A Reading Hiatus
Hi, so it’s been a minute. Unfortunately I tend to start a lot of projects and fail to finish them (hello, novel that’s been in progress since high school, oops). I’m working on that though. Baby steps. One of the ways I am trying to see things through is not *completely* abandoning this blog even if it means just taking a few minutes each month to reflect on everything. And whether I end up musing about something random that crosses my mind, recap the books I’ve read or share what I’ve been loving lately, I’m going to make sure I write something. So for my first post in almost a year, I figured there wasn’t anything better to talk about than the biggest lifestyle change I’ve made since my last post. In the last two years, I’ve completely reignited my love for reading. I got back the thrill of diving into a story, escaping into a new world, and growing attached to fictional characters. ~It’s my passion.~
And since this isn’t a brand new development, I figured I would reflect and share my top 5 books that I read in 2021. These are the stories that stuck with me, the books that made me laugh and cry, the endings that completely took me by surprise. (And it takes a lot for a book, TV show or movie to really shock me). I’m not going to go into any long reviews or ramble on about each book because by now they are all super popular titles—literally all on the main display tables at every Barnes & Noble. Plus one is a TV show on Hulu and two more are going to be made into movies in the next few years. Just trust me that if you are looking to get back into reading, check these out:
Verity by Colleen Hoover
The Silent Patient by Alex Michaelides
The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo by Taylor Jenkins Reid
It Ends With Us by Colleen Hoover
Normal People by Sally Rooney
With this newfound love for reading, my goal for 2022 is to read 100 books and so far I’m over half way there (just finished #60!), so I’m on track. But either my obsession is growing (very plausible) or there is something about the books I’ve read so far this year, because they have impacted me more than any from last year. I’m talking about stories that don’t leave your mind far after you’ve finished them. The kind you keep coming back to again and again. I’ve always been a fan of the romance genre (more invested in the love lives of fictional characters than my own tbh) and I grew up reading YA dystopian and fantasy books (hello, Twilight, Hunger Games, Delirium and Divergent series!). So naturally, I gravitated toward fantasy romance when I picked up the hobby after many years of being out of the reading game. Parallel to my teenage years, the first book/series that I read and became invested in was From Blood and Ash by Jennifer L Armontrout. We’re talking “vampires, but make it spicy.” But it wasn’t until I discovered the epic worlds (and words) of Sarah J Maas that I truly became obsessed. A Court of Thorns and Roses, aka ACOTAR, completely changed my perspective on reading. I fell in love with the characters. I cried and I laughed throughout the books. I experienced all of the emotions, and they stuck with me. It truly was a turning point. And when I read Crescent City immediately afterward, I fell in love with those new characters in a new world right away. I was obsessed—ie. the Ruhn Danaan Tik Tok sound plays nonstop in my mind (IYKYK), I want nothing more than to join the Frat Pack bros and I’m firmly team Hunt. (Note: I did go back to read the entire Throne of Glass series as well and even though it took me longer to get into the series, by Queen of Shadows I was hooked. And don’t get me started on how much I cried after the ending of Empire of Storms… I documented that journey on Tik Tok lol).
I’ve read multiple books since those first few series that left a major impact on me, but it wasn’t until Zodiac Academy last month that I experienced the same feeling of being immersed into a new world and deeply attached to new characters. I binged the first 6 books one after the other, read the alternative POV novellas, signed up to receive bonus content and only stopped before reading the 7th because of the warnings that it ends on a major cliffhanger that will wreck me as a reader until the 8th and final one comes out in December. I already experienced so much emotional damage in the first 6 books that I had to put my mental health first for once lol. (Let’s not speak of the pain caused by the end of book 4… or the way I hysterically cried for half an hour at 2am reading the end of book 6).
I’ve always been a hyper-fixation type of girl with literally everything in my life. Whenever I buy new clothes, I wear nothing but those 5 new items for weeks. I go through intense food hyper-fixations where all I want to eat is one meal or snack at every meal (currently, it’s Caprese + Greek salads for lunch and Dragonberry rum + ginger ale being my drink of choice this summer). And of course, I go through my media fixations—from rewatching my comfort episodes of Teen Wolf (which I still do to this day to feel something) to starting a Tumblr dedicated to The 100 TV series (#Bellarke till I die, I still can’t believe they fucked that up). And now, it’s the SJM multiverse that I’m beyond invested in. I’m engaging in debates and discussions in a Facebook group and listening to theories for the upcoming books on Tik Tok while coming up with my own. (yes, I’m very well aware of how much of a nerd I truly am. I’ve never pretended not to be one). Anyways all of that was to say that I very much dive into things head first, but it’s part of what makes me so passionate about the things I like. It’s not just a hobby or an interest, it becomes a part of me. Like being a voracious reader is now ingrained in my DNA. And I honestly don’t care if people see that as a waste of time or nerdy or antisocial. I’m at a point in my life where I would much rather stay in and read than go out to expend my energy on social interactions that just end up draining me most of the time.
But I know there are people out there who say they “don’t have time to read” or they “don’t like reading” and I’m calling bullshit. Because no matter how busy your life is, you can always make time if you truly want to. It’s an easy excuse, one that I used a lot during college. And I get it, priorities can change throughout the years, but if you want to get back into reading, all you have to do is take the time to just do it. I personally love reading before bed because I either get engrossed in the story and get a ton of reading done (at the expense of sleep lol) or I fall asleep easier because I’m too tired to look at my Kindle screen. As for the people who don’t like reading… to be honest, you just probably haven’t found what you like to read about yet. My type of books aren’t for everyone, but the good news is that there are sooooo many kinds of stories out there just waiting to be discovered. If you don’t like romance or think it’s cheesy (you’re wrong btw), you can escape into a sci-fi adventure or fantasy. Or maybe you just can’t get into fiction and want to learn something, which means you could opt for a historical nonfiction or check out one of the many self-help books out there. The options are endless and I’m sure everyone could find something they’d enjoy if they just tried looking for it.