Read Whatever the Hell You Want
Enjoy yourself.
[This blog will always be free to read, but it’s also how I pay my bills. If you have suggestions or feedback on how I can earn your paid subscription, shoot me an email: cmclymer@gmail.com. And if this is too big of a commitment, I’m always thankful for a simple cup of coffee.]
Folks, I don’t have to tell you that things are bad right now, but at some point this weekend, I hope you’re getting some time for yourselves.
Maybe that’s sleeping in. Maybe that’s time with your family and friends. Maybe that’s exercise. Maybe it’s binge-watching a new show.
But if you’re wanting to read a book (or listen to a book) this weekend to blow off steam and relax a bit, I am begging you to read whatever the hell you want.
Reading is meant to be reparative. It’s meant to recharge your batteries. Books can challenge and motivate and inspire, but right now—especially now—what we need from books is to help us breathe easier.
It’s hard to do that when you’re raking yourself over the coals because you haven’t read the trendy NYT bestseller, the classic you’ve been meaning to crack open, or the book your more-engaged friends are talking about.
If the thought of not yet having read certain great books is stressing you out and you’re neglecting books you actually want to read, you’re doing the whole reading thing wrong.
The average life expectancy in the U.S. is 78 years.
If you read a book per week for your entire adult life—60 years—that works out to 3,120 books in your lifetime.
That would be a blazing pace because the average U.S. adult reads 13 books per year, according to Gallup, and honestly, that feels a bit inflated. That's 780 books in your lifetime.
North American publishers put out 10,000 new titles in 2023 alone.
Don't feel bad if you're not reading every great book.
No one ever has, and no one ever will.
You have a finite amount of time on earth and most of that is spent earning a paycheck and caring for kids and caring for loved ones and hopefully getting enough sleep in the midst of all that.
When you make the time to read someone's book—anyone's book—what a goddamn honor you are bestowing upon them.
And when you read something not out of pressure to read it but because it puts a bit more light and oxygen into your soul, what a goddamn way of honoring yourself.
You will never come close to reading a tenth of all the great books that have ever been published — nor should you ever feel the need to.
Just read what you want—when you can—and enjoy it.
I agree with you 100%! I love reading books and listening to music. It’s relaxing.
Yes, yes and absolutely yes. What a marvelous suggestion.