Something about books... And... Too many ellipses in headings.

Nothing works at the moment. It’s like stories are falling from the sky and hitting me on the head so hard that I forget them. It’s been the same with my dreams.

I’ve been reading a lot of Murakami recently, he is really speaking to me. I read Colourless Tsukuru Tazaki in one sitting and thought it was great. He writes so cleanly. None of those extra frilly words. Right now, I’m reading his new-old story, Pinball and I’m halfway through 1Q84 as well.

I’ve heard a few grumbles about reading multiple books at the same time… It’s always been natural for me to do that though. Let me present you with a scenario:

What if you’re reading a classic romance novel but one day really want to explore a Sci-fi universe? Should you continue to read the romance? You’d be stropping the whole time, don’t pretend like you wouldn’t. You’d be wondering when the quick-paced dialogue and flashy gadgets are going to appear.

Wouldn’t life be so much simpler if you had a sci-fi and a romance on the go, simultaneously? No more stroppy reading sessions or awkward starting-20-pages moments.

Then! Think about those times where you’re not really in the mood for fiction and you just want to kickback and read some stimulating theories and anecdotes about something or other… Enter your non-fiction book, there whenever you want it. Just pop it right next to your sci-fi and fantasy.

Next! Imagine those moments when you’re too sleepy for the long chapters and really just need something short and nice. Here there are few options all equally awesome. Think about the graphic novel or manga, the classic short story, poetry, those teeny tiny 80p penguin classics… The possibilities are endless but equally as important to have ready to comfortably read.

Wow, this post has been all about books and hyphenating words. I’m not even going to proofread. (As I re-read that briefly I realised I’d written read and ‘reed’ the other kind of reed but not quite read… I thought it was too bad to leave in. Or maybe it could have been really really funny, we’ll never know now.)

In case you started reading and then got bored and scrolled to the end, here’s the takeaway.

Everybody should buy and carry around a lot of books.

It just makes sense and it’s good for developing back muscles.