I've been sorting out my books...

There's no doubt that me and Debz are big readers, We've had books lurking all over the house and in the garage for ages.

But this week we bit the bullet and bought some bookcases. Up until now, we only had one and that was in my office.

I've built one of the bookcases and its new home is in our bedroom. Our problem is that we don't have enough wall space in the house, so we've had the fit the bookcase where we can.

The other one will go in our living room.

What this means for me is that now, my office bookshelf is now full of business-related and self-development books.

Before I had the sort out this bookcase was full of not only business books but also allsorts of other books which meant the shelves were overloaded and it was a pain to find anything.

Now however, it's nice and neat and easy for me to find everything.

It probably won't last though because I'm always buying more books.

I would imagine it's won't be long before this bookcase is overcrowded again and I won't be able to find what I'm looking for.

The bookcase that now resides in our bedroom is where I'll be putting all the other books I'm interested in.

In this one, you'll find plenty of music-related books. 

Biographies and autobiographies have always been amongst my favourite kinds of books. I've always been interested in what makes people tick and it's always interesting to see how they cope with the challenges of life.

You'll also find books about collecting, 20th-century culture, history, as well as anything else that takes my fancy.

As you can probably tell, I'm not really a fiction reader although I do have a few David Baldacci thriller style books.

Once I get the next bookcase assembled and placed, that'll be the home of the fiction in the house. That's Debz' department.

It won't be long before we're overflowing again though and we'll need to try and find room to put another bookcase.

I wish I was the kind of person who could happily give old books away but it's not going to happen with me because my books generally are full of highlighted sections.

It just makes it easy for me when I'm looking to check something.

It also means that I can re-read a book fairly quickly if I just want to pick out the salient points I'm looking for because all I have to do it go through the book and read all the highlighted sections.

I don't know about you, but I love to go through other people's books to see what they read too.

I've tried reading with a kindle, but it just doesn't feel the same. They're great if you're away on holiday and don't want to carry a load of books but it just doesn't feel the same. I like the feel of a book.  And weirdly, I like the smell of them as well!

I've posted close up photos on my Instagram account if you'd like to see what's on the shelves

As I'm a bit nosey, I'd like to hear about what you read. Feel free to let me know. You can also send me photos of your bookcases and shelves if you want. Just bung 'em on Facebook! I'm looking forward to see what you like.

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The things that books can do for you

At the beginning of the year, I determined that I was going to change some of my habits and become more productive, even though we’re in a lockdown situation.

I spent time online looking at different systems and followed some pointers I’d picked up in books and youtube as to how I going to make me more efficient.

One of them was to make a chart which I could cross off each thing I wanted to get done each day. The thinking behind it is that if I can see that I’m doing each activity, it will be easier to keep doing it.

I’ve been learning Spanish online and because the app tells me how many consecutive days I’ve done it for, and because I can the total, I don’t want to break that run. And it’s proved to be a very good thing. The fact that each day it tells me the total I’ve done, it keeps me motivated to keep going, even on the days I don’t want to (it’s 1372, in case you were wondering).

I’ve made a little grid that allows me to track each day and I put a cross into each section when I’ve accomplished the task.

I’m on Day 29 so far, I’ve failed on a few of the tasks for the odd day  regularly going out and walking being one, because, for the first 5 days of the year, we were in Quarantine and weren’t allowed out, so I couldn’t even start on the 1st.

The other area I’ve missed the goal is in eating – 3 days I’ve overeaten but I don’t mind as I knew I was going to, as it was the day after weigh-in day and I treated myself. I’ve restarted checking what I’m eating because I had a period of going wild with chocolate and needed to rein it in if I’m to maintain the weight loss I’d achieved previously. 

The key is to only miss for one day. Start again the day after,

The biggest surprise however as been in reading.

I’ve always enjoyed reading but never really dedicated a consistent time to it. I may not read for weeks at a time and then only just before I went to bed at night. Other times, I’d have three books on the go at the same time, so as you can tell, it can often be haphazard.

