remi.☘︎ ݁˖ > Status Update

For better or worse, I don't think I'll manage to finish my tbr before I die (I am not joking, I've given much thought to this) which is why I'm trying to be more selective with the books I read. This also means I'll never "run out of recommendations", and if you mean personal ones, then I've lived my entire life being "the reader girl" of the group; I'm the one who recommends books to others, not the other way around, so I can't say I'd miss something that was never really there.

Anyway nice pfp, but also why would you ask something so cryptic??

Dei-Dei wrote: "For better or worse, I don't think I'll manage to finish my tbr before I die (I am not joking, I've given much thought to this) which is why I'm trying to be more selective with the books I read. T..." i meant that if you lose someone who shaped your entire being then you can only find them in the pages of the books that they read for one last time, i guess. i'm just scared to pick up those books. the question was rhetoric; i was talking about my exceedingly desperate attempt at chasing the shadow of someone who has gone away in the books that they read.

Ah, that makes more sense, sorry for the literal approach. I can understand the appeal of chasing their shadow and I don't think it's bad if you do it every once in a while, but I don't think it's ideal either.

How should I put this? Some people enrich your world and broaden your horizons. So obviously, when you lose them it feels like the world is contracting again. All you can do is try to patch up the space they leave behind as best as you can, but you're just one person so obviously there's a lot you won't be able to do. Ultimately, it's about not losing everything. Whatever you manage to keep, even if it's only a little, I call it a win.

Applied to books I think it applies like this: more than reading the same fragments over and over again, I'd read new books and maybe look for them in them. You mentioned an abyss, and I think the crucial thing to keep in mind is that even if it's dark, it's not the end. Think of it as a long hallway: up until now the path was lit up because someone else had explored it before, but I think it's important to remember what lies in front of you is just darkness, not emptiness. The path isn't over, you just have to keep exploring it on your own (which sucks, but it's better than staying stagnant forever I suppose). So in this regard, it's fine to stay in the familiar side for a while and revisit it every so often, but it's equally important to keep moving on too, or at least that's how I see things. I hope some of this might help :)

Dei-Dei wrote: "Ah, that makes more sense, sorry for the literal approach. I can understand the appeal of chasing their shadow and I don't think it's bad if you do it every once in a while, but I don't think it's ..." it does, thank you