I find the Christmas/New Year holiday period quite depressing. Never being asked to spend Christmas Day with family, I always feel as though I am impressing myself on a family who care for me but are not related. Everyone disappears off to the beach, cycling the country, camping in remote areas of New Zealand I will probably never see again and leave me wanting. Loneliness rears its ugly head and days are filled with little more than sleep, eating and reading. Although I set goals annually it is difficult to get motivated to begin them in January. Usually I undertake these goals in fits and starts and many fall by the wayside as the year progresses.
Yet books and reading remain my steady companions. I read almost 80 books in 2022, some of which were quite large and took a concentrated amount of time. Some I continued to read although they did not really enthuse me. Others I could not put down. As I read several books at once, and have to keep the genres separate, two talking books and a kindle book keep my mind active. I have already finished a couple of books this year, the most interesting one being We Belong to the Land by Elias Chacour, a Palestinian priest from Israel. His documented efforts to bring the Israelis and Palestinians together have earned him many international accolades. This is a book well worth reading. I hope to soon read another book of his, Blood Brothers. Apparently it documents his early life and decision to enter the priesthood.
