Little Things 239 : The Book Challenge, Flash Version

I hardly read books since I worked at home, freelancing. So I decided to finish as many books as I can to catch up on my 2017 Reading Challenge (6/30 books - in August). Especially all the books that I've been hoarding. I cheated a bit, because most of these books are motivational/self-help books (so it is way easier to grab than fictions) and I reread books that are easy + I liked.

Here is the book list (since August):

1. H+ (Plus) A New Religion? : How to Live Your Life Positively Through Happiness, Humour, Help, Hope, Health by Edward de Bono
2. O's Little Book of Happiness by Oprah's Magazine (Contributors)
3. Damn Good Advice by George Lois
4. Blanket by Craig Thompson
5. How to be Happy by Eleanor Davis
6. The Strange Library by Haruki Murakami

Current Read (Books completed : 12/30) :

1. After the Quake by Haruki Murakami
2. The Longest Honeymoon (travelogue) by Izni Zahidi

It's hard for me to read other fictions since I read Haruki Murakami's books (so I decided to reread all his books, and buy his latest 2 books soon) and thankfully, other than him, I'm still reading Orhan Pamuk & Elif Shafak's works. 

I now hardly buy other fictions, but several days ago I listened to Yann Martel's interview on Spotify (Monocle 24 : Meet the Writer) and he talked about how he finds it odd for an adult to claim that he/she no longer reads a fiction, especially those powerful people/leaders. Here's an excerpt I took from his interview while talking about powerful people who don't read fiction : 

He's the man who doesn't read. I think he's a kind of man, who stopped reading probably in his 20s. He's obviously a bright man but he came into the conclusion that fiction is not real, therefore the truth must be relative. Therefore stopped reading fiction and probably just started reading non-fiction, history, biographies, and there is nothing wrong about it, of course. But, in defence of fiction, fiction goes further than non-fiction can go. We go with our empathetic imagination where you can't go with the facts & histories, even with the most insightful interpretation. Nothing can do it like fiction can do. So if you failed to read or you never read fiction or poetry or plays, it's impossible to know human condition. There are only 2 ways to knowing who we are : either by reading or by traveling. To me these are two very equivalent activities. Travel to Turkey is like reading a book. How can you know the human condition if you don't read especially if you are a leader. If you are a leader of a nation and you've never read and you've never travel, how can you rule? How can you know what our dreams are, where we must go, if you don't have dreams yourself? I'm just suspicious of powerful leaders who don't read. - Yann Martel.

Points taken.

Although I've been reading fiction for more than 20 years and I can't deny the fact that I'm bored of all the repetitive man-made stories. I will try to find more fictions by underrated writers.  

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How to read when you are busy 24/7 ?

1. Put your current book next to you, every time you take a short rest, read several pages. 
2. Read at least 1 chapter before you go to sleep, after you ate lunch and dinner, after your zohor and asar prayer.
3. Start on 2 books at each time, so you can take turns whenever you feel bored. (Easy if it is motivational books than fictions. But just imagine it like you are watching several series on Netflix, and you take turns based on your mood).
4. Plan your next book, so you can start right-away. I'm guessing you have lots and lots of books you haven't finish yet, if you are an avid reader/hoarder 😛

There are 3 more months & 18 more books to go.
Good luck !