Reading More As The World Falls Apart

There has been, and will be much written about reading during the pandemic years of 2020, and 2021 but I wanted to add to the litany of people who have had a remarkable reading year despite the sirens of streaming movies, social media binges and attempts at new hobbies...though I have fallen victim on occasion with all three. Saying that one has read more during a pandemic might seem pedestrian, but I have. My Goodreads will show three major waves during 2020 brought about completely due to Covid-19.

The first was the initial lockdown in March of last year. Fearing the worst, I traveled to my native lands of Tennessee spending the bulk of the time at home with my family. My days consisted of mornings working on library projects and reading in the afternoons. What I read was turned into more library projects, so I wasn't totally wasting company time...right???. I read several really great books including Brian Panowich's newest of the Bull Mountain series Hard Cash Valley. I knocked out Jeffrey Shaara's Gods and Generals, as well as The Cutting Season by Attica Lock, and finally Where The Crawdad's Sing. When you have time, and an uncertain future, you start reading whatever is around. Thankfully I have tucked a backpack's worth of books in the car before leaving my library. Mom never fails to have a few gems around and in a splurge I bought Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy by John La Carre in a rare (brief) trip to Wal-Mart...don't judge, we all have moments of weakness (not from the book but Wal-Mart

The second wave was just a fruitful and Covid is to blame again. When Homecoming at my alma mater Emory & Henry College was cancelled, several alumni and I organized an old fashioned Read-A-Thon as part of our Virtual STAYHOMEcoming. In an effort to push my team to victory (we came in second) I read some great works including The Wrecking Crew: The Inside Story of Rock and Roll's Best-Kept Secret by Kent Hartman, Dirty Daddy: The Chronicles of a Family Man Turned Filthy Comedian by Bob Saget, and The Natural Man by Ed McClanahan. It was great to see what other people were reading (we kept track on our alumni Facebook page) and see what books I might get the most bang for my buck.

My final wave coincides with my coming to work here in New Bern, NC. Since coming to the Bern, I have been introduced to the likes of Jim Harrison, James Lee Burke, and Nguyễn Phan Quế Mai. I even read a time travel novel, and LOVED IT! Ron Rash is a new favorite as well, and I have plans to dive into more Japanese authors in the coming month. While my commute, which I had in Virginia, is much shorter, I have utilized my lunch hours (which were non-existing in my previous job) and every other weekend trips to Raleigh to listen to some fantastic audio books including Bettye Kearse's The Other Madisons: The Lost History of a President's Black Family and Octavia Butler's Parable Of The Sower.

I will admit, I have watched my share of streamed movies, tried my hand at houseplants, spent a good bit of time listening to my record collection, and wondering down to the beach, my reading life has flurished during the pandemic. My plan is to keep it up, but I have a feeling, like most everyone, I am going to be making up for lost time seeing family and friends, going to concerts, and eating/drinking in public without fear and well doing what I missed while I was reading.