A Reading Vacation

Not a vacation from reading, but a vacation in which all I do is read.

I am thinking this may be a requirement in my life since my To-Read list is so long. I just added at least 4 books to my list today, all of which I'm excited about. Pretty much all are YA fiction since I'm immersing myself in the genre lately.

What's funny is, recently my husband said he wanted to take a week off from work and completely write and record an album. Now, you would think this would be ideal; we both take a week off, he records and I read. Except that the music project he wants to do involves me (eep! I'm a Guitar Hero vocalist at best; I have admitted numerous times that I have a "choir voice," you know, the kind that sounds good when it's drowned out by other voices). I had my heart set on a real vacation, one involving a beach and all-inclusive drinks, but I have to say, a week at home doing everything I'm trying to squeeze in now sounds nice, too.

Since it's the season of Lent, I had it in the back of my mind to forgo playing any video games (Dragon Age 2 will have to wait) which would help me out with taking on that pile of books. As a side note, it's interesting to me that such a self-denying spiritual discipline is still so active in our culture. People I know who haven't been to church in years give up things like chocolate or sugar for Lent. You may think giving up video games seems a bit cheap for a full-time working adult, but let me tell you, there are therapeutic effects to mowing down evil spirits as a noble warrior princess (first Dragon Age game). I have not stated outloud whether I am participating in giving up gaming for Lent, because if I do that, then I have to actually give up gaming for Lent.

I suppose it's a timely thought, though. There is only so much time. What I allot time for in each day is something to consider. I have a stack of books waiting to be read, and novel that needs an ending before I can send it off to my beta-readers. Giving up a game that requires major time-suckage is probably a smart move. And not to understate the spiritual aspects of Lent, the whole self-denying thing can be great for actually doing what Lent is intended for; spending more time on spiritual things.