The Right Book at the Right Time
The other day, I saw a Tumblr post about how difficult it can be to read even the most book if the timing isnāt right. Sometimes you need something familiar and comforting, and sometimes you need something new and a bit challenging, and thereās no hard-and-fast rule for when either of those things might occur.
It really made me think about the right time to read a book, and about the books Iāve read so far this year that Iāve had on my reading list for ages. If I havenāt āclickedā with a book (sometimes because of constraints on my time, and sometimes because of my mood) in the past, Iāve crossed it off my reading list entirely.
Thatās what happened withĀ āNo Place for a Ladyā by Gill Paul, because I picked it up justĀ before I moved house, and the copy I had was a paperback borrowed from my local library. I read the first thirty-odd pages, and I was really enjoying it, but I was trying to pack my entire life into one small suitcase and a single cardboard box, and thatās quite the task. I returned it to the library, and havenāt picked it back up. It feels odd to me, because Iāve since read pretty much everything else that Gill Paul has written (I just adore her books about the Romanovs!), but the time just hasnāt felt right for āNo Place for a Ladyā. I donāt think Iād enjoy it if I picked it up now, even though I often pick up her other books, and have given copies of two of them to my friend as a birthday present.
That said, I know it will beĀ āthe right timeā for that book - and others - at some point. I definitely havenāt given up on it.
If the timing isnāt the best, I really struggle to enjoy books even if I want to love them. A good case in point is āChildren of Blood and Boneā by Tomi Adeyemi, which I first bought in my second year, when it came out in paperback, but I was Far Too Depressed to read much of anything at the time. Even though I was really excited by the concept, and wanted to read more fantasy than I had been doing, I just couldnāt force myself to concentrate on anything for long enough to get immersed in a book. Trying to read it then just frustrated me, and it got sent to the charity shop as well. Last year, I bought myself the eBook and audiobook, and earlier this month I read the whole thing in less than a week. Itās absolutely fabulous, and so exciting, and Iām so glad I bought another copy, because itās such a good book (and definitely one Iāll be re-reading, no matter how pressed I am for time).
Iām currently readingĀ āKushielās Dartā by Jacqueline Carey, and hate having to put it down to do Things Which Are Not Reading. I first bought a copy of it years ago, when I was still at Sixth Form, tried to read it several times, never getting past the first hundred pages, and eventually it was time for me to pack up my bedroom and leave for university, so it got sent to the charity shop, and I crossed it off my reading list. Cut to my room at university just a few months into my first semester, and I was craving a crumb of Carey... so I bought another copy, and have watched it languish in the corner of every room Iāve had since then... until now. Itās taken me five (or maybe six) years for me to āclickā with it.
Hopefully Iāll find the āright timeā for the rest of the books on my reading list quite soon. Itās frustrating to feel like my brain just wonāt get into gear. Still, when I do feel like that, I have plenty of books (many of them digital, so theyāre all in my pocket at once) to try to tempt myself out of the Cave of Potato-Brain, and most of my favourite books are downloaded to my phone, anyway.
(Note: please buy official copies of eBooks and audiobooks. Book piracy is seriously harmful to the whole publishing industry, and even if you donāt want to support a particular author but still want to read their work, pirating a pdf is not the answer. Buy a second-hand paperback from your local charity shop if you can, or look for one online. Alternatively, look in your local library. Donāt download books illegally. Just... donāt do that. Please.)
The other day I was in the mood for somethingĀ ālight and a little bit sillyā (both very excellent things for a book to be), so I listened to āDancing in My Nuddy-Pantsā by Louise Rennison (the audiobook is read by the author), which is spectacularly funny. It was distinctly notĀ the right time for me to work silently on my university reading. I read a lot of āGeorgia Nicolsonā when I was at secondary school, and was much more diligent and industrious (I had more energy then. Donāt know where I got it from or how to get it back. Please return to etc etc reward offered if found etc.) with my studies, so I thought having one of the audiobooks in the background might kick my brain into a decent gear...
...It didnāt, because I was laughing too hard, but it still improved my mood no end, so that I was able to work properly afterwards.
Sometimes you need something familiar and comforting, and sometimes you need something new and a bit challenging, and thereās no hard-and-fast rule for when either of those things might occur. It definitely wasnāt the right time for me to read the articles I had to read for university the other day, but I managed to trick my brain into working anyway by listening to an audiobook which wasĀ right.
Still, if your brain is a little bit smarter than mine (the barās on the floor, letās face it) and you canāt trick yourself into thinking itās theĀ āright timeā for a book you want or need to read, donāt worry. (Easier said than done, I know. Try not to worry.) It will be āthe right timeā for that book - and others - at some point. You donāt have to give up on it.
