Reading

I know this is a topic that I have touched on before, but it is just so important to me, I'm going to hit it again.

The brain is like a muscle. If you exercise it, it will become stronger. Yesterday, for the first time in my recollection, I read a whole book in one day. It was 387 pages. 10 years ago, when I really took up reading, I read so slowly it would have taken me 3-4 times longer and my comprehension was lower.

Now reading is a big part of who I am. That book was the 48th of the year for me. For the third year in a row I will reach my goal of 50. Reading gives me a couple of good things. Primarily it is entertaining. Further though, it gives me a greatly enhanced ability to read technical communication. I sure wish I would have had the reading skills in college and earlier in my career that I do now. Life would have been so much easier.

Reading is also relaxing and a great way to pass stressful time. Bring a book to the waiting room at the doctors office, time will go much faster. Have trouble falling asleep at night because your mind is going a hundred different ways? I do, but if I grab the book I've been working on, my mind focuses down to one thing and quickly gets me to sleep.

Ok - enough preaching about reading.

Tomorrow I will list my books for the year.

P.S. To put things in perspective, Angie read 125 books last year. This year she will be under 100 for the first time in 7 years... she'll only read about 85!