I like non-fiction. I like biographies and autobiographies. If I’m involved in something, I’ll buy related books. For instance, when I was doing radio, I bought books about technique, and I bought books to learn more about the process. In the same way, now that I’m doing design, I buy books which will help improve what I do. I buy lettering books and books about layout. I’m always looking to improve.

Don’t get me wrong, I love a good thriller or crime yarn. I will read something like that alongside my non-fiction selection.

But if there’s one area of books I love to read, it’s self-improvement. Recently, I’ve been humbled by what some people have said to me. They’re comments I’d never have received if it weren’t for the books I’ve read.

I’d still be the thumb-sucking, knuckle-dragging, bonehead I was in my 20s had I not come across these books. I’ve read loads over the years.

And if you think I’m nothing special, you’re right, I’m not. I’m just a normal guy who learned a bit along the way and changed and adapted.

I realise we all do that as we get older, but a long time ago, I realised that I’m not the brightest kid on the block, not even close – and what’s more, I don’t want to be. What I did want at 30, and still do at 60 is to be a better person than I was before.

I had a great start in life with the grounding my parents gave me, but once I was left to my own devices, I started to go downhill. I was never the most confident of people. A lot thought I was, but I got to be a good actor to cover my own insecurities.

And when I discovered ‘The Magic Of Thinking Big’, back in 1990, I realised I could change. I’ll tell you here and now, it’s been long, slow progress,; often two steps forward, three steps back, and it won’t end for me until I’m placed in a box.

I’ve always wanted to be a better me. I’m not the jealous type. I applaud people who get on in life. They just prove it can be done. I’m not envious of other’s success. What’s the point? Being envious isn’t going to do me any good.

But I can try and improve myself and that’s what I’ve always wanted to do. Not in the monetary, ‘look at what I’ve got’ sort of way either. I’d like to think by the end, I’ll be respected and thought well of by people. That’s as much as I want.

Those self-improvement books have helped me no end – they’re not a ‘do this and you’ll be a success’ kind of thing; after all, we’re all different and our journeys are too.

They can give you motivation, but the truth is, that’s only temporary. To develop motivation, you need to develop the ‘why?’ Without that, it’s just a wish.

The best thing about those books isn’t the ra-ra, it isn’t the how-to, it’s more subtle than that.

The best thing about the books kind of books I read is not what the writer says, it’s about how what they say helps me to think in ways I hadn't before.

I’ve read many of my books over and over again and at different times, I’m looking for different things.

I use the supermarket approach to reading them. I take what I need at the time, give it some thought as to how I can apply whatever it is I need to and then take action and leave the rest. When I read it again, I may need something different then.

Just thinking about a thing is motion, but action makes the difference. And that’s the long-winded point I’m trying to make here. And I’m doing different things daily, so I am also doing the action bit.

Since the start of January, I’ve completed 5 books and I’m reading 2 others at the moment. Of course, they’re not all 500-page epics, the shortest was just 88 pages long.

But in doing that and crossing off each day when I’ve done my reading, I’ve fallen in love with reading again. I feel more positive about where I’m headed. I’m feeling good about me. But best of all, I’m enjoying reading again.

Just imagine, if you turned the TV off, and instead of getting wound up by Piers Morgan or the seeing the news for the 7^th time today, you picked up a book and used that time reading, maybe a novel in your favourite genre, or an autobiography by someone you admire, how much better would you feel?

Books can transport you to a different world. They can make you see the World in a different way They can change you for the better. They can be all of these things and more.

With the kind of books that I read, I get input from people whose minds are far greater than mine, they have a different perspective from me, and through them, I get to think about things in a different way.

I’d agree I’m nothing special.  Even after reading all those books, I’m not anything out of the ordinary. But without those books that have slowly drip-fed me ideas and thoughts over the years, I can pretty much guarantee, I would be a whole lot worse-off a person than I am now. And I’m not talking about in monetary terms.

I quite like the man that I’m becoming. I’ve still got a way to go and more to learn. In fact, I’ll never stop learning. But what I do know, is that I like me a whole lot more than I did 10 years ago.

