All those years of mandatory reading, book reports, and novel quizzes really have a way of making reading everything but an enjoyable experience. Towards the end of college I had had enough. I was sick of it. I was sick of being told what to read, when to read it, how to interpret it, and especially that sickening feeling that I got (every time) knowing that finishing the terrible book was only HALF of the work and that no-doubt a book report or some sort of reflection of said book was in my near future.
By the time I graduated just the very thought of reading stressed me out.
Over time I slowly started reintroducing books back into my life, realizing that part of my problem was that I had no idea what kinds of books I event liked to read! For 20 years I would get a list of required reading and painstakingly make my way down the list not even bothering to take into account if I actually liked what I was reading. At the time, they were all the same genre to me: Required.
Fast forward a few years and you would have no idea that I used to be an ex-reader. My iPad, specifically the iBooks app, has made reading infinitely less risky. iBooks allows me to preview books before buying, see how a book is rated among other top sellers, read my books on all my devices (iphone and iphone), but most importantly I can decide if I like a book, an author, and the storyline before committing my (precious) time. I'm in all or nothing kind of girl - and during the first steps in my quest to enjoy reading, I hated that I was buying books that I wasn't sure I was going to like, after all, I didn't even know what I liked!
A few things I've realized during my intervention:
- I have a pension for reading smut (ie: The 50 Shades of Grey Trilogy)
- I like autobiographies
- I've recently become a huge fan of listening to books on tape (yup, that still counts as reading in my book)
- I prefer reading on an eReader vs. a "Real" Book
- Reading makes falling asleep much easier
I've been invited to join a few book clubs in the past few months but have politely declined. Just the thought of mandatory reading and a group discussion gives me hives!
Currently I'm reading:
-
by Andy Cohen
- The 19th Wife, by Davis Ebershoff
