When I turned 30 I realized, I’d forgotten how to read. Not in a literal sense, no I could read you the weather, or instructions. I could read you signs and closed captions, but read for fun? I hadn’t read for fun in years. Where would I even start? I knew the pull to my phone instead of a book would be strong, and with the amount of stress I have been dealing with lately I didn’t want something heavy. I needed a junk food read.
A Junk food book I call it. An easy to read, fun experience. Something that isn’t a history book, or a classical tale. Something written by a modern day writer, easy on the eyes and good for the soul. Full of characters, not just character. Small places with big hearts. I wanted a good story, nothing simpler than that, and I found that in the novel Where the Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens.
Finally picking this book took forever. I told myself I needed to have the book picked out before Memorial Day weekend. The long weekend seemed like a good opportunity to try reading since I would have so much free time. I thought picking out the book would be easy. I even knew what I wanted. A murder mystery with some memorable characters, and an interesting/bad ass main character. Throw in some romance and I was going to be a happy gal.
I spent days looking through the top reviewed books from Amazon. Freddy even took me to Barnes and Noble. I had hoped that something was going to jump out at me, nag me to take it home. Maybe even start it in the car. Nothing did. I had hoped to find something that would call me, instead I felt like I was in a sea of books and none of them seems appealing.
I was on the verge of quitting my goal to start reading again all together when I saw a recommendation for Where the Crawdads Sing. The Kindle version of the book was only $8.99, and there was a free sample. The opportunity to read the sample arose when we started our drive up to Nettles island. We were planning on a relaxing weekend with family up in Nettles island. The 2 hour drive to Nettles was the perfect opportunity to start my book.
How Reading for Fun is Going
I can tell you now, months later that I’m still reading. things got overwhelming for me and I did fall off. I also decided to put down a book I was struggling with. This isn’t permanent. I just decided we’re taking a break. It took a while before I picked a book after that but I set a goal of 1 book a month for the year of 2023 and I am not going to quit on that goal yet. So I picked another book by the name From Blood and Ash.
A great choice for Valentines and it has thankfully reinspired me to continue on my reading journey. All I can say is don’t quit, don’t quit because you picked a bad book or a book that maybe just isn’t the escape you need right now. Just take a break, Take a couple days break if you have to, and then when that itch starts to come back, try another book. Try a Junk book. Try a book for fun.
