If you are a watcher of chick flicks then you are already most likely familiar with one of the greats called The Proposal. If you’ve seen this movie you might have briefly wondered how much older Sandra Bullock was than Ryan Reynolds (the answer is 12 years) but you most likely put that inquisition aside so that you could thoroughly enjoy watching a fantastic movie with two of the great actors.
Sandra Bullock says many cute and funny things throughout the movie, but there’s one line she says that has guided a part of my life. In the movie, Ryan Reynolds works day and night at his editing job to please his jerkface boss Sandra Bullock. Sandra treats everyone like garbage which is why when the immigration department tells her she’s being deported back to Canada she tells them that is engaged to Ryan Reynolds and forces him to agree to the scheme in return for keeping his job and growing in his career. The next 45 minutes consist of them trying to act engaged while at Ryan Reynolds’s parents’ Alaskan lake house party… but they mostly just end up fighting and yelling at each other.
Until one night…
She’s sleeping in the bed, and Ryan Reynolds gets the floor. They start to have one of those vulnerable conversations that literally only result in marriage.
Sandra Bullock starts to share personal details from her life as a sign of her being more open… like her tattoos, her favorite bands, and then the most important line of the movie.
Sandra Bullock says, “I read Wuthering Heights every Christmas.”
This comment intrigues me for a few reasons.
- Out of all the books to read at Christmas time why choose Wuthering Heights??
- Out of all the books to read once a year why choose Wuthering Heights??
- Out of all the books to read… why Wuthering Heights??
Ok but seriously here are some other questions
- Are there secretly a bunch of people rereading the same book each year and somehow I missed the invite to that club?
- Is it actually possible to read the same book each year at the same time?
And most importantly…
- How does one choose a book to read annually?
As for the questions about Wuthering Heights if someone reading this has miraculously written their dissertation on Emily Bronte please enlighten me as to why someone would choose to read that each year.
As for the rest of the questions I decided to embark on a little adventure through Francis Bacon’s good ole scientific method.
I needed evidence
And more importantly, I needed a test subject
I needed someone who cared about books and had a wide variety of reading and was willing to expand that variety. I also needed someone who was willing to embark on a 4-year scientific journey of conducting evidence. I also needed someone who had seen The Proposal. And lastly, I needed someone who believed that Chocolate Chip Cookies are the greatest dessert in the world because this usually means they’re somewhere on the kindred spirit scale.
I found my test subject moments after determining what kind of person I would need.
Myself 🙂
The past 4 years of this scientific adventure have taken me to places I didn’t think I could go. I’ve had to observe my very soul with the power of a microscope to reach a conclusion.
But I did reach a scientific conclusion
You can read a book annually
And…
It will change your life
But. Here. Is. The. Thing.
Choosing YOUR annual book is going to require
- Time
- Blood (metaphorical of course)
- Sweat
- Tears
- Blood (not metaphorical)
- Mental Power
- Possibly a metal detector
- An amazon prime account
- A library card
Another important thing to note is that only YOU can choose your annual book. I can help with suggestions and advice but I cannot make the decision for you. Only you have the power to choose your story.
Sandra Bullock miraculously decided that Wuthering Heights was the book she could read every year… but that book means nothing to me so I wouldn’t have chosen it.
So here is the evidence that produces annual book readers such as myself and Sandra Bullock.
First and foremost if you are one of those haters who doesn’t believe in re-reading books… lets just say you have a lot to learn about life and how to be happy. you should be forced to stand before a tribunal of rereaders who question you until the realization comes that you only understood a small fraction of the things you thought you had read.
THE METHOD BY WHICH ONE MAY CHOOSE THEIR ANNUAL BOOK
Tested and Proven by Ari Anne Johnson who is basically a Doctor, Marriage Therapist, Movie Reviewer, and Scientist.
- The first step is to think of books you really like. If you’re going to be reading this book once a year, it needs to be valuable to you in some way. If you think you should like Crime and Punishment but you actually hate it… save it for a different day, not your annual book. Books you like DO NOT have to be happy or funny… it just needs to be valuable to you. If you can’t think of books you like then you need to start with Step 0 which is to start reading books.
- Once you have a list of valuable books you need to pick one that is realistic. If you end up choosing War and Peace or the unedited version of Les Miserables ask yourself if you can realistically read that each year in the midst of work, life, and vacations. If the book is too big, pick one that’s smaller so you can maintain the annual reading of it.
- Choose a book that teaches you things no matter how often you read it. Ideally, you can find a book that is so full of the values that you want in your life that it’s actually productive to read it once a year because it helps remind you of who you want to be.
- Choose a book that makes you feel stuff. Books connect us to our emotions, minds, and bodies in a way that social media can’t. So if this is going to be the only book you read in a year (for those of you who don’t read 7 books a week) make it something that helps you connect with your emotions.
- Pick a book that’s connected to a certain time of year. Sandra Bullock reads her annual book every Christmas. I read mine the first week of November. There are 10 other months to pick. Connect it to a holiday or season to help bring that event meaning. Remember is there anything funner than reading on your birthday? No.
- Remember that there is no book that is not allowed because this activity is completely subjective to you. This means that technically picture books are allowed if you need something super short… although I would encourage you to choose something a little longer so that more of your time is spent in the book requiring you to focus longer on the themes and story.
- Once you’ve chosen your story you now have to read it for the first time. In order to have an annual book you actually have to read it annually. This is the easy part because you have all this excitement that you’ve started a new tradition for yourself. The second year is the harder part. This is when it becomes apparent if you have chosen the right book. If you realize you didn’t go back to your list and try a different one. It is not unusual for this project to take 10 years.
