The Wonder Project :: Read a Book

Nothing opens up the horizon like a good book.  New characters, new vistas, new viewpoints are all cradled between the covers.  Here are three strategies to help you conjure up wonder in your reading.

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Follow your whimsy

Not the books you are supposed to read, not the ones on the list.  Read what catches your fancy.  Follow the rabbit trails.  Keep on digging.  Lately for me that has looked like reading piles and piles of Brian Doyle books.  I also just finished The Tale of Hill Top Farm by Susan Wittig Albert. It’s a mystery starring Beatrix Potter. And there are talking animals.  This book can in nowise be considered serious, but it was completely essential for me.

Re-read with abandon

Books don’t change, but we do.  I’m a different woman, a different reader than I was when I was 20 or even 30.  Books keep on revealing themselves to me.  The best books keep that up over time.  Right now I am re-reading The Rock That is Higher by Madeleine L’Engle.  I first read it on a trip to San Francisco with my mom in 1996.  Since then, I’ve become immersed in children’s literature.  I want to see how the book holds up.

Keep a queue

People humble brag about the size of their to-be-read piles all the time.  But it really is essential to have the next book ready.  There’s nothing worse than not knowing what to read next.  Goodreads can keep the list for you, or perhaps it can go in the back of your one sentence journal.  Keeping a record–both of what you’ve read and what’s on the horizon–will only enrich your wonder reading practice.

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