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When I was a kid, I remember thinking the fact that I was born in a leap year was really cool. It made me feel special – leap years were also Olympic years (this was before they were split into different years for summer and winter games), and it just seemed neat, that there were some years that had an extra day. It felt like it should be a holiday of some sort – definitely a day off from school.
If I’d had the day off from school then, I probably would have spent it reading. Reading was one of my favorite free time activities, and was the one that I never had to ask permission to do – if my homework and chores were done, I could read. I would have thought that an entire day with nothing to do except read for fun was basically a perfect day.
As this year’s leap day approaches, I’ve seen various book-related social media accounts suggest marking February 29th by reading. Commit to reading a book you’ve always been meaning to, or a really long book (because of having an extra day), or to reading outside your normal taste. I love all of those ideas – I love pretty much any idea that says we should mark a day by taking time to read.
They also make me nostalgic for the time when I could have considered taking an entire day off, just to read for fun. Just a pile of books, and nothing to worry about. That really would feel like a holiday, something so special it only came around once every four years.
Because I’m curious, I’m opening the comments to all today - if you are going to mark the 29th by reading, what book is it? Even if you aren’t, if there is a celebratory book, or a book you’ve always been meaning to read (book goals?), maybe share that. I’ve never read the Epic of Gilgamesh, so maybe it’s time to find a good translation and give that one a go.
I finished Guards! Guards! on Leap Day. And it’s now my favorite Discworld book…so far.
Oooh what a nice idea. I guess for me the thought would be-- something about Leap Year feels like a surprise, something unexpected, even though it's been there all along. I think I'd want a book to match that: somehow unexpected even though it's not new, has really been there. Maybe a Katharine Briggs book, like Nine Lives (all about cats!). Or James Branch Cabell never stops being somehow unexpected. An unexpected treasure from a favourite author, maybe? That would mean diving into the vintage picture books for something by Tomi Ungerer, perhaps, or Ruth Krauss...