Finally Back Reading – Josh Journal
After my struggle to keep reading Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers, I can proudly say I’m back reading.
This is great news for me. I tend to get fixated on something and unable to move on to something else until I comprehensively conclude it.
I had started reading Outliers on the first day of the year. Going through the introduction was a breeze. (Those of you that read books but skip the preface and introduction, how do you sleep at night?)
By the time I got to chapter one, it became a drag. At that point, I realized my plan to read a chapter a day was not going to work out.
By the third day of the year, I couldn’t open the book anymore. The book has remained on my table ever since.
When a friend, Mary Ogundimu, announced she’ll be releasing her book early in March, I knew I had to get it.
Suffering and Smiling was a book that told her story of transiting out of Nigeria’s banking sector to self-employment.
As someone who has an endless appetite for understanding different dimensions of the human story, this is one story I needed to read.
The problem though is that I am stuck in a reading funk. As a writer, I have never experienced writer’s block. Why would I then as a reader be experiencing reader’s block?
It doesn’t make any sense. Wait. Is reader’s block even a thing?
I had to decide to consciously come out of this phase. If I didn’t, I might end the year without reading any book. And I have a massive library to consume this year.
At first, I thought I’ll be needing a palate cleanser. Something to take my mind off my inability to finish the previous book, and prepare my mind for Mary Ogundimu’s Suffering and Smiling.
I would have said I needed to whet my appetite, but I know my appetite needs no whetting. Books are the one thing I am known to never be able to get enough of.
My copy of the book was delivered yesterday, but I was unable to open it due to exhaustion.
A friend saw it and immediately opened it. He has also seen the adverts and was interested. He informed me that it was signed to me.
As inquisitive as I was to know what the note said, I was still too tired to check it out.
Today I did. I would have liked to share this note with you, but it feels kind of personal to me.
Very few things move me, but this note did.
The book is a short one. An easy read too. And very enjoyable.
I’m glad to inform you that at this moment, I have read two chapters today.
The story is so engrossing that I would have read through it without dropping it. But I have decided to do everything in moderation this year.
Including reading.
This already promises to be a pleasant and educative experience. I’m enjoying every moment of it so far.
As tempted as I am to write a review on the book, I think it would serve us all well if you get your own copy.
You can get it at https://flutterwave.com/pay/sufferingandsmilingngn
I’m happy to be back reading. You should do the same.
Wilson Joshua is a Video Editor, Content Creator, and Creative Writer.
Follow him on Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. @IJOSWIL
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