When My Reading Plans Fail

I have a deep love for reading. Books, and the words within them, are treasured in my house. I have shelves of well loved books and stacks ready to read. However, I struggled to read consistently.

When I picture a perfect vacation it involves books. I picture a quiet reading spot. Even if I could spend whatever money, time, or magically transport myself to anywhere. I see myself relaxing with a book.

Either a mountain cabin reading by the fire uninterrupted. Or on a beach relaxing with a literary masterpiece and hearing the ocean. In a huge library with access to all the books... Or in a second-hand shop purchasing stacks of books already loved by others. Sigh… Can you smell it? Ahh… that is lovely.

I have wanted to cultivate the consistent habit of reading for as long as I can remember. 

But even though have a reading life is my goal there have been months at a time when I have not picked up a book.

Here are some roadblocks I have run into in my reading life:

• Too ambitious - the reading plans we make don’t take into account our real schedules and lives. Ahem… planning to read through the Bronte Sisters’ classics while deprived of sleep with a baby. (I ended up watching several movies of the books instead.)

• I pick the wrong kinds of books - Reading is a unique experience. What works for other people won’t always work for me. I have learned to lean into the genres that pull me in.

  • I have learned that the book in my hands is “the right book”. Whatever I find interesting at that moment is important. Even if it is not difficult, long, or on a specific list. I have chosen that book for a reason and that matters too.

• Audiobooks and digital books count - We think the only “real kind” of reading is holding a physical book in our hands. No way! That myth has been steam rolled over by experts. Reading published work by writers is reading no matter how you do it.

• Decision fatigue - I don’t have a TBR¹ List. I have no idea what to read next and I worry that I am not picking the “right book” to spend my time reading. Nope! There is no perfect book. If you need to find a good book that appeals to you I highly recommend Anne Bogel from Modern Mrs. Darcy.

Photo by Sixteen Miles Out on Unsplash

Let’s look at some simple math. Spending time reading on