I did it! Today was the day that, after manly long years, I have finally finished reading a non-business related book. This book was on my to-read list (amongst about 60 others) for the last two years! Thankfully the person, that I borrowed it from has not missed it by now, so I had it available for all that time. I have carried this book with me to at least 4 countries so far, with no success in actually starting to read it. The book in question is Alamut by Vladimir Bartol and what a read it was! Actually I first started to read it earlier this year, but made it to about page 30 (of almost 500) and then I got distracted by everything else again.

Well, thanks to becoming a bus rider once again after years of driving by car or train (I could read on a train, but usually just work on my laptop, silly, I know), I have started reading this book again. I managed to read a few hundred pages on the bus ride and then it laid on my shelf here in Munich again, waiting for the day when I will actually read it to the end and see how the story turns out. The story started pulling me in and I must say that it even inspired my dreams, which was fun. Today I had my head full this afternoon and decided to take a few hours off from everything and finished the book.

I must say that I am truly amazed by how a novel, a book that I would typically put on the end of my priorities to read after all the articles and business related books, affects me. First of all, there was this sense of satisfaction that I have actually taken the time and spontaneously read a book that has no immediate effect on what I do or how I act. Oh, how I was mistaken…

This read was one of the most relaxing experiences in the last years. Today my head was full of various things which I usually get sorted out when doing sports, but reading that story really focused my mind on the events that it describes, my mind did not wonder anywhere else and I stayed focused until the end. So besides the satisfaction of finally taking the time off to read a book that I have planned to read for so long, the relaxing state of mind, really thrilling story and very good thinking points, there was also a great benefit to it. The book really sparked my imagination, I forgot how it felt, when your brain had to imagine how everything looked, how the characters are, the surroundings and how the events transpired. A wonderful feeling which I want to achieve again, so I am already searching for the next one. Truly a long time has passed since I have had my imagination wonder and imagine a story.

So if you also deal with the same problem – wanting to read, but never finding (or rather taking) the time to actually do it… I hope you will get a chance to do it, the feeling was truly awesome and I feel completely at peace, so an advice from me to anyone would be easy “You feel stressed out? Read a good novel!”.

As I mentioned, I am already looking for the next novel to read so all suggestions are welcome, feel free to drop me a comment with a  good novel that you can recommend. Tickle my imagination!