30 Pages a Day

  100 Words:   When I was in Powell's in Portland, I wanted to find some books that would spark my reading again. I used to be a super avid reader, but as life has gotten busy, I sort of stopped entirely. So when I walk in a book store, I end up aimlessly walking around, oftentimes more frustrated than happy. I simply can't figure out what to read and have somehow lost the ability to get back into the flow of reading. I imagine it's like an athlete who can't play his sport the way he used to. It's depressing and makes an entirely enjoyable activity a frustrating one. Anyway, I decided to look up the best books of the 2000s and this book was high on the list I happened to check. The cover is interesting, the title equally so, so I added it to the pile of books I grabbed that day. Summary :  The Thousand Autumns of Jacob De Zoet is set in feudal Japan around the turn of the 19th century. Jacob (of the title) is a clerk for the Dutch East India Company, trying to make ...

100 Words: I'm trying to take a more embracing approach to blogging about reading. I don't want to feel defensive or like a failure, so there will be days when I don't read, and I want to be ok with that. On this vacation I've made it a point to disconnect from work, the soccer website, everything. Just enjoy my family, the vacation and everything that isn't home. It's done wonders for my brain, allowing me to enjoy myself in a way I rarely do at home. Not that I don't have fun, but I feel like there's always something in the back of my head that I'm behind on. Ruins too many good moments, worrying about other shit I haven't done yet. Today's reading was done on the flight home to El Paso.  Summary:  In the Seattle airport, waiting for our transfer to the El Paso flight, I passed by the SubPop store. I wandered in and avoided the vinyl (I had bought plenty in Portland). What caught my eye was a long row of the 33 1/3 books along the wall. Th...

100 Words:  On vacation in Portland, we've visited Powell's books, a downtown institution of a book store, massive, a block-sized store that goes up multiple stories. It's an amazing place. As we walked the aisles, I just felt so motivated to start reading again. I'm too smart to not feed my brain. Reading ignites my passions and I feel like I just stopped reading some time back. Maybe this blog is a glimmer of a spark in the dark of midnight, but I hope it's the beginning of me focusing on reading again. It's good for me, like the deep part of me, the "soul" of me, if I can borrow a word. Today just felt good. Like medicine good, like exercise good. I'm probably overdoing it, but I feel great about reading at this moment. Summary:  Trying to describe what this novella is about sounds simple. It's the life of a man born in the 1880s and dies in the 1960s. But it's so much more than that. It's a series of moments in his life, both the go...