I was going to read A Suitable Boy, by Vikram Seth, along with my best friend. She finished it but it never happened for me. I couldn't take the time to finish my 50 pages per day target. I didn't even make it to the first 200. It is a sad situation, considering there was a time when we used to finish books like Gone With The Wind together, during our school vacations. Unfinished books tend to nag a lot. And often, ditching a book to read another, halves the joy of reading both.
After being sad about it for a little while, I began to wonder how come I don't read books but I don't get that "empty" feeling, which you get after a prolonged period of being too busy with work or other things. The reason, I found out, was that I tend to read a lot online. In fact, I have some Internet haunts where I am remarkably regular. I miss these sites when I am too busy and I make sure I visit as soon as I get some free time.
Starting on a rather frivolous note, I am a big fan of Suri's Burn Book The author of this blog pretends to be Suri Cruise and has an opinion on all the other celebrity kids. It is refreshingly funny, considering you always imagine coming it out of a nine year old. Then there is Psychology Today. I started reading this magazine when I was trying to understand the issues related to body image and stress in women. I have long abandoned that research after having read almost everything I could get my hands on but the source has stayed with me. I enjoy reading their take on the role of social media in relationship psychology. Slate is another haunt that keeps me occupied, especially the column "Dear Prudence", written by Emily Yeoffe.
Brain Pickings is another blog I read and share a lot. I like their short videos like this one, about the origin of the Universe. Then there is TED. I love TED. I not only follow the new talks on TED, but I also go back to my old favorites every now and then. I was introduced to positive psychology on TED. These talks have led me to read books and blogs that have actually changed the way I think over the past few years. The fear of failing is not as stifling as it used to be earlier. There is also a greater sense of 'contentment' which was missing in my early twenties. It could be due to many reasons, but when it comes to work and working with others, I follow these rules of making people happy in the NOW rather than pressuring them with time lines.
I read an awful amount of comics online. Calvin & Hobbes and Cyanide & Happiness are a part of my regular reading diet. Oatmeal, indexed and xkcd are also really tempting time wasters. I love the Colbert Report. It is something I started watching regularly during my post-doc.
But listing all of this is no reason not to read old fashioned three dimensional books. I am still a loser in that race with my friend. So I better log off and read. :)
