A few times I've been asked about my sudden change in reading. I grew up very averse to reading because, as expected, we were tested on our reading comprehension in school. I didn't hate reading, exactly, but I hated being assigned anything to read. What was supposed to be a fun hobby would turn into a chore, an assignment, a task to complete. And it wasn't fun. It was the standard "read this because you'll be tested on it". For me, this made reading something I never wanted to do.
For starters, I'm a very slow reader and my mind wanders very easily. One word can open a Pandora's box in my mind and before I know it, I've daydreamed for half a page before realizing anything. How frustrating! Read half the page, come out of it, and realize your brain was on autopilot but no one was behind the wheel for several paragraphs! Now you've wasted all that time and have to go back again and read everything all over! UGH.
And don't get me started on summer reading lists. If I was already reading slowly, as it were, the last thing I wanted to deal with was a reading list.
HERE ARE 50 BOOKS YOU SHOULD READ IN 2 MONTHS. BE READY FOR NEXT FALL!
Yeah, how about, no?
I could easily think of numerous other ways I'd rather spend my summer than reading a book that would take me away from friends, exploring, playing video games, playing with my toys, swimming with cousins, or anything else that didn't involve a book, much less a book that would bore me to tears.
On top of all this, when I was in high school (I graduated in 2000, so that should help date me), we had a program called Accelerated Reader. And I *hated* that program. Whichever book you'd read, there would be a multiple choice test on it. The test would either be 10 or 20 questions. You had to get a 70+ to get any credit. If you missed 4/10 or 7/20 you were screwed and received 0 credit. And the score was part of your class grade. *facepalm*
I read slowly. My comprehension struggled because my mind wandered so easily. And it became a cycle. If my mind wandered, I'd read without focus and then I'd have to re-read and the cycle repeated itself. It was very frustrating and made reading a loathsome activity.
I will say, however, despite my overall aversion to reading for literal decades, there were some books I found I enjoyed. As a kid, we had the Berenstain Bears collection and I loved reading and re-reading those books. They were short, fun, relatable, and very enjoyable. Then, I remember my mom trying to hook me onto James and the Giant Peach by Roald Dahl. The hook was that the main character had my name. That helped and I read it and really liked it. In high school, away from the AR test, we read some other books that I did enjoy:
A Separate Peace by John Knowles
The Joy Luck Club by Amy Tan
The Jungle by Upton Sinclair
Beloved by Toni Morrison
Frankenstein by Mary Shelley
We were motivated to read these books in part because we'd watch the movies later so we could compare how different the movie was from the book and which was better. I remember distinctly that the movie Beloved was horrible while the book was much better. It would take me decades later to realize just how personal one's reading journey can be. In 2023, I read The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison and after finishing it, concluded I couldn't read any more of her work because her writing was too heavy for my taste. And that's fine.
And a few others. In high school, I also discovered another book called The Caine Mutiny by Herman Wouk. It'd be the thickest book I'd ever read and it turned out to be my favorite fiction at the time. I loved it. So enjoying reading became bittersweet and I liked the idea of reading and being well-read over actually reading books.
Then I matured enough to read books I had to read for college and graduate school. I wanted to be a good student and read what I had to. Much of it had been nonfiction about music education or music theory, the majors I studied in undergrad and grad school respectively
Fast-forward to the Trump administration in 2016-2020. In that time, I'd learned about the megahit Broadway musical Hamilton. I'd listened to and became addicted to the soundtrack and learned the musical was based on the biography by Ron Chernow. Because my father is well-read and a history enthusiast, and because I admire his encyclopedic depth of knowledge and value intelligence so highly, I decided to try my hand at reading the very thorough biography that inspired the Hamilton musical. While it took me a little over a year, on and off, to finish, I finished it. Being someone who struggles with resilience, my husband praised my efforts for finishing it even though it took me over a year (13 months). But I noticed something too. Having read and enjoyed a very thick book, it gave me a sense of accomplishment I hadn't had before.
And then it occurred to me: I was an adult. I could choose to read whatever I wanted to. No one would be testing me on my comprehension. I was free. So I felt compelled to start reading a mix of books that were current and classics on those old high school reading lists I never got to:
The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
The Color Purple by Alice Walker
The Iliad by Homer
The Odyssey by Homer
1984 by George Orwell
...and more.
