Author: Ina Du Toit

Today I finished a book. I adored this book. And even if it did take me almost three months (due to being distracted by many other wonderful thing) I have now completed it and now I feel sad… that I have to let go of these characters and the beautiful scenes and the descriptive language and plunge into another book. And the food. Oh my word there was so much lovely food! It sometimes feels like you are letting a friend go home after a perfect weekend. Even though this was an extended stay.

I have always been interested in what other people read. A friend of mine whom I visited this weekend has the beautiful principle that on his birthday you should give him a book that you love. And he promises to read it, because that way he gets to know a little bit about you too. Not only is it the perfect gift but just think about knowing that you can look forward to all these books on an annual basis.

I have however now been so happy and familiar with this book that I am unsure what to tackle next. I have to admit that I really try not to be judgy, but I do get judgy about people who do not read. I am suspicious if I cannot see bookshelves in your house. And I don’t know what small talk to make if it cannot be about books.

I registered on Goodreads about four years ago. Not only to answer my tracking addiction (I did not even know that I had it then) but also to be able to connect with other readers. Not only are there fantastic reviews but you can also see, for example, in what order a newly found author wrote their titles. You also start to get to know which of your friends like the same genre’s as you do and you can then safely click on “want to read” if they gave it a good review.

Goodreads therefore also gives you a fantastic starting point for when you are in the mood for a specific author and unsure of what is available. Nowadays it also has a link directly to Amazon. So it is actually almost too easy.

I do however think the best feature for me and most applicable today, is that I can choose a book from my “want to read” list. I have to admit that even though I am a tremendous fan of hardcopy books, our household simply does not have enough space. I do buy books. But those are the ones that I want to keep. I bought my first Kindle eight years ago and it has given me endless late nights but it broke about four months ago and was immediately replaced… no questions asked (except for what cover I want). What I love about the Kindle is that when we go on holiday I now only pack books for the Lilliputians. The Engineer and I have endless possibilities on our Kindles (I converted him too).

That is a very long ramble about books to say what I actually want to chat about today, that you always need to have something to look forward to. I think that is why “hard lockdown” was so difficult for me because the days were all the same and there was no end in site. I also believe that that is why the Engineer and I started the cooking together during lockdown – it was something to look forward to after a day where we were both working from home and trying to keep the Lilliputians alive while turning a blind eye to the dishes.

Speaking of the Enigineer, he actually has a fantastic rule. While in the car back from a vacation (even if it is a weekend away) you have to make a plan for the next one. And it is exactly so that while you are doing the laundry from this one you already have something to look forward to in the future.

Now, let us all admit that this year kicked our asses with that rule. Everyone had plans that did not quite pan out. But maybe I can start again with the small things. Looking forward to my first cup of coffee in the morning, or my run. A pilates class or an episode of a series. But there should always be something. This is why I am so perplexed that I do not have my next read downloaded yet.