Rekindling My Love For Reading

What happened to my love for reading? It never really went away. I read for a living, actually. I read blogs and newspapers and magazines in my free time, too. But reading books – whole books – seems to have taken a back seat in recent years, which is funny, considering I studied creative writing at university. 

 

I remember when I was about eight or nine, spending a Sunday afternoon sorting out my bookshelf in the sunny corner of my bedroom. I had a straw-like chair, and after all my Jacqueline Wilson and Babysitters' Club books had been alphabetised, I sat down and read for hours, so content. Nothing could distract me. I just had to wait for the sun to set and the call for tea time.

I have been thinking about the joy that reading a good book brings, recently, and I miss it. I don't want reading to become a chore, which it sometimes felt like at school and university.

I want that feeling of shutting out the world for a few hours to fall into a story. It must be a form of therapy – stress relief, without any strain on your eyes I get when I use my laptop or mobile phone, and I want to get away sometimes.

It goes without saying that technology has taken over all of our lives, but books were my first love, and I am making a conscious effort to rekindle that love. I think about how content I used to feel when lost in a good book and I want that back. It's something with which, unfortunately, the internet cannot compete. So, from now on, reading in bed in the evenings and mornings will take priority over watching episodes of Grey's Anatomy or Luther.

Pictured above are the books I am currently reading. I have been reading Caitlin Moran's How to be a Woman for a few months now, and even though I am a bit of a slow reader, this one's taking a bit longer to get through – but a review on that will reveal all when I finally finish it. 

I have had the Neal's Yard Remedy Healing Foods book for almost a year now, but it's one that I like to flick through when I'm feeling motivated to sort out my bad eating habits (which is quite often, ha).

A Million Little Pieces by James Frey has been on my reading list for years. I finally started reading it yesterday and after two chapters I knew I was going to love it, and it was that excitement of a new story that prompted me to write this post.

Are you reading any books at the moment? Do you still make time outside of work and TV/internet browsing to read?