What are you currently reading?
Let us know.
It used to be a question you would flippantly throw out on a first date, but these days asking somebody what they are reading (if they are reading anything at all, besides snippets of social media here and there) will probably tell you something about what constitutes that person's prevailing mindset.
What used to be frivolous banter has become a critical interrogation question most probably being used right now by secret service personal.
For the past couple of months the subject of book reading, and in particular, the reading of fiction, has been darting back-and-forth across the giant crystal ball that we keep permanently mounted in a prominent place here at the Cherryflava HQ.
And that's because what people are reading, the amount they are reading as well as the consequences of these shifts, is of significant importance to society at large, and therefore of interest to us.
One personal realisation we have had through this exploration is that we're not reading nearly enough fiction.
In fact, prior to our current conscious reintroduction of fiction material into our reading practice, the last fiction novel we read was 10 years ago. Shocking.
Sure we'll plough through loads of non-fiction material at a dizzying rate, but this reading is all mostly related to work. Reading fiction for pleasure was non-existent and when this realisation dawned on us, we decided to change it.
What's on our list, you may wonder?
So having just finished My Brilliant Friend by Elena Ferrante and Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (no, we hadn't read it before); the titles we've lined up for the coming months includes all that is shown in this image below (yes, we're well aware that we've slipped in two clear non-fiction guilty pleasures).
Why did we make such a drastic change, you may ask (because if we're entirely honest, we don't really enjoy reading fiction)?
For a few reasons, but mainly because reading fiction broadens one's worldview; and in many respects we became increasingly aware of our own shrinking creative bandwidth as a result and chose to make an intervention to halt the decline.
Does it work?
The theory is plausible enough, but we're only two fiction books in (after the 10 year break) so will have to let you know.
Why did you get physical books instead of Kindle editions?
Simple reason, our intention here is to add to the small office library that we've got going. Books on shelves appeals to our own design aesthetic.
What are you currently reading? Sharing is most welcome in the comments.