Becoming a bookworm

I learned how to read very early on in life and became obsessed with it rather quickly. Always with a book in hand, little ol’ me knew from the get-go that literature would become a lifelong friend. Whether it was breakfast, lunch or dinner, I was constantly immersed in some mystical world, living vicariously through fictional characters.

This love affair continued until the very moment I got my hands on an iPhone. My obsession with reading dwindled significantly, and I only turned to books if necessary. It wasn’t until BookTok started to receive a lot of traction online that I realized just how long it had been since I picked up a book for no reason other than pure enjoyment.

Faced with this dilemma, I have made it a top priority to start reading for fun again this year — not only for the obvious benefits such as promoting brain function and boosting creativity but because it is simply fun. The thrill of sitting down with a good book is one of life’s simple joys, and I have no interest in my phone addiction taking that away from me any longer than it already has. Thus, here are a few things I have made sure to keep in mind as I have been trekking on this journey to reading for fun again.  

First and foremost, I think a lot of people forget that reading is supposed to be fun. If self-help books are your thing, more power to you, but I’m all about fiction. The places you go and the people you meet are all-consuming, much like the magic of the movies.

Another thing to remember is that books should be shared. There is such a massive reading community out there, and I would be lying if I said I haven’t always wanted to join a book club. The closest I’ve gotten to a real-life book club is Goodreads; however, I just recently made the switch over to StoryGraph. If you are an avid Strava user or Letterboxd guru, I can bet money that downloading a virtual reading log will be right up your alley.

Here’s a random thought: reading is so much more than what book you’re enjoying — it’s also about where you’re enjoying it. Wrap me in a blanket or put me in a hammock, and I’ll be happily lost in a story, forever unbothered. Even treating yourself to a fun trinket like a reading light or a Kindle makes the experience that much better.

This might not be the best time to praise reading for fun, as we’re all probably reading a ton for other reasons, but if you can, I encourage you to pick up a new book in the foreseeable future. And then follow me on StoryGraph, I promise it’s so fun.