Changing reading habits
Happy Sunday, everyone!
Something I mentioned a couple of blog posts ago has been playing on my mind recently, so I wanted to share my thoughts with you in the hope that many of you will have experienced a similar journey with reading.
Reading has always been my #1 favourite thing to do. My books have always been my favourite and most prized possessions. Growing up as an only child, my Mum and Dad were great and were always there to play games with me and to keep me entertained, but when they (understandably) needed a break, reading was the best way I could pass the time without needing anybody else there with me. The first book I remember reading was The Night Before Christmas; Dad I would read it together all year round until I'd basically memorised it. I had a beautiful old edition with gorgeous illustrations that I would just pore over, tracing each word and sounding it out as I went. After that, my favourite children's books were those of Anne Fine (especially Goggle Eyes and Charm School) and Jacqueline Wilson (The Illustrated Mum and The Lottie Project). When Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was released when I was five, Mum and I read it together, a chapter each night.
As I grew up, my reading tastes remained pretty predictable. When I started studying English at university in 2011, I found myself reading material that I would never have picked up otherwise. Some of it I loved and some of it I loathed, but it broadened my reading horizons for the better and made me open and willing to try anything. It sounds pretentious, but I genuinely believe that to study literature is to study life, and I simultaneously resent and am grateful for the critical reading mind that university gave me, and am trying to both hold onto and unlearn some of the habits I developed over those three years.
While I loved my time at university and feel weirdly nostalgic for it sometimes, I've found since leaving that it's instilled in me an almost snobbish attitude to contemporary, commercial fiction; if it's not something I could write a dissertation on, it's almost not worth bothering with. This is an attitude I'm working to unwind and am having a lot of fun in doing so! I've rediscovered my love for Jojo Moyes, Marian Keyes, and Sophie Kinsella. I love thrillers, I love historical fiction, and most things in between; I have found a middle ground between challenging myself / stepping out of my comfort zone with reading, and simply reading for pleasure. For a long time I was reading with a purely analytical mind, always looking for the next point I could make or paragraph I could analyse; I even set myself a challenge to read 30 books a year. And while I would like to have the time to read more, I've realised that what's more important than reading as many books as you possibly can, is to simply enjoy reading, to read for the sake of reading, to read to relax, to read to inspire, to read to laugh. I've also been dipping back into children's fiction occasionally, inspired by meeting children's author Katherine Rundell while at this years Winchester Writer's Festival with work. I'll be talking more about this in a later post!
I guess what I've been trying to say is that reading should be a joy, not a chore. As an introvert, spending time alone is something I value, and I hope I never lose the happiness and security that reading a book by myself brings me. Be open to trying new things and reading books that seem intimidating. Analyse what you read, question it and talk about it. But don't be afraid to read something that others may deem 'fluff' or 'chick lit' - read what you want to read, at your own pace, and just enjoy it.
x
Something I mentioned a couple of blog posts ago has been playing on my mind recently, so I wanted to share my thoughts with you in the hope that many of you will have experienced a similar journey with reading.
Reading has always been my #1 favourite thing to do. My books have always been my favourite and most prized possessions. Growing up as an only child, my Mum and Dad were great and were always there to play games with me and to keep me entertained, but when they (understandably) needed a break, reading was the best way I could pass the time without needing anybody else there with me. The first book I remember reading was The Night Before Christmas; Dad I would read it together all year round until I'd basically memorised it. I had a beautiful old edition with gorgeous illustrations that I would just pore over, tracing each word and sounding it out as I went. After that, my favourite children's books were those of Anne Fine (especially Goggle Eyes and Charm School) and Jacqueline Wilson (The Illustrated Mum and The Lottie Project). When Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone was released when I was five, Mum and I read it together, a chapter each night.
As I grew up, my reading tastes remained pretty predictable. When I started studying English at university in 2011, I found myself reading material that I would never have picked up otherwise. Some of it I loved and some of it I loathed, but it broadened my reading horizons for the better and made me open and willing to try anything. It sounds pretentious, but I genuinely believe that to study literature is to study life, and I simultaneously resent and am grateful for the critical reading mind that university gave me, and am trying to both hold onto and unlearn some of the habits I developed over those three years.
While I loved my time at university and feel weirdly nostalgic for it sometimes, I've found since leaving that it's instilled in me an almost snobbish attitude to contemporary, commercial fiction; if it's not something I could write a dissertation on, it's almost not worth bothering with. This is an attitude I'm working to unwind and am having a lot of fun in doing so! I've rediscovered my love for Jojo Moyes, Marian Keyes, and Sophie Kinsella. I love thrillers, I love historical fiction, and most things in between; I have found a middle ground between challenging myself / stepping out of my comfort zone with reading, and simply reading for pleasure. For a long time I was reading with a purely analytical mind, always looking for the next point I could make or paragraph I could analyse; I even set myself a challenge to read 30 books a year. And while I would like to have the time to read more, I've realised that what's more important than reading as many books as you possibly can, is to simply enjoy reading, to read for the sake of reading, to read to relax, to read to inspire, to read to laugh. I've also been dipping back into children's fiction occasionally, inspired by meeting children's author Katherine Rundell while at this years Winchester Writer's Festival with work. I'll be talking more about this in a later post!
I guess what I've been trying to say is that reading should be a joy, not a chore. As an introvert, spending time alone is something I value, and I hope I never lose the happiness and security that reading a book by myself brings me. Be open to trying new things and reading books that seem intimidating. Analyse what you read, question it and talk about it. But don't be afraid to read something that others may deem 'fluff' or 'chick lit' - read what you want to read, at your own pace, and just enjoy it.
x
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