This burst of reading happened during the Trump administration which is why when I read 1984, I realized there were elements of that book I was witnessing during his presidency from his supporters. Terms like "doublethink" which was thinking and believing in two contradictory ideas simultaneously. It blew my mind how life was imitating literature.
After having read 1984, another thought dawned on me. I'm a public school elementary teacher and I'm surrounded by children who look to me as a positive role model. We're constantly promoting reading in school and I was a teacher that didn't like reading...much. And this gave me the motivation to walk the walk. How could I be a teacher, promote reading, and not be a reader myself? I couldn't. I had to overcome that for my kids' sake. They need to see adults loving reading.
So in 2022, I finally applied some structure. I set a modest goal of reading 12 books. I was prepared to keep my own expectations low so I wouldn't set myself up for failure. Read 1 book per month and you'll be fine. That's doable. It's realistic. And that's when something happened. I didn't read 12 books in 2022. I read 25--I surpassed my goal by over 200%. (!!!)
So in 2023, my husband suggested I go for 30, a modest challenge to be more aggressive. So I set my goal for 2023 for 30 books. In 2023, I read 54, roughly 1 per week, a feat I didn't think I had in me.
Now it's 2024 and my goal is 60 books. I've read both fiction and nonfiction and gone into genres in fiction I didn't think I'd be interested in and it turns out I love: fantasy and mystery, for starters. My nonfiction preferences have been about history, Black history, sexuality, politics, and more. And I've definitely been interested in reading banned books. That's where the good stuff is! I discovered Libby, the library app through which I check out ebooks and audiobooks, and have found my favorite way to read is full immersion: read the book while listening to the narrator (especially when they're a voice actor who can do voices!).
On my reading journey, I've also encountered the moments where:
- I started reading a book that was highly promoted, but it turned me off
- I'd start off interested and then get bored and quit it
I've started at least one book that I got to the last chapter and couldn't finish. And that experience is a bit frustrating because you spend hours reading something only to not finish. Reading shouldn't be a bother. It should be fun. It should bring you pleasure. It should make you feel deeply. You should fall in love and get invested in the characters and their journeys. You should look forward to reading authors whose work excites you because you like their style.
A couple of the things that have happened to me that I really, really like:
- Identifying different writing styles and discerning which kinds you can read and which bore you.
- When a sentence you read is so beautifully crafted and packs a punch; the word choice is exquisite and you realize you're reading the words of a masterful author who knows exactly how to say what they want to say to elicit the strongest reaction out of the reader. *Those* are the best moments in reading.
My ToBeRead (TBR) list on Goodreads is long and I've bought more books than I currently have time to read. I've gone to book signings and have attended the Texas Book Festival twice now, the 2nd time purchasing 10 books and getting all but 1 signed. My husband and I now have a collection of autographed books too. Upon finishing one book, I wrestled with which book--of my many waiting for me--to read next. Some books have sat on my shelf for at least 6 months. I typically choose to read 1 fiction and 1 nonfiction concurrently and other times feel like only reading fiction since that's truly for entertainment instead of learning. There were also times I was reading up to 4 books at once!
I've also realized one helpful thing to keep me on track of my reading goals: If I check out an ebook or audiobook (while reading the physical copy) from the library, I'm inclined to prioritize that book and finish it sooner because I have a deadline. I've found that some libraries give you 3 weeks to finish while others give you 2.
Having now been on this converted journey for 2 years, I can definitely say everyone's reading journey is different and only you, as the reader, can decide how you want to make it work. The bottom line is that whatever you read should be something you like, that appeals to you. Reading a book is a time commitment and there's nothing wrong with abandoning a book you don't like after all. It says nothing about you other than you're not connecting with that book. I am still struggling with being okay with abandoning books too. I've abandoned about 5 so far. And a couple I'm considering trying again later.
In a ludicrous time like now when we're experiencing numerous book bans, it's all the more important to read. Get a library card from your local library branch. Hell, go library hopping! Let's normalize that! Check out indie bookstores instead of buying books on Amazon. Here are a few of my go-tos in the Austin, TX area:
Reverie Books
Black Pearl Books
BookPeople
The Book Burrow
BookWoman
And the website Bookshop.org is a partner for online indie booksellers. You purchase a book on Bookshop and a portion of your purchase goes to the indie bookstore of your choice.
Happy reading! 👀📚
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