Is Reading a Way to Procrastinate?

By Maureen L. Bonatch

My mother is an avid reader. She taught me about the joy of books at a very young age. I have fond memories of her reading a chapter or two from novels like the Little House on the Prairie series to my sister and I before bed each night. Our cherished library cards were worn from repeated use.                  

A Photo I took of My Daughter's TBR Jar :) 

There was nothing better than spending an afternoon escaping to the world captured between the pages.

It was hard for me to imagine anyone not deriving the same pleasure from a good book. But I knew those people existed. Because our household validated that there are two types of people. Readers and the non-readers. And my father fell into the second group.

I Have Better Things to Do

As a non-reader oblivious to the benefits of a book, my father always felt there were better things to do than ‘waste your day’ reading a book. He viewed reading as a form of procrastination to avoid doing other necessary tasks. These things usually involved extra chores since obviously we’d turned to reading as a last resort to defeat overwhelming boredom.

It’s unfortunate I wasn’t outspoken enough to retort with many of the benefits of reading such as:

·      Increasing your knowledge base and vocabulary with a wealth of topics and worlds to explore

·      Improving your health by exercising your brain with mental stimulation and improving memory

·      Reducing stress by embracing the tranquility a book can provide

I Don’t Have Time to Read

I still encounter many non-readers and often hold my tongue as they insist that it isn’t that they don’t want to read, it’s just that they don’t have the time to read. We all have the same 24 hours in a day. Readers realize that there is always time to read because when you love to read you make the time. Whether it’s by:

•       Making productive, positive use of wasted time while waiting for an appointment
•       Choosing to read a book over watching television
•       Bringing a book with you to capture spare minutes while your kids are in an activity or during your lunch break 

Read a Book Day or Fight Procrastination Day

Today (September 6^th) is Read a Book Day. Why not promote reading to try to convert the non-readers and welcome them to the wonders of reading.

•       Social Media- Take a minute to share #ReadABook
•       Donate Books- Local libraries and schools often accept books.
• Make a book basket for a charity auction featuring either your books, your favorite authors or author friends.

•       Give a Book as a Gift- I always give a book as a gift at a baby shower and have found many people are thrilled to receive a special author autographed copy of a book.

                       *Check out an author’s website to see if they offer 

                 autographed copies.  

•      Introduce them to Different Forms of Books and Genres. The glorious thing about books is that there really is something for everyone.

o   Whatever you like to read- romance, paranormal, fantasy, crime, young adult etc.  

o   Whatever format you prefer- audiobook, paperback, ebook etc.

Raising a New Generation of Readers

I’ve instilled a love of reading in my girls. I’m thrilled that their gift lists are always predominantly books and the walls of their rooms are filled with their cherished treasures.

Today is also Fight Procrastination Day today. I don’t consider reading as procrastination. I consider it a necessity. But if I did, it would be my favorite form of procrastination.

What Are Your Suggestions to Welcome Non-Readers to the World of Books?

My Latest Release Evil Speaks Softly is Now Available for Pre-Order.

Everyone has a story to tell. Even the dead.

They were never supposed to meet. Fame came easy for Liv by following in the footsteps of the female writers in her family. The cycle repeated for decades…until Liv changed the story. Her villain doesn’t like the revision—and he isn’t a fictional character. In his story, the bad guy always wins.

They were never supposed to find love. Liv never questioned her demanding nocturnal muse, or the strange incidents in her old, family home until she met Gage. His job was to watch her from afar, not reveal the truth about the curse and the stories of the dead.

They’ve broken all the rules. Together they unravel secrets as they strive to stop the cycle. Liv’s ability to find love, and protect her loved ones, hangs on the fickle whims of the dead—and they’ve got nothing to lose.

Author Bio: Maureen Bonatch grew up in small town Pennsylvania and her love of the four seasons—hockey, biking, sweat pants and hibernation—keeps her there. While immersed in writing or reading paranormal romance and fantasy, she survives on caffeine, wine, music, and laughter. A feisty Shih Tzu keeps her in line. Find Maureen on her website, Facebook & Twitter

Procrastination, I Heart You

So, I was sitting in my office all relaxed and trying to figure out what we're going to do today. Then, while perusing my email, I got one from Here Be Magic and wondered why I started shaking. It wasn't a bad email--not like they're kicking me out (right, peeps?). I couldn't figure out why I reacted so oddly. And then it hit me. I was supposed to post today.

D'oh!

And now I sit here, frantically typing since the day is half over and I have nothing ready to go. Truth is... this is kind of my life. It's much rarer when I'm ahead of schedule and have all my blog posts out and scheduled and on time. Quite honestly, with blogging it often works better for me because I can blog about something that's on my brain right now and I won't wonder what the hell I was thinking when it posts. This is me. Today. Raw.

But hey, at least I showered.

The funny part is I'm in the midst of NaNoWriMo (National Novel Writing Month), and for the first time in ages, I'm ahead of my goal. No procrastination there. I haven't had any killer word days, but I'm averaging over 2100 words a day. If I really buckle down for the rest of the month, I could even have a completed draft by the first of December.

Yay, NaNoNovel!

On the other hand, I don't think there's a blog post I haven't written on the fly this month. I have stuff I was supposed to mail weeks ago. (One letter is sitting in my car right now, waiting for me to remember to get stamps.) The house gets cleaned in fits and starts (which means it's never really clean.

Hello, my name is Seleste, and I'm a procrastinator.

*everyone* Hello, Seleste.

*jerk in the back corner* That's not even your real name!

*me* Shut up, dude, that's really not the point.

Because of today's posting oops, I'm back at wanting to "cure" my procrastination sickness. And I'll probably bust ass over the next week and get crazy-ahead on life. Holiday cards will go out, blog posts will be written (and in a few weeks, I'll wonder what I was smoking when I wrote them), the house will get cleaned, decorations will go up. My writing might suffer a little, but hey, it's just my NaNoNovel, right?

Er... Back the truck up.

Out of four NaNos I've done, two of those novels (in some form or other) have gone on to be published--includingBadlands. A third is in limbo at the moment because I'm being very particular about who I'm willing to sell it to (at some point I'll let everyone know how that worked out).

That means this could be the NaNoNovel that changes everything, the one that breaks me into the big leagues, the one that makes me a household name (hahahahahahaha--okay, I don't really believe that). But it's important too. Arguably it's more important than the cards and the decorations and the cleaning. Maybe not more important than the blogs posts (I am ahead, after all), but I'm one of those people who generally needs to embrace my procrastination.

Without it, I'd never get the most important stuff done.

Now if you'll excuse me, my son wants to teach me how to play Lego Harry Potter.