This is the Reader's Life

As I watch these "Books I Completed in 2010" posts trickle through my Google Reader, I find myself questioning my dedication to reading. Some have neared 300 books in just 12 short months. Me? I haven't counted for the year, but besides A Christmas Carol, which I talked about in my post yesterday (and promise to talk about more in the near future), I haven't finished a reading a book since I got back from my honeymoon and insisted on completing Moonlight Mile to the exclusion of all else. I have completed a few audiobooks, which I've taken to listening to on my nearly 1-hr commute to and from work each day, but as much as I enjoy them, it is not the same as curling up with a good, old-fashioned book. I'd make the same argument against e-books, for the record.

I have no intentions of turning this homage to a reader's life into a rant against books in alternate formats. I'm all for choice and fitting in your reading with your lifestyle - which is actually exactly to my point. Because I find myself earning for a lifestyle that would allow for solid blocks of reading time, the ability to complete a chapter in one sitting, the focus to read a book cover-to-cover in one weekend - or better yet, one day.

Such a lifestyle eludes me. I work 40+ hours a week, commute for 10+ hours a week, have a husband, a cat, a house that need my attention, a family with whom I enjoy spending time, and a host of thank-you notes to write (still) and Christmas cards to send (ok, I finished those), and laundry to fold (always), etc. I try to cook from time to time, and occasionally I'll even work out (if WiiFit counts?). And let's not forget that I have blogs to read and blogs to write.

This is not a complaint, however, because in spite of all the things that tear me away from my precious home library, I still identify myself as a "reader." Ask me what I do and I will tell you I work in advertising. Ask me what I like to do and I will tell you I like to read. I like to think about reading, talk about reading, and tell others about what I am reading (in case you didn't guess from the mere existence of this blog). When I'm not reading, for whatever reason, I am doing my best to plan my next few pages. Because even if that's all I can fit into a given day, or week, or even month, that is where I find myself happiest, alone, and connected.

And so, despite my pitiful list of books completed since early November, and my incredible stunted list of books read in 2010 as compared to those behemoth lists of other bloggers', and regardless of the fact that I have resigned myself to never completing the 1001 books to read before you die, I am still a reader. This is the reader's life.