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I’ve not been in a reading mood. However, not being in a reading mood puts me in another type of mood that I’m not sure I can describe. A type of melancholy that presents itself at the most inopportune moments. Which typically only leads to the one activity that increases this mental sadness: scrolling. Ah, 1989, oh how I miss you. A time when my mobile phone was in a massive bag in the car “in case of emergency”, where boredom led to reading, and reading led to … well, life.

Then, in my sleepy, mindless, scrolling state, I ran across a YouTube video entitled “Make Reading So Exciting You’ll Never Scroll Again.” This may have changed my life. I’ve decided to embark on a journey to see if this can truly keep me from scrolling. Wouldn’t that be great? To take back my mind, my intellect, my overall wellbeing.

Briefly, the author Jo Shaw describes how you should always have four books in process at any given time to make sure that regardless of mood, you have something available to you. Something you know you’ll want to pick up for the frame of mind you’re currently in. She proposes The Challenging Book, The Complementary Book, The Fun Book and The Wildcard. Instead of regurgitating her video, I’ll describe each by telling you about my current reads and why I have selected those.

The Challenging Book: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas

Anything considered a classic is a challenge for me. There have been very few that I’ve enjoyed over the years, or at least I thought so. It turns out that, at present, this isn’t much of a challenge. It’s fun and interesting, especially if you’re fascinated with France. I have so many things highlighted that I want to look up. Normally, I look up as I go (as long as I’m at a good stopping point), but I’ve been reading on my lunch break, and I don’t want to take away from that time.

The Complementary Book: How to Read Literature Like a Professor by Thomas C. Foster

A complementary book can have a range; it could include biographies of the author, or maybe a subject within the book. For example, I could see reading a book on the regions of France or a book around the history of the shipping industry to enhance the overall experience of The Count of Monte Cristo. However, since classical literature is such a struggle for me, I have decided to take a broader approach and just start understanding how to properly read books. I do remember studying the classics in school and while the teachers may have stuck in my mind, the actual lessons have not. I never felt that connection or understood the importance of it. Now that I’m in my 50s, and considered a classic myself (ha!), I have a greater appreciation for the things that have come before me. I want to drink those things up, soak in them, or any other relative metaphor that can be dredged up. To understand, to question, to formulate thoughts requires some knowledge on a subject, and to that end one needs to consult the experts. In this case, that expert is Thomas C. Foster.

As an aside, I was introduced to the two books above by Lilly Baldwin who has a lovely Substack called The Commonplace Circle. With her paid subscription, you can also be part of The Grand Tour, in which she produces a thoughtfully curated monthly course of study. It was a great insight to me to receive this as it provided a look into the personal curriculum culture, which I’ve discovered is not for me (a subject for another day). But if this is something of great interest to you, then I highly recommend Lilly’s work.

The Fun Book: The Hidden Key of Brooke Sumner by Susan L. Tuttle*

I feel that this category requires no explanation. Read what you enjoy. I started this book at the end of March and have made little progress. Not because the book isn’t good, it is, but because my reader’s block was heavy due to a series of unfortunate events that I don’t wish to dwell on. But I’m saved by this reading rotation.

The Wildcard: How to Win Friends & Influence People by Dale Carnegie

Shaw suggests that this book be something that enhances another area of your life, such as work or non-reading hobbies. How to Win Friends & Influence People is one of those books I pick up every five to ten years to remind myself of how a proper person behaves. This time I’m also reading it aloud to practice my tone of voice and pace. Because you can teach an old dog new tricks, both tone and pace have improved since starting this exercise. I also find it wildly interesting that people can twist this teaching for their own objective. Et tu, Charles Manson?

This practice is totally against my past reading pattern of one book at a time, or at most, one fiction and one nonfiction, but right now it is doing its job and I’ve found myself with a book in my hands, open, and being read most days. I have no intention of requiring myself to read these books in a certain time frame or putting any sort of goals around them. At this time of my life, and most of it except during that brief time in my 20s and early 30s when many of us get caught up in productivity culture, I prefer a slow, easygoing pace. Just a sense of being. Of breathing. Of reading.

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* I received a complementary copy of this book from the publisher. All opinions are my own.