You don't have to read the kind of books that I do. Find something that works for you. A trashy novel is going to do you more good than watching a news channel to start your day!

And what I’ve picked up and absorbed from books has made all the time I’ve been reading worthwhile. I can’t say that about spending time watching the news and the naysayers on the telly.

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The Burning House and what I'd take

I bought a book a few years ago. which has caused me to evaluate what’s important to me in my life. It’s called ‘The Burning House’ and the premise is that your house is burning. You have to get out fast. Suddenly you are forced to prioritize, editing down a lifetime of possessions to a mere handful. Now you must decide: Of all the things you own, what is most important to you?

So are the things that are important to your life practical, valuable or sentimental. This is what separates us as individuals and makes us the people we are.

At first, I started to think about what I’d hate to lose in my life. Well, all my music for starters. I’ve been collecting for as long as I can remember. I’d be in a terrible mess if I still had all the vinyl I’d bought over the years. Luckily, back in 2002, I started to convert all my records and CDs into mp3 format.

I now have all my music on hard drives, well on one hard drive and two back up hard drives. There is also my playout computer system that has 46,000 songs that I can choose from for my radio shows. These songs are backed up onto 298 mp3 CDs as back up. So basically, It’s all comfortably backed up and can all be accessed from one of 3 hard drives.

Photos play an important part of my life as I’m a nostalgic kind of guy. I have all my photos on CDs and hard drives. All my pre-digital photos have been scanned and they are also on a hard drive. When my Mum and Dad died, I took possession of three suitcases full of their old photos. These photos have played such an important part of my life. When I used to visit my parents, we’d often get the photos out and my Mum would tell me about the people on the photos. They were a part of the history of my family and their friends.

I’ve managed to scan those as well and have them backed up - one of my sons has a back up as well.

Books would be another area where I’d struggle. I’ve thought about that, and at a push, I could leave all of them because the favourite books could all be bought again.

I’m not really someone who values possessions too much, I could pretty much sell 99% of the stuff I have and replace with new.

So it comes down to what is irreplaceable – priceless – the stuff that it would break my heart to lose. When it comes down to it, what would I want to make sure I got on my way out of the door?

Well, the most important things to me, are probably worth very little on the open market, but they probably say more about me than anything else I own.

The most important possessions I have are four reel to reel tapes that belonged to my Dad. On these tapes are basically the songs and tunes that made me the music lover that I became so early in my life and continue to be today.

So what’s on them? Well, my Godfather owned a record shop, and my Dad used to borrow all the chart hits of the time, take them home and record them (A& B sides). The music on these tapes comes from the chart period of 1958 to 1960. I’m sure he had more tapes, but over the years they disappeared (although I don’t remember there being any more).

Besides all the singles, there’s one tape that has a very early Bill Haley LP on one side and a Gene Vincent LP on the other side. The Bill Haley LP has songs dating back to 1953 on it, the Gene Vincent LP is from 1957. I've pretty much spent most of my life collecting the songs on these tapes.

The tapes are all still playable, but the music has degraded over the 50+ years since Dad recorded them.

It’s funny, I’d never really thought about it before, but now it seems to me that 2 hard drives and four reel to reel tapes could contain the goods and chattels of my life that are important.

Before I go, I just want to say that I’m talking about the things of my life, not the people!

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We are what we read!

 

I read something today that ‘we are what we read and that the books we read tell more about us than the colour of our eyes or our haircut’. 

And that’s very possibly true. Over the years, I’ve read hundreds of books. I’ve always been a reader. I have been since I was a little boy.

I love to read positive mental attitude books, autobiographies and biographies. I love a factual book. Don’t get me wrong, I like fiction too, but always seem to go back to non-fiction.

I’m intrigued by people and their stories. I love to see how people made something of their lives. I love it when I read something in someone’s story that makes me realise I can put that idea into good use.

I enjoy reading about people who, when faced with adversity, keep going and tell me what they did to overcome it.

I love reading things that make me see the world differently, that show me ways to overcome situations in my own life.

