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Life has picked me up by the scruff of my neck and is having a little fun dragging me around and shaking me about. Which means my blogs have taken a hit. While I’ve been doing a few writing exercises on Daily (w)rite, I have let the schedule here slip a bit.

It will slip a bit further in the coming week, and become very erratic indeed till about the 15th of March, but I’ve decided to let the high winds carry me where they will—I’ll try to cling on to the tatters of my schedule the very best way I can.
Reading this week: “A Burnt-out Case” by Graham Greene, and finding it slow going. It is a classic and deserves my respect, but the only thing it is getting is very short shrift, because of my time situation–i.e, no time to read in peace and quiet. This is not the kind of book I can read in cabs and gyms. It needs to be read on its own, not while grabbing a hurried bite, and certainly not in the lift. But that is all the time I have, and the book is small, the right size for a handbag! I need to give the book back come Sunday, so I guess it is off with me to read myself to sleep.
Happy reading, blog friends!
When do you find time to read? Is time your greatest challenge when it comes to reading?
Damyanti Biswas

Damyanti Biswas is the author of You Beneath Your Skin and numerous short stories that have been published in magazines and anthologies in the US, the UK, and Asia. She has been shortlisted for Best Small Fictions and Bath Novel Awards and is co-editor of the Forge Literary Magazine. Her literary crime thriller series, the Blue Mumbai, is represented by Lucienne Diver from The Knight Agency. Both The Blue Bar and The Blue Monsoon were published in 2023.

I appreciate comments, and I always visit back. If you're having trouble commenting, let me know via the contact form, or tweet me up @damyantig !

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5 Comments

  • shoreacres says:

    I have books I've been trying to read for two years. It's pathetic.

    But it is time that's the problem. For one thing, it is important to me to read blogs, too, and to do so regularly. When I leave a comment, even if it isn't long I like for it to be meaningful. More time.

    And then there is work. And an elderly parent to care for. Not complaints, at all. But very much a piling-up of practical matters to be dealt with.

    Now, what I can tell you is that Greene is going to reward you, He's one of my favorites – not least because my one literary memory involves not Paris but Freetown, Sierra Leone, and a sit on the veranda of the City Hotel, where Greene is said to have written. I need to re-read him, too – when I have the time!

  • Damyanti says:

    David, I get what you mean. My problem is if I don't get enough reading into my week I get waspish and act hormonal! So I just steal moments here and there, and it keeps me sane.

    Rick, thank you so much for commenting. I've been shooting off small pieces of writing , but not reading or writing nearly enough. Hope to find something from you in my inbox soon, especially if we apply for the thing I sent you.

    Janna, I haven't been to your blog much lately, and I apologize. I intend to take a day off life soon and just browse all the blogs I follow:)

  • jannatwrites says:

    I don't find nearly enough time to read. I have unread magazines in my bookcase dating back to October and about ten books I bought over the summer that are untouched.

    They will all get read when the time is right, I suppose 🙂

    Good luck with your schedule juggling.

  • rickmobbs says:

    The wind that harries you is blowing over here in New Mexico, too, lifting people and dust and intentions. We are hanging on. Painting is mostly in my mind just now.

  • Time is quite the juggling act.

    Finding the time to write is hard enough, let alone finding time to read, but I try not to read while in the heart of writing as I tend to absorb another author's style. I'll read a whole bunch after I finish a project, before starting a new one.