Hi! It has been a hot minute! I am not sure if I am here for the day, or if I will be blogging frequently. The truth is, I AM BORED out of my mind and felt inspired to write a blog post and, so, here I am. A post about reading.
At the begining of the year I set a goal to read one book a month or 12 books this year. I knew it was a lofty goal becayse I only read a few books a year. Admittedly, I have never been a huge book reader. Even though I have always enjoyed reading, I couldn’t find the time or the focus to commit to reading as much as I wanted. Well, fast forward to March & COVID and I still had not read a single book. Told you it was a loft goal!
At the beginning of this stay home situation, I bought two books to read knowing thinking that I would have some extra time on my hands. WRONG! Now, I found myself with less time! Not even time to watch my shows. Needless to say, started getting full and the free time I did have, I was either watching TV or watching TV and scorlling! At one point, got so bored, I started Where the Crawdads Sing but I couldn’t get into it. If you’ve read it, you know that’s nuts because it is such a good book. Anyway, fast foward to week 100th of this stay home situation and I was still in the same cycle. Mom, work, tv, social media and wine. I swear, I was getting dumber by the day. Then one day my girlfriend told me about book she was reading, Fast Girl by Suzy Favor Hamilton (missing from picture, lent it to a friend) and I just knewI had to read this book. I ordered it on Amazon, and within a few days, I was enthrolled in the story of the olympic runner who self sabotaged her enitre career, leaves her husband and baby at home, moved to vegas and became a top call girl all due to being missdiagnosed for bipolar disorder.
It is now May 26, after finishing Hidden Valley Road, I can happily say that within a 4 week periond, I have caught up to my goal of one book per month and I have no plans to stop reading.
I wanted to share what helped me jumpstart my reading incase you are stuggling too.
- Reading is a commitment just like working out is. I had to learn to make time for it and commit to reading. That means breaking up with another habit. Hopefully a bad one. Mine
wasis scrolling and TV. I still do it, but I do it less. - I put my phone away. I dock it and put it on silent. My mind wanders naturally, so having the phone next to me is too much of a distraction.
- Books have timing. Don’t feel bad if you can’t get into a book that EVERYONE loved. Headspace plays a huge role in the books you connect with. Put it down and move on to the next one. Come back to it later.
- Make reading a ritual. Find a cozy corner, get your favorite drink; mine is hot water with lemon or a glass of wine. Light your favorite candle or diffuse your favorite oil, and get comfortable. Find or creat your reading nook.
- Have two or more books you want to read in your possession. I used to buy one book at a time, and if I wasn’t into it, it would sit until I made myself read it or got to the store to buy a new one. It could be weeks or months before I did either. I found that having two or more books from my list takes away an excuse and I can hold myself accountable.
- It takes time to find your groove. They say it takes 17 times doing something for it to become a habbit.
- And finally, read different types of books. Read some fiction, non-fiction, and memoirs. That has helped me bot get bored and stay engaged.
Anyway, I hope this helps one person jumpstart their reading. All the books I have read so far are linked below.
Happy Reading! Marisela
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