I Just Read A Book

Unbelievable, right? I read a whole book.  I read a whole fiction novel.  Seriously though, this is a little unbelievable because when it comes to starting and finishing a book, especially fiction books, the odds are usually against me because:
1) I have what I call "Book Starting Anxiety" and I'm pretty sure I'm not alone in this.  If a book doesn't hook me right away it's highly unlikely that I'll pick it up again.  Ain't nobody got time for that! 
2) I get bored.  If I a book doesn't keep me interested from beginning to end then I'll just be done with it.  My mind starts to wander and I start to make a pretty long list of the better things I could be doing with my time (a list I rarely end up completing anyway).  Then, a page later have no idea what I just read.  You've been there too, admit it.  How can I start a book and not know how it ends?!  It makes no difference to me if I don't know what happened to the characters because really, I lost interest a long time ago. 

Notice I said fiction book.  Typically, I tend to go for non-fiction books because I feel like they are "good for me" and a better investment of my time if it inspires me, teaches me something new, and keeps me interested.  Reading non-fiction books are like eating healthy food.  Like a non-fiction book, the healthy food might not be my favorite but it makes me feel like I am adding something good to my body (or mind), so I focus on the benefits of consuming it.  The last time I successfully read a whole novel just for fun was before I started grad school.  Honestly, my graduate program wasn't the world's toughest program but there was plenty of reading involved so when it came to reading for fun, well, that just sounded like torture.  That was about three years ago.  

Since that was years ago, that might explain why I am a little behind the times in reading a book that I heard people raving about for so long.  Gone Girl.  If this book could keep my wandering mind interested, then I have faith that a focused reader would fly through this thrill and enjoy every second of it.  Rarely do I find a book that I hurry home from work to read, or have to force myself to stop reading so I can go to bed at a decent time.   If you haven't read it yet, I recommend you do so soon! 


Note: I started this book back in April but Reason #1: "Book Starting Anxiety" got the best of me. A few months later I decided I would give it another shot, and I'm glad I did!  The fact that this book is going be a movie this Fall starring one of my favorite Hollywood fellas may have been part of my motivation to read it.  

---