Christian Real Estate Professionals

Wanna Join the Crouch Family Book Club?

One of my Facebook friends mentioned the other day that she has kept track of every book she's read since she was 13 years old.  She's close to my age (maybe a bit younger), so this struck me as an amazing feat, especially considering the year she probably started and the technology available back then.  I thought it would be cool to begin doing the same thing, albeit when I'm 40 instead of a teenager.

I hesitate slightly to mention this, but I decided recently to invest in a couple of pair of reading glasses, which could even accelerate my reading speed.  They aren't necessary all the time, but some text certainly seems smaller than it used to be.  :)

What got me started?  Well, I saw several people talking about Julien Smith's post entitled, "How to Read a Book a Week in 2011", which made me start to wonder about how many books I read in an average year. 

This year, we'll find out. 

I also decided today to ask my two older kids if they would be interested in participating as well, to make it a sort of family book club.  Since we homeschool our kids, I thought it would also be a fun addition to our normal curriculum.  I told them that I would provide prizes for every 5th book that they read. The only stipulation is that comic books don't count (they would break the bank quickly).

They are 12 and almost 10, so it could be interesting for them to look back and see:

  • the quantity of books they've read over the years
  • the actual books themselves, since it would demonstrate where their interests were at any given time

My guess is that I typically average more than a book per week, but I may be wrong.  I know that I read about 10 over the past two months or so, since I ended up making a stack on one of our bookshelves in the bedroom.

So, if you're game, join us on this journey.  If you need a tool to help along the way, you can consider using GoodReads.com or the Facebook Booktracker application.  I might use the latter myself, or (since I am remarkably old-school when it comes to keeping track of stuff like this) I might just use a blank document or a spreadsheet on my computer.  My daughter got excited and made a chart to use for hers.

There are few skills that are as important as reading, so I am challenging myself and my kids a little bit.  It's already working. My son surprised me by picking up one of books I got him for Christmas and quickly reading five chapters earlier today.  My daughter decided to start "A Wrinkle in Time".  Good stuff!

 

 

Photo credit: http://www.flickr.com/photos/ginnerobot/2549674908/sizes/m/in/photostream/

 

If you enjoyed this post, why not connect with me elsewhere or subscribe via email?

If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can also visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com.  If you're interested in social media training, visit 210 Consulting. Thanks!

26 comments • Jason Crouch, Broker - Austin Texas Real Estate (512-796-7653) • January 14 2011 10:04PM

Hello, My Name is Jason, and I am a Book Addict...

One of the many reasons that my wife and I get along so well is that we understand each other, and we each tolerate a silent addiction that we share. 

We love to read.

As for me, I am not what one would consider to be a "casual reader", although I guess "voracious reader" sounds a bit violent, as does "heavy user".  :)  I actually started reading at age two, and I was self-taught.  Yes, really.  My mom has shared this story dozens of times with me and others. 

In a nutshell, we have literally 1000's of books in our house (thankfully, we have a pretty large home!).  I just counted, and we have 17 bookshelves now.  My wife once blogged about this a couple of years ago.  I think her post was entitled, "I have more books in my bathroom than you have in your whole house" or something similar.  This is probably not far from the truth, unless you are also a bibilophile.  We share a dream of someday having a two-story (or maybe three-story?) library with a spiral staircase in the middle.

During my career in real estate, I have shown hundreds and hundreds of homes, and I am amazed whenever I show a house and there are no books in sight.  To me, this is much like not having running water.

Every so often, we purge several boxes of books and either sell them in yard sales or give them away to Goodwill or the Salvation Army.  I used to try the used bookstore route, but the return is simply not good enough there.  I would rather donate them than accept a pittance.

Recently, I realized just how many books we have that I haven't yet finished.  Every room has a good number of books that I want to check out (pun totally intended).  With that in mind, I have begun to read much more earnestly these days, in an effort to:

  • Learn something new
  • Enjoy the simple pleasure of reading
  • Become a better writer myself
  • Accomplish something tangible that I can control

I probably read roughly two books per week these days.  Sometimes I find an author I really like (such as Douglas Coupland, Malcolm Gladwell, or Michael Crichton) and I read everything by that author, even if it means a trip to the library to get them all.  Other times, I fixate on a specific topic, and I read all of the most interesting-looking books on that subject.

I impressed my wife this past week by focusing enough to complete both books that I checked out from the library before they were due back!  Clearly, I am easily distracted.  I usually have 3-5 books in progress - one in the bathroom, one in the car, one on my desk - you get the jist.

My 8-year old daughter clearly has accepted the reading torch, so to speak.  Last night, I was getting her in bed, and she was trying to figure out where to put one of her books, which is part of a box series of 20 volumes called "Horrible Histories".  Each of them is about 100-150 pages long.  I asked her which ones she had already finished reading.

"All of them."

Of course you did, sweetie.  Of course you did.

    

My RSS feed is http://activerain.com/jasoncrouch/rss   

Photo above is courtesy of zen - found on Flickr.com.

 

If you enjoyed this post, why not connect with me elsewhere or subscribe via email?

If you're looking for a home in the Austin area, you can also visit my primary Austin real estate website at www.austintexashomes.com.  If you're interested in social media training, visit 210 Consulting. Thanks!

31 comments • Jason Crouch, Broker - Austin Texas Real Estate (512-796-7653) • May 20 2009 11:11PM