| Heya <<First Name>>,
Every Sunday morning before I look at my phone, I get up early, feed the cat, make a pot of coffee, and read for two or three hours from the current book stack.
Ridiculous, I know.
Right now, the books include “The Lord of the Rings” (oh, the nostalgia), “Bleak House” (love to read a new Dickens every other year or so), “Shadow and Bone” (thanks to my daughter for recommending), some business books, some poetry, etc. etc.
I’ve discovered that the value in the ritual comes as much from what I read as it does from the act of reading. I settle in. I relax. I pay attention. My brain quiets down. Thoughts bubble to the surface.
Sweet, sweet nostalgia.
Admittedly, my reading habit is made easier by the fact that my kids are grown. If they were small now, I’d probably experiment with an hour or so of “book time” together where we mixed reading aloud and reading silently before the demands of the day became unignorable.
I joked with my business partner, Bob, that we could brand the idea “Families All Reading Together,” just for the acronym. Reading should be fun, after all. And maybe a bit subversive.
Somehow, despite my kids’ growing up in the age of the smartphone, they still love to read. (Maybe those road trips to Powell’s City of Books in Portland, Oregon, really did pay off.) My son just picked up a copy of “A Tale of Two Cities” (I told him it took me three tries before it “took.”) And my daughter is collecting every version of “The Great Gatsby” she can get her hands on.
Deckled pages, I love you so.
There are always a thousand tasks tugging at me on Sundays. Chores to do. Emails to answer. Plans to make. Work to catch up on. And each task comes with a ready argument why I should attend to it instead of reading.
Still, I resist. At least for a while.
When I read, I feel restored. That’s counterargument enough.
Happy reading,
Jeff and Bob …
… who believe that reading with kids can change the world for the better
PS. Want to work with us? We have a part-time “wingperson” position available. |
