I am racing against time to finish my paper book “The Booksellers of Florence” by Ross King. The race ends on Friday when I discuss this book with my bookclub.

Now there is no compulsion to finish the book, as I know my friends won’t disown me for it, but not finishing this book by Friday and prolonging it into the weekend would kind of derail by June reading plans- two more books to go this month. And it would be nice to have it all finished so I can discuss this non-fiction with some conviction, and participate with confidence. I know…first world problems…

Anyways, my solution to finish this book on time is that I am both reading my copy from the library, as well as listening to it in the Libby app when working out etc. So, hopefully, with this reading and listening to book in continuation would help my cause of finishing it on time. And because the audiobook reader reads slowly for my taste, I am listening to at 1.25x speed.

I feel very smug about having come up with this solution to get through this book. I know it’s not that genius or novel, but hey, I’ve never done this before, and I feel happy about having found some way to speed up my way through the book. I have also not heard any audiobook or podcast at increased speed before. But sometimes, such measures need to be taken, right?

How am I liking this book you ask? I am enjoying it…kinda. It is full of too many details about people, their book preferences, and who wanted what printed, and politics of the time. I have read and enjoyed Ross King’s Brunelleschi’s Dome before. But this one seems too dense for me. Maybe if I was not rushing through it, I would enjoy the details more. But, nevertheless, I am happy to know about the importance of books and their development in Renaissance Florence. I had some idea, but not to this level. 

I now believe that with my extreme (for me) tactics, I have good hope of finishing the book. And enjoy my friends’ company while feeling like I am able to contribute with confidence in discussions this Friday.