Just Too Many ....

I love the 'want to read' list option available on Goodreads.com. The only problem is that while I am surfing the site there are just too many books that I really get excited about and really want to read. They aren't always easy for me to get a hold of but thankfully, I work for a large library system with an interlibrary loan service, so all the books I could dream of are nearly at my fingertips.

About six months ago, I purged my 'to-read' list of everything on it, and I vowed that I would be very good at keeping up with the items on it- never having more than 10 or 12 on it at a time that way I felt like I was really reading the books I said I would. Well, 10 or 12 turned into 20 or 30, and now its' nearly at 50 books again. I was worried and scolding myself at first, but after a little thought and positive thinking, I have come to grips with the fact that... it's okay to want to read so many books, and I don't have to get through them all. There will be more books published that I want to read and many more that I haven't discovered yet; I will not possibly read all the books I know I would want to in a single lifetime....

So maybe that last statement sounds a little pessimistic, but I don't think so. It is almost a comfort knowing that there will be so many exciting books; I will never stop going on fantastic adventures throughout my whole life! I'm going to add dozens more books to my to-reads list. To hell with keeping up with it, I just want to read!

I've had friends, family, and strangers ask me why in the world my life's goal is to become a true blue librarian, and my answer is always 'for selfish reasons, I love books' - some laugh, some just nod, some tell me it isn't selfish at all to do what you love... and some think that me settling in this cozy vat of knowledge is all of my 'many other talents' going to waste. I really don't care what they think; I am happiest where I am. It's being happy what we all strive for?

All this unlimited reading the past few years has made me learn some things about myself I knew but never really acted upon so much.... I think my 6 year old self definitely knew more about me than my 16 year old self, and now that I'm nearly 26 the cycle has come back to knowing and to being more honest... isn't that funny? Here's a few examples ....

6 YRS SWICK : I'm going to be a marinebiologist one day!
16 YRS SWICK : I'm no good at math and science or swimming. I don't want to study marine life.
26 YRS SWICK : I wish the library had a larger nonfiction collection of marine life to read.

6 YRS SWICK : Comic books are really cool!
16 YRS SWICK : Only dorks read comics.
26 YRS SWICK :  Comic books are total legit forms of reading for all ages, and so much fun.

6 YRS SWICK : I like books like Brian Jacques's Redwall and books about dragons and spaceships.
16 YRS SWICK : Sophisticated adults read classics, politics, and philosophy.
26 YRS SWICK : I like reading a little bit of everything, but kids' books are the most fun for me :)

6 YRS SWICK : Let's play pretend. You be Gandalf and I'll be Bilbo and we're going to Misty Mountain!
16 YRS SWICK : Fan characters and fanfiction are so juvenille.
26 YRS SWICK : I like writing Pokemon fanfiction and I often wonder how books would be different if the characters did something else.

6 YRS SWICK : Who cares what you think? I happen to like what I read. I don't need to impress you.
16 YRS SWICK : Look at how versed in classics and poetry and philosophy and politics I am! I'm sure my professors will be really impressed. They'll think I'm really smart and pay attention to me in class.
26 YRS SWICK : The only person I'm interesting in impressing with my reading is myself.

.... yeah, I've really grown up. I wonder why I fell into such a peer pressure trap at that age. I guess because I've always been the shy quiet odd-one-out type.

How have your reading habits grown and changed since you were young?