Reading books, in hard copy, has been a preferred form of relaxation all my life. Since childhood I’ve been an avid patron of the local library. When I was ten my mother paid for my subscription to the St Albans Library in the old Carnegie building, so I could access the adult books not permitted to me at the public library.
I have a collection of non-fiction and reference books, plus some well-loved fiction. Each week we have the Listener and the Guardian Weekly delivered and I enjoy these, reading some articles more thoroughly than others.
Some years ago I joined a book group where we received a monthly volume from the Book Discussion Scheme to read and discuss. These were often not books I would have chosen but I appreciated being introduced to new authors. After a few years this group changed and finally faded out at the end of 2020.
Early this year I joined the WEA book group. The chosen books are ones that align to WEA philosophy, i.e. themes of social and environmental justice, stories of community and compassion, and tales of hope and transformation. Of the ten books offered so far this year, fewer than half have been ones I enjoyed reading.
This month’s selection is the story of a Syrian musician, told to two ghost writers, and then translated. This makes the writing seem remote to me. It’s a worthy tale, but the first 100 pages have failed to engage me and reading it seems like a chore. I don’t want to finish it and am considering resigning from the group. I want my reading to be a pleasure, not a duty, and I’d rather stick to mysteries, historical stories, and engaging biographies.
These books have not been to my taste
I see no need more time to waste
Ruth's Reflections 
I sympathise. Ideology is no compensation for good writing. I am reading and loving Tim Heath’s new book ‘The Accidental Teacher’. I am biased because he’s my writing buddy and old friend from university, but it’s a delight to read a good kiwi book that is so full of humour and good storytelling, as well as being a fascinating review of NZ over many decades, through the eyes of a teacher. Highly recommended to antidote your current bad experience!
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I already have Tim’s book on my For later list at the library. Have just checked and the hard copy is not yet available here -perhaps all the librarians are reading it first?
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I think you may be right about the librarians. Once you start the first page you can’t stop reading. Great that you have it on order.
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Reading needs to be enjoyable for me too, and I struggle with some of the choices in my book group. Luckily I have the time to read books I enjoy and have made some delightful discoveries in the library.
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Often it seems like I have a duty to read the book group books. If I get something from the library and find I don’t like it, I’m quite free not to continue.
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