While 2016 was a strange, strange year for almost all involved, one of the biggest personal upheavals for me was the loss of my desire to read.
I've had bouts of reader's block before: from having to read something for school and not being interested, overwhelmed by all the choices on my shelves and unable to choose, or just too involved in other things before I notice the same book has been in my bag for months on end.
Towards the end of the year, when I visited my family for Thanksgiving, I noticed myself falling into old routines from my youth, particularly my ease of grabbing a book when I no longer wanted to continue a conversation. For the first time in months, I devoured two books within the span of a few days. I felt like my old self who could flip pages and take in the content at breakneck speed. Unfortunately, I seemed to lose the motivation again on the flight back to Virginia.
Maybe it was a difference in location once again, but I tore through another book when I went with Brett to his parents' for Christmas, finishing a 300+ page book within roughly 12 hours.
As 2017 moved from future to now, I was reminded by Goodreads to set my reading challenge for the year. I fell woefully short in 2016 (a mere 27 of my 55 goal). I seem to do better in odd-numbered years, oddly enough. So, in an effort to not lower the bar to be too easy, I set my goal as 52—a book for each week.
Yesterday, though, I was looking through one of my many listicles bookmarked with potential "to-read" additions to my list, and I came across a book that I thought, I know I have a ton of books at home, but man, that one sounds really really good.
Another New Year trope is to read organizing and how to de-clutter one's life articles, in an attempt to stave off my inner hoarder of all things printed and bound. One of the suggestions I recently read regarding books, courtesy of everyone's favorite "less is more" guru Marie Kondo, was that the best time to read a book was that initial reaction period when you first had gotten the book, before it was placed on the to-be-read-at-a-later-date-aka-when-I-win-the-lottery-or-inherit-enough-money-to-never-need-to-work-again. She then advised that if you haven't read it within that introductory excitement period, it's best to go ahead and get rid of it.
While I won't heeding that last snippet any time soon (sorry, Brett), I thought of that in the seconds after I had read this book's blurb. Conbine that with yesterday's weirdly rough morning, and bam! I spend my lunch going to Barnes & Noble to pick it up and start reading it before I return to work.
Now, just over 24 hours later and finished with that same book, I feel invigorated in reading again. To try and capitalize on it, and to fulfill some of those goals to myself about writing more, I'm taking on PopSugar's 2017 Reading Challenge to inform which books I read and reviewing them in individual posts.
I know oh so many of you are clamoring to make sure that you don't miss a moment of my book reviews, but don't fret, dear readers. I'll aggregate them on a single special page that I'll link with the appropriate entry as the year progresses.
I feel really hopeful right now, as I usually do after finishing a book. (Usually. I'm looking at you, Bel Canto and Super Sad True Love Story, for being the exceptions to that norm.) I hope that this feeling continues, throughout the year, for all things. But I'll have to remember: this hope came through effort, through action. I can't just sit by idly and expect hope to fall down. I have to make it happen.