Well, I'm almost done with finals and of course the most exciting part about that is the realization that I will have some free time to read for leisure and not for a grade in biology. Of course, since the break is only about three weeks that means I have to do some careful research and planning so that I don't waste precious reading time with books that might not be worth it. Contrary to my normal mode of doing the reading gorge--get a huge stack of books and try to cram them all in--I think I will do something that makes me cringe a little. What is that you may well ask? Well, its simply that I want to assign myself to read ONLY THREE books for winter break. *GASP!* Did I just say that? Why on earth should I limit myself to such a paltry number that can hardly begin to quench my thirst for inky adventures?
Well, the fact of the matter is the upcoming three weeks aren't entirely empty enough for my liking. They aren't going to be a wide open, no commitments, lounging around type of holiday. I have to study for some standardized exams and that's quite a lot of reading there, although of course not exactly the sort I like. But even if that weren't the case, I think I might have made a limit of about five books. Why? Well, I've learned that reading isn't quite like what it was when I was a kid where a stack of thirty books was very easily digestible in about a week or so. I'm not saying the sorts of books I read these days are very complex or meaningful, however, I've learned to become more choosy about the volumes that catch my eye these days. Also, if you've read any of the previous blog posts on here, you'll realize that lately I rarely finish the books I set out to read.
Besides I like the tension in that challenge. Since I'm only going to be focusing on three books--one for each week of the break, that makes me feel determined to choose three books that are really truly worth it. Think about it. If one of the books turns out to be a waste of time and energy, then that only leaves me with two more chances to be blown away by some earth shattering, soul-stirring tome. God forbid what it means if two of the books on my list become flops.
Also, since there are going to be only three books, I have to pick books that, as a triangle, encompass all of my needs in a literary or historical or scientific work. I have a feeling that the books I choose will say a lot about where I am in life right now and what I am looking for. There are so many new things I want to learn and things I want to learn how to do better. I want to discover and engage in new vistas of thought and push beyond my immediate situation and surroundings.
Wow, this is going to be quite a challenge, so stay tuned!
Oh, I almost forgot: So what's with that book about Isaac Newton then that I posted a picture of at the top of this page? Is that one of the three books? Oh my no! Not to say that it might not be, but here's the full story. I was studying for my Molecular Cell Biology final this morning and after so many consecutive hours of being bent over that great huge red textbook (I hate my cell book! It is way too expansive a discussion on cellular biology--or I guess at least at the level that I'm studying it at. Each chapter has about a thousand pages--okay more like 50, on average.) I decided I needed to stretch and relax my mind even if only for a few minutes. Hence, I trotted down to the first floor of the library and drifted over to the New Books section, my resolution to read as much as possible over the winter break drifting into my mind. Thus it was that I came upon this book. It leapt out at me, not just because I'm a science major and have learned to appreciate Isaac Newton from my hours and hours of relearning Newton's laws of motion and reading about how great he was; no, in fact this summer, I watched a documentary about him called Newton's Dark Secrets. I really liked that documentary. It took me back to his time and made me realize the enormous impact he has had on science and technology. I think I re-watched it about three times. I liked the image of the quiet, introspective, and insatiably curious student Newton who would not rest until he figured out his mathematical puzzles. I think the narrator went on to say how Newton enjoyed working out particularly involved problems just for the heck of it. The more difficult a problem was, the more it engaged him. And finally, I really liked this quote of his: "Truth is the offspring of silence and unbroken meditation." I guess why I found all of this about Newton so appealing was that I was struggling within myself to find a deeper level of engagement with my studies. I wanted to not simply just extract facts from my textbooks but to enjoy the process of deeply pondering over the meaning of them in both my life and the lives and endeavors of others.
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