” – Rosamond Bernier

“Gone Girl” – Gillian Flynn

“Arcadia” – Lauren Groff

“Glaciers” – Alexis Smith

“The Fault in Our Stars” – John Green

“Making Piece” – Beth Howard

Do you have any recommendations for good books to read? I’m open to a variety of topics. Leave me a comment with a suggestion!

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