- I’m one of those people who believes that audiobooks are mostly kind of sort of well enough connected to the physical reading of a book. This could be helpful if you’re not in situations where reading a physical book is realistic. If there isn’t an audiobook for your annual book, then you are probably called to make the audiobook and upload it to Librivox so that others can enjoy it.
I know this is quite a long process, but it’s extremely valuable because it’s one of the most exciting things I’ve ever done in my life. Telling someone you read the same book every year also is the coolest and most legit-sounding thing I’ve ever heard in my life… This is why I remember Sandra Bullock saying it in a movie that had nothing to do with books.
Now it’s time for the moment you’ve all (or maybe just me) been waiting for!!!
ARI’S ANNUAL BOOK REVEAL
Every Nov 1-11 I read Rainbow Valley by L.M. Montgomery. This is the 7th book in the Anne of Green Gables series. (yes there is more than just one book… and yes the sequels are just as good as the first if not better)
Why did I choose the 7th book in an obscure series about a young girl living on Prince Edward Island?
- If there’s such a thing as the ghosts of dead authors visiting you in your dreams and inspiring you when you’re awake mine would be L.M. Montgomery. She writes everything I want to read and sees the world in a fresh, honest, and hilarious way. I have NEVER read a book of hers that didn’t make me want to be a more captivating and intriguing person.
- Before officially choosing Rainbow Valley, I had already read it more than 10 times which was a good indicator that I would be able to handle reading it each year.
- The book takes place in my favorite time period in all of world history 1890-1900. For a brief moment in time, the world is mostly at peace. Because everyone has leisure, the world of art, sculpture, automobiles, writing, and exploring science is exploding at a rapid pace. There’s an energy and excitement in the air. I realize that any academic reading this will probably pass out and die arguing that the 1890s were a time of extreme decadence and decay in society… but I’m focusing on the positives right now. With the start of WWI in 1914 the world was never the same. This tragic sense of nostalgia for a period of time I didn’t even experience is worth remembering each year.
- On November 11, 1918, an armistice was signed between the Germans and the Allies officially ending WWI. In England they named this holiday Armistice Day, In Canada Remembrance Day, In the USA it’s called Veterans Day. Those who get work off on this day usually spend it sleeping and eating entire bags of Cheetos. I think a day focused on intentionally remembering could be one of the healthiest things for humanity. I don’t remember easily because I’m too focused on either the present or the future, so reading Rainbow Valley leading up to November 11 forces me to really remember… the loss of so many extraordinary lives, the world of innovation and enlightenment that ended when everyone went to war and came back traumatized… and most importantly how blessed I am not to have to live with images of bodies being torn apart and blown up.
- I live a busy life and I don’t take much time to stop and reflect. Rainbow Valley causes me to stop at least mentally if not physically and remember that I care about things and that life is meaningful to me outside of my schedule.
- Rainbow Valley has a pretty tragic ending… tragic enough that I would be stupid to read it anywhere in public because the chances of me sobbing and becoming extremely depressed are 100%… I like this aspect of Rainbow Valley because the tragic stuff works better for me than the cheerful optimistic stuff. I realize that this is totally a personal preference so if you want to choose Pollyanna as your annual book be my guest.
- Every time I read Rainbow Valley I laugh and laugh and laugh. I enjoy life more.
My reading of Rainbow Valley each year has completely changed my life.
The beginning of November is now a time of profound reverence and introspection. It sets the tone for the holiday season in December.
The same kind of experience awaits you as you embark on the journey of choosing your annual book. I wish you all the success in the world in your undertaking. And if someone actually undertakes this mission… I demand you tell me what your experience is and which book you chose… for evidence purposes… and because I would literally love to know.
I sympathize with Anne who says in Rainbow Valley, “I have a dreadful suspicion that I love gossip.”
I have the same suspicion.
Here’s one last quote from Rainbow Valley that cuts me to the core.
Jem, Anne’s son, says “Oh, I wish we had the old days back again.”
I sometimes have that same wish… but for now, I’ll just have to remember it each November 1st as I crack open my old worn 1919 edition of Rainbow Valley.
Here’s a list of books that didn’t make the cut for my annual book and the reasons why. But who knows… maybe they’ll work for you 🙂
- Exodus by Leon Uris (too emotionally intense and epic)
- A Lantern in Her Hand by Bess Streeter Aldrich (too unrelated to my current life)
- The Book Thief by Marcus Zusak (message is too unclear to visit annually and too popular)
- Great Expectations by Charles Dickens (unrealistic for me to enjoy visiting each year)
- The Lieutenant’s Lady by Bess Streeter Aldrich (too much of a love story)
- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy (too suicidy)
- Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen (Marrianne was just too annoying for me to read annually… I didn’t want to have a heart attack from frustration)
- The Devil’s Arithmetic by Jane Yolen (too focused on one specific historical event)
- The Blue Castle by L.M. Montgomery (the ending is too happy and hopeful… almost like a dream)
- To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee (too overwhelming)
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley (too analytical about society)
- My Name is Asher Lev by Chaim Potok (makes me waaaay too introspective to the point that I cut myself out of society)
- Immortal Wife by Irving Stone (too heavily focused on one person who was kind of insane)
- Lust for Life by Irving Stone (I loved the creative and artistic focus of this one but the message isn’t important enough to revisit annually.)
- A Town Like Alice by Nevile Shute (I almost almost almost chose this one but I needed something more nostalgic.)
*Update: As of Sep 2024 I have now read Wuthering Heights and I want to apologize to Emily Bronte and Sandra Bullock for too harshly judging a truly delightful and dramatic story. It’s still not going on my annual book list… but it was an amazing read.