Reading List

I love to read, but life sometimes allows little time for this pleasure.  I do, however, try to make time for this particular activity, but don't always manage it on a daily basis.  I tend to read either first thing in a morning when I wake up, last thing at night before going to sleep or sometimes I take a book with me if going on a train or for an appointment where I know I will be just sat twiddling my thumbs for 10 minutes or longer.

Whilst I admire the technology and mimimalist potential of an e-reader, I do like to read books.  I enjoy the turning of the pages, being able to pick them off the shelf and dip in and out easily, searching for them in charity shops and car boot sales and wrapping them to give as gifts.  In addition, for many of us, so much of our lives is now spent sat at the computer that it is nice to not use it for some activities.  Besides this I do worry about the consequences of too much computer use on my eyesight.

I currently have a pile of books at my bedside waiting to be read.  I have collected them over the past 6 months at charity shops, library sales, ebay, discount bookshops and a few have been gifts.  As a consequence I really don't need to buy another book for probably another six months unless one jumps out at me from a shelf somewhere that I really can't pass up.

I am currently reading a book which was an International Best Seller in the 1990's.  You might think that this book would be very dated and totally irrelevant to life today but far from it.  It is a book by Sarah Ban Breathnach called 'Simple Abundance - A Daybook of Comfort and Joy' and is a guide to understanding how the simple, joyful pleasures of life which cost little or nothing can bring pleasure, harmony and a sense of fulfilment to our lives every day.  It encourages development of one's authentic self and living an authentic life.  As such is it just as relevant today as it was 20 years ago.

When reading blogs it seems to me that more and more people seem to be casting aside or simply can no longer afford to pursue the consumerist lifestyle that the advertising industry encourages, and in doing so seem to be seeking a more authentic existence being grateful for what they have rather than  constantly aspiring to own the next best thing.   This book is about following this path in life and how it can lead to a sense of harmony and creativity.

I am almost at the end of  this book.  It is the second I have read by this author and I have another two still to read.  After reading the first, which is a more recent publication (2010) and is called 'Peace and Plenty - Finding Your Path to Financial Serenity' which I found in a discount shop for £1 and really enjoyed, I sought out earlier titles on ebay and bought 3 for around £8.  She has a beautiful positive style of writing which I find easy to read, with a strong sense of the spiritual.  Her books also tend to be easy to dip in and out of if you find you have little time to read.

Talking of books, I need to go, I have some due back at the library today.