It's a Hardback Life

The current political situation is turning my reading habit into a full-blown problem. I can’t focus on one book at a time, I can’t get through the books I am reading fast enough, and I can’t stop adding more titles and more subjects to my list. This is not a new problem. Rather, it is an exponential increase in issues I already had. I also can’t seem to settle into any kind of escapist reading, no matter how badly I could use the reprieve from reality.

I intended to start 2017 on a strong note, returning to semi-regular blogging and writing about books. Instead I find myself pulled in 50 different directions, attempting to cover ground in my deficient political and historical education in order to wrap my head around the shit show of United States politics. I suppose one solution is to take a break from reading altogether. But I’m not willing to make that sacrifice, however badly I might need to, considering I spent a huge part of 2016 in a reading slump that only worsened as the election rolled onward. Reading for knowledge suddenly feels imperative; halting the process feels like failure.

I was hoping that using reading as an outlet for this nervous energy I can’t seem to shake would be a good thing. I’ve yet to totally give up on it. But it seems like further steps will be necessary if I’m going to maintain my sanity and keep from burning out. In that light, some friends and I are launching a resistance project: a website/publication where we can use our various skills and interests to talk about issues and contribute something to the conversation. I hope to do a lot of writing about books as tools for resistance, though whether I’ll finally get the project off the ground is up in the air at the moment. I’m also under no illusions that it will be anything more than a tiny drop in a sea of other voices attempting to do the same thing. But I have to do something or I’m going to lose my mind.

I’m not sure why I felt the need to put this here. Maybe just to unload it out of my brain, or maybe to explain why I haven’t been writing after stating earlier in the year that I was planning on being more active again. I had made a post a few months back announcing an intent to be more political on Booklikes, but I’ve been avoiding doing so. Part of it is due to the issues I already mentioned, and part of it is simply due to the fact that I’m sure everyone is being bombarded by disaster in other areas and may not want to be inundated with it here as well.

Anyway, thanks for listening.