One of the most important aspects of reading is to have a good place to read. Crazy, you say. Any place is a good place to read, and of course you are right. When I was younger I would read all the time and everywhere, walking around bumping into people, missing my bus-stops, and getting reprimanded in class. Indeed every place was a good place to read, but now it's different. Wherever I find myself I have somewhere else I should be, or I have something that more or less urgently needs to get done. So when at home, when at rest, a special place to sit and read and think is an important thing. A place of solace (A fortress of solitude! No, too much?).
It is obviously not as important as roof over your head or food and clean water, but important never the less. For years I haven't had one, and I haven't read as much as I used to. It has simply not been a priority when furnishing the flat.
Anyway, we were at IKEA the other day and there was this new armchair model. Simple, not overly large, really cheap, and above all with side head-rests. I had to have it. There have been a number of armchairs I have had to have over the years, but since this was simple, small and cheap I could buy it on impulse. Now I have the ideal reading corner, and it complements my life-sized decorative boxer perfectly. It is close to my books, but not the work books, and it is far away from the computer and the heaps of manuscripts, applications and statistical analyses to be worked on.
I do have a small confession to make. I am writing this in said chair, and I did just check my mail, but then rules are made to be broken. Especially small silly rules with no real fundamental importance. Anyway, there shan't be too much work done here, and I shall honestly try to get some reading done real soon now.
