Across the world 2016 was a year of change, a year of milestones, a year of surprises and — let us not forget, a year of reading. The UAE government initiative to encourage us to pick up more books has already paved the way for a new year of hopes and, of course, resolutions. In the Western world the five most popular resolves over the past ten years have involved self-improvement and education, health, weight-related issues, money and relationships. They are all noble goals, but sadly they are more often targets rather than achievements, with more than two-thirds of those promises broken less than a month into the New Year. In worst-case scenarios, annual gym membership cards are left to gather dust in empty wallets as their owners gorge on burgers and fries while sitting listlessly in front of a TV or a screen.
There is one resolution, however, which can lend enormous support to any other, and that is the resolve to read. From cookery books and self-help guides to get-fit companions and inspirational autobiographies, we have the bookshops and libraries to keep us on the straight and narrow. Last January 2016 the New Year best-seller was Joe Wicks’ debut book Lean in 15, a fitness and lifestyle book based on Joe’s own experiences as a body coach to celebrities. A year later it is still a best seller and Joe Wicks has published two more companion books, also at the top of the charts. It was great to have Joe Wicks at last year’s Emirates Airline Festival of Literature, inspiring audiences to set aside 15 minutes a day to achieve optimum fitness and to cook quick and nutritious meals.
Many of our New Year’s vows revolve around sacrifices and removing an aspect of our lives we would rather be without. Thankfully, picking up a new book is a positive addition rather than a negative subtraction and unlike many other resolutions it is a lifestyle choice that becomes easier as the year progresses instead of more difficult. To reintroduce us to reading is not a chore, it is a treat and one which has no guilty associations. In fact, the vast majority of us not only feel good about the book we are reading, we are also pleased that we have picked it up in the first place.
20 minutes
The promise so many of us make to ourselves of “I must read more next year” is only compromised when we look for an excuse. “I don’t have time”, “I can’t concentrate”, “my life is too hectic” etc. You don’t have to read a book in one sitting — just putting aside 20 minutes of your day to read can be as addictive as any of those bad habits you are trying to give up. With this addiction, though, there are only healthy side-effects. Before you know it you will be looking for an excuse to spend more time, not less, indulging yourself.
One of the greatest joys of books is their infinite variety and so perhaps the resolution could be to broaden one’s horizons and try another genre. Instead of the usual thriller or romance, maybe a brush with the law in a whodunit or a game of cat and mouse in a spy novel could open up a series of new doors for the future. Poetry is often a late arrival to the literary table and many readers, once bitten, are forever smitten. It is a form of writing which takes on many guises and can speak at one level or another to every one of us.
On the other side of the coin, a resolution, which is surely made with the same passion as the promise to read, is the intention to write. So many of us have the ‘book inside’ which has incubated, developed and almost formed but never borne fruit.
This could be the year when we put fingertips to the QWERTY keyboard and release the talent that has been caged by procrastination. Why shouldn’t 2017 be the year we finally shed the guilt of apathy and discover the author within? Established, full-time authors may have the luxury of time and experience, but none has written a book accidentally. Action is not a state of mind; it is a state of being.
It is a sentiment echoed by one of the 20th century’s greatest artists, Pablo Picasso, who once said: “Only put off until tomorrow what you are willing to die having left undone.” However, to balance the books, one of the 19th century’s greatest authors, Mark Twain, believed: “Never put off till tomorrow what you can do the day after tomorrow.” (Not particularly helpful in this case Mr. Twain.)
He does, however, redeem himself to some extent in another pearl of wisdom in our time of resolutions: “A person who won’t read has no advantage over one who can’t read.” I hope you enjoy reading, enjoy writing and enjoy a very happy and prosperous New Year.
Isobel Abulhoul is OBE, CEO and trustee of the Emirates Literature Foundation and director of the Emirates Airline Festival of Literature.
