If I want to read 100 novels in a year, it is not going to happen without some serious planning. Just by having a look at my agenda for 2025, it seems already packed to the brim. So, O.R.G.A.N.I.S.A.T.I.O.N! First up: cleaning up my to-read list.
Not just any book comes into my life. No, no it is quite the struggle. First, a book has to catch my attention in a store or the library. Then, it must pass my interest test: Does this story hit a nerf ? Only then does it find a place in my “To Read” cupboard with its three shelves.
Some books go immediately on shelf 1. Books from the library which can’t linger around too long. Special re-reads like The Collected Works by Kalih Gibran with one of my favorite short stories The Ambitious Violet make it here too. The irresistible titles, the ones that practically beg to be read right now, also land here..
Other books end up on Shelf number 2. They still excite me, just a little bit less than the ones on Shelf number 1. And then we have Shelf number 3, not the most glamorous spot to end up as a book. But there is always hope they might move up the ranks someday. The next big challenge? Graduating from the cupboard to one of my reading baskets.
My baskets are one of the reasons I read as much as I do. Strategically placed around the house, — on the breakfast table, by the door, by the toilets (obviously) —,making sure a book is always close by hand. But not every basket is suitable for every book.
Take the breakfast table basket. The books that get dropped in here should be the ones that I can dip in and out without losing the whole plot. A graphic one on motherhood, for example, that perks me up when breadcrumbs and “no’s” fly around my ears. Ideal place for a book such as “Once there was a Mom” by Emily Watts.
Another one is the living room basket. This has the books I savour after dinner, when the house is a little bit quieter. It contains books on running a business or becoming a human with better organisation skills for example. I loved the PARA method by Tiago Forte this year.
So yes, reading a book in this household is not just about reading. It is treasuring whatever story that has made it through the long journey and made it in the basket. And emptying these shelves and baskets is a big deal. Because each one of them came into my house with a reason, even if I don’t always remember what that reason was. Letting some of them go feels like saying goodbye to friends who could have been closer, if only circumstances were different.
But it is also damn exciting to see that empty Shelf 1. It’s a promise of new stories, new worlds, a new Singapore to discover. I have already ordered a couple of books here and there. I wonder which one will end up first on the shores of my cupboard. Will these stories live up to my excitement, surprise me in unexpected ways? Each book is a step into a new world, a new universe! And I am so ready to start.