Heading into social distancing I was making some real progress on my Good Reads Reading Challenge. Back in the day, I used to write down the books I read in a notebook with a starting date and ending date. I wouldn’t go as far as giving the books a rating, I’m not a crazy person, but I liked to keep track of how many books I was reading for the year. It was like my own mini-reading competition. Could I outmatch last year’s works? Only time will tell. I put off using Good Reads for a stupid amount of time for reasons that were mainly centered over what would become of the notebook if I wasn’t writing the books I was reading in it. I had this dream of filling it up with pages and pages of books and dates. I use the term “dream” loosely. Perhaps I had a vision. An idea. I thought about it once. I thought it about it just now as I was typing this paragraph. At nine hundred columns (yes, this is our 900th posting at I Am Geek), I think we’ve passed the point of judgment.

Honestly, though, Good Reads has been a game-changer. It keeps track of all the stats I was writing down like some sort of savage as well as stuff that I wasn’t keeping track of. Like what? How about the total amount of pages for the year? The longest book and the shortest book that was read. I would often debate whether or not to count graphic novels as part of my yearly reading lists. Good thing I had Good Reads to decide for me. They count, boom! And most recently it tells you how many books ahead or behind you are toward reaching your yearly goal. I don’t know how I lived without this thing.

As I was saying though, heading into quarantine I was about six to seven books ahead of my reading schedule. I felt good. I was moving pretty swiftly and was reading some really fantastic books. Things like An Absolutely Remarkable Thing, Ninth House, all of Locke & Key, and The Whisper Man to name a few. As the expression goes, I was motoring. And then social distancing hit.

I figured I would live in a world where I could probably get even more reading done and didn’t put into account my reading, work, tv watching, Animal Crossing playing schedule. I don’t know about you guys but it suddenly feels that there just isn’t enough time for anything. Maybe it was always like that but being home 24/7 has really driven the point home. Granted, I can stay up a little bit later now because my commute to work in the morning is a room and a half away but sacrifices have to be made. Truth be told, if it hasn’t been re-watching Community or playing Animal Crossing, I’m not sure if I want to sacrifice my time for it. 

The Community re-watch actually made reading a lot more difficult and not because it has been time-consuming. It hasn’t and it never will be. Geeklings, I can literally watch Community on the constant and just feel content with life. It’s that feeling of taking off your work sweatpants and putting on your after-work sweatpants. You know, the place you’re supposed to be. Community was interfering with my motivation to read my current book because my current book is about The Office. The problem with Andy Green’s The Office: The Untold Story of the Greatest Sitcom of the 2000s: An Oral History besides the long title and the fact that if you’re looking for a lot of stories from the actors on the show you’re not going to find them here. The insight from the writer’s room and producers has been really interesting but the book could certainly have used an edit as a lot of these people are just repeating the same thing within a chapter. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still an enjoyable read but it’s not great. It’s also no Community which is the real issue here. I just want all things Community right now. All things. My flag for my island on Animal Crossing is the Greendale flag, yes, the anus one. I finished my Community Funko collection outside of Britta who is an NYCC exclusive that I’m waiting for a price drop for. I’ve been listening to Community podcasts mostly The Darkest Timeline hosted by Doctor Ken and Joel McHale and Six Seasons and A Podcast.  I’ve been watching the show daily for hours, a habit that was currently held by The Office, and I kind of feel like if I’m reading a book about television shows it should be a book about Community. But it isn’t which has made getting into it rather difficult. 

I even took a four-day detour to re-read all fifty-four issues, twelve hundred pages of Brian K Vaughan and Fiona Staple’s Saga. I thought that this could jump-start the reading process again but it turns out it made it even more difficult because Saga had crippled my emotions and this book about The Office was now a book that wasn’t about Community or more Saga. A re-reading adventure that blew up in my face but helped me to progress my reading challenge further so I didn’t really lose ground. Thank you, Good Reads, for accepting graphic novels toward readings lists. The gift that keeps on giving much like Saga which is a brilliantly crafted, emotionally gutting, beautiful read. God, I love that comic.

Needless to say, I’m in a bit of a pickle. I’ve been pushing along this week trying to finish the book which again, is fine and interesting if not what I expected it to be. I’m close to the finish line. Turns out the back half of the book is a picture collection and appendixes so I’ve got that going for me. After that though, I think I’ll be able to start rolling again. I’ve got Stephen King’s new novella collection, If It Bleeds, all cued up and after that, I think it’s time to start reading His Dark Materials. I could go for an extended hang with new characters and I hear such wonderful things about Materials. Before that though, I need to put my head down, keep my eyes open, and plow through the rest of this The Office book… that’s what she said. But all I want is six seasons and a movie. Not six seasons and a book about another show. I’m pretty sure that would make me streets behind…