Megan Eaves

as i said in the previous post, i do not make new year’s resolutions. however, recently catching up on my old internet-friend kari’s blog, through a glass darkly, has inspired me to start reading again. kari, who is a librarian and the consummate bookworm, read 128 books in 2009, which baffles my brain but also makes me want to read more. of course, kari tends to read fiction, a genre i’ve never been particularly good with. so, in an effort to put down the computer, which has become an increasingly difficult task of late, and pick up a book, i’ve decided to begin with some titles that inspire me in my passions. [tweetmeme]when i asked kari how she chose her many annual reads, she said she simply updated her list of books constantly and, like any hobbyist, was a bit obsessive. so, i figure, the best way to embark on something like reading is to make it applicable to your life.

the city of albuquerque has a remarkably good public library system, for which last month i signed up for my first ever borrower’s card. initially, this was mostly for research into the el paso guidebook that i’m writing; however, yesterday i decided to take fuller advantage of it by taking out some books for pleasure.

to start 2010, i will be reading three books, as follows.

el paso: a borderlands history by w.h. timmons

this book is on the list primarily for research, but i am finding it a pleasure to read. i started out in college as a history major and always enjoyed the act of learning and reading about the past. through this book, i’ve begun to explore corners of my own part of the world that i never understood before, and i like that.

a book of migrations: some passages in ireland by rebecca solnit

i chose this title primarily because it was in the ‘ireland’ part of the travel section of the library. but when i picked it up off the shelf and casually flipped through the pages, i was captivated by phrases like “Later on, Dublin would become a city of people for me” and “The next day it was raining harder. I walked to Kilfenora and bought a packet of chips and a chocolate bar in a dusty store where strangers or women must have been infrequent sights…” also, according to the book’s cover, the new york times said it is a ‘brilliant meditation on travel’, which seemed like a good fit for me in my reading journeys at the start of this new decade.

and finally…

round ireland with a fridge by tony hawks

i’d seen this book on the shelves of several bookstores, both in the u.s. and in ireland, but never had the wherewithall to buy it. it looks humorous and strange and it is about a quirky person traveling through ireland, and what could be better than that?

i would like to again thank kari for her bookish inspiration, and encourage you to read her blog, too, because she is a beautiful writer and the type of reader i wish i could be.

and i would like to ask you, what are you reading and why? should i read it? please leave a comment below to inspire me on my reading adventures in 2010.