Change of Focus

For quite a while now, I haven't felt like making a blog post. And I think I know exactly what I have to blame for that: my focus on books. As last semester was going on, I didn't have much time to read books. And because a blog gives me space to write about the books I read, I thought it would be nice to get my ideas out here. The problem, of course, is that once summer came along, I had a lot more time to read. Thus, I had a lot more I could write about.

Forcing myself to write a post for every book I read isn't a good system if I read tons of books, because then I feel like that's just too much work to force myself to do. Then I procrastinate, and it just piles up. So I've decided to take this blog into a new direction. 

Instead of rating books, I will just post things I'm thinking about. Sure, this might be books, as seen in my most recent post about Chuck Palahniuk's novels. But I have a few posts lined up now that are specifically not about books. I have taken down my Book Ratings page, so I don't feel the pressure to update it.

After all, I spend way too much time worrying about how things are rated. And really, what's the point of that? Every piece of art has its own idiosyncratic merit, and doesn't need to find vindication through comparison. From now on, no ratings will appear here. I'm considering taking all my ratings off of Shelfari as well, but I'm not sure when or if I will do that. Overall, I just think I've been having a very strange attitude towards books. I've been trying to increase the total number of books I've read, and I think it's affecting how much I actually enjoy them. I just need to...chill out.

I have been pretty strict with myself for a long time, and I think it's about time I loosen up. So that's what I'm working on now.