I love to read books about music, stories about musicians, decades and styles of music. Books that give me the stories behind the songs.

I learn so much when I’m reading.

I love to read detective books, thrillers and classics too.

I love that when I open a book, I enter a different world. I’ve found so often that reading a book that I’ve seen as a film always makes me enjoy it more. It’s always more in-depth.

I’ve got friends who’ve never read a book and I can’t understand why. They don't know what they're missing. after all, there's not much point learning to read, if you don't.

In our house, all three of us devour books. We’re always reading something or other. I have books in my office, downstairs in the living room and also by my bedside.

It’s not uncommon for me to be reading three books alongside each other.

The editorial I read that brought this post to mind talked about how he started to change his profile picture on Facebook to a ‘bookface picture’ and with a quote from the book alongside it.

I liked that idea, so I’ve done it as well. I’m, hoping it may encourage some conversation about books too. I may get some reccomendations I may not have otherwise considered.

Feel free to join me in doing the same – and leave your book recommendations below and I’ll check them out.

And if you want to read the piece that was the catalyst for this blog, click here,

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For the love of books!

 For the love of books

Most people who know me always think of me in terms of my love of music.

What many don’t realise is that my love of books and reading is almost as bad. After adding two more books to my collection yesterday and once again realising I have nowhere to put them, other than on my desk, I thought I’d ‘out myself’ as a bookworm.

I love all kinds of books, but my favourites are PMA books – Positive Mental Attitude as they’re known (or laughed at by those who just think it’s American hype).

I first discovered them in the summer of 1990 when I was walking around my local newsagents. A book called ‘The Magic of Thinking Big’ caught my eye, and having purchased it and read it, I was engrossed (I still have two worn-out copies amongst my collection).

A lot of what it said made sense to me and over the years, I’ve bought and read so many of them. Books like ‘What To Say When You Talk To Yourself’ and ‘Tough Times Never Last but Tough People Do’ have helped me through some times of great adversity. 

I read my books with a highlighter pen close by and most of my books have highlighted sentences or paragraphs with ideas and thoughts that seemed relevant to me at the time. It also means I can pick a book up and just read the highlighted parts when I need some wisdom.

I also love a biography or an autobiography. I enjoy reading what makes people tick. It’s rare that I don’t pick up a morsel of a thought that helps me in one way or another.

Fiction wise, David Baldacci and Ken Follett are favourites of mine.

The problem is that my books are taking over – I can’t bear to part with them.  As you can see in these photos, they’re taking over. My bookshelf in the office is full, my wardrobe in the bedroom has books piled on top of it (my TBR’s are at the front – To Be Read).

My office has them in amongst my LPs and on top of cabinets. 

And my bedside cabinet has a pile of books I read from before I go to sleep.

Downstairs, there’s even more. Debz and Niall are avid readers too – so the books I’m showing in the photos, probably only represent around a third of what we have in the house. I also have a 4 drawer filing cabinet in the garage which is pretty much full of books!

I can’t see us not continuing to buy books – if you wonder how I find the time to read them, around 25 years ago, said that you should aim to read for 15 minutes a day. Doing that, you’d read 4-5 books a year. I’ve always read more than that, so it’s never been a problem.

The way I look at it, my Mum taught me to read very early in my life. I could read before I went to school. I’ve always liked to read.

I’m surprised at how many people don’t – there’s a whole world of adventure, emotions, knowledge and advice inside those covers, from people far more erudite than I. And I can learn from their knowledge for as little as a couple of quid. Why wouldn’t I?

And besides, what would have been the point of learning to read, if I didn’t read? It makes no sense to me.

And if you’re thinking to yourself, “for all that reading, you haven’t achieved much.” My answer would be, “Maybe not, but could you imagine where I might have ended up had I not learned what I do know for these writers?”

Feel free to post photos of your book collections. I'm always intrigued by what other people read. If you post photos, can you hashtag them #jmlt - that way I can search and find them easily.

While you're at it, comment below to tell me about your collection of books. I'd love to know what you read. I'm nosey like that!

Until next time...

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