Tues. Dec. 31, 2019: Reading Ending and Beginnings

image courtesy of Larissa-K via pixabay.com

First of all, Happy New Year! May the New Year bring you many blessings, literary and other.

For me, the first book of the year is a huge, huge choice. I sometimes feel it sets the tone for the coming year, so I want it to be wonderful.

Well, every time I pick up a book, I hope I fall in love with it!

I often buy a new book on New Year’s Eve. Even if I haven’t finished the stack I received for Solstice/Christmas, I often buy a new book, carefully chosen, on December 31.

I start reading it a few minutes after midnight. Unless I’m at a party. Then I start reading it when I get home.

I chose my book yesterday: Blood and Blade byLauren Dane. A kickass book to start a kickass year.

Happy New Year!

Last, First Books of the Year

I fell into a ritual a few years ago, without realizing I was doing so, and it’s grown to be something important to me.

The ritual is making a conscious choice for the last book and the first book I purchase each year.

Ideally, I’d purchase the last book on the 31st and the first on the 1st or 2nd, but that’s not always a viable option.

This year, I’m going to purchase the last book on the 29th – and the possibilities are delicious. What does the choice of book mean? Do I choose a book by someone with whom I’m acquainted, to set the stage in supporting a colleague? Do I pick a book that’s intrigued me, but I’ve never “gotten around” to buying it?

And the first book of the year – it sets the tone of the year. What do I want this year to be? Will it be a book about writing? Will it be a biography of someone I admire? Will it be a delightful novel to set the bar high for my own work?

Think about what you buy, when you buy it, and why you buy it. Creating a ritual for the first and last books of the year could turn into a mindful and happy tradition.

(Note: This post was originally published on December 28, 2006 at the Blogger Version of A Biblio Paradise).