For some reason, I also have this unspoken rule that I won’t turn the TV on before 4:00 pm. I will sometimes break that on the weekend, but it’s pretty rare for me to watch TV before that time during the week.
If I’m not working, to keep myself entertained, I’ll read.
Getting Back Into Books
Believe it or not, but in the past few years, my reading has really fallen off. There were times when my boys were babies that I was reading a book a week. Part of that was because I was awake at all hours of the day and night taking care of kids, but the other part was because I was home and had time on my hands.
When I was writing, I wouldn’t read as much because I didn’t want to be “influenced” by whoever I was reading at the time. Plus, my spare time was filled with creating stories.
Since I haven’t been writing lately and I don’t watch TV until late afternoon, I needed something to keep me busy. I figured I could get back into reading.
I hesitated doing this, though. All I could think about was how expensive it was going to be. Then I remembered: I have a library card.
I’m happy to say that I am currently back to reading a book a week, on average. If they are around 200 to 300 pages long and interesting, I can get through them fairly quickly. AND I still have time to watch TV during the day.
Keeping Things Interesting
For a long time, I wasn’t what you would call an adventurous reader. I had my favorite genres and authors and would stick to what I knew.
Y-e-a-r-s ago, I joined a book club to help break me out of my shell, but it actually reinforced why I stuck with what I knew. It hasn’t been until the last few years that I’ve really broken out of my shell and found books outside of what I normally read.
Don’t get me wrong: I’ll still come back to my comfort zone, but I’m not afraid to venture outside of it more frequently.
One of the things I do to keep thing interesting is to switch between fiction and nonfiction. I have no rules or criteria when it comes to choosing which book to read. I just find something that sounds interesting and give it a try.
So far, there’s only been a couple of books that I haven’t been able to finish.
Keeping Track of My Endeavors
When I made the decision to get back into reading, I knew I was going to go all in — which meant I would forget which books I’d already read. I wracked my brain to figure out how to keep track, and then I remembered that I still had a Goodreads page.
I haven’t been on there for a while, but I figured I might get some use out of it. If you’re curious about what I’ve read or am currently reading, then look me up on Goodreads.
I will rate the books, but I haven’t left a review yet — mainly because I don’t have a lot of time. I really just want to move from one book to another and keep feeding my brain (and keep myself busy).
Although, I am thinking about talking about some of my favorites here on my blog. We shall see how the mood takes me.
Finding New Favorites
I have to say, now that I’ve broken out of my shell and am trying out new authors, I’ve found some new favorites. I’ve also expanded my can-only-be-used-to-play-trivia knowledge base, which makes life so much more enjoyable.
If I ever go to a party, I’ll be able to keep people entertained by some newfound knowledge about the epidemic years of serial killers, the Romanov sisters, and the Korean War, among other historical tidbits.
Getting back into reading has started to relight that fire of literature deep inside me. Maybe this is what I need to take to be able to write again — or not.
Right now, I’m just appreciating the hard work and effort others have gone through to entertain readers. I’m enjoying being able to escape to new worlds for a while and learning things about the one in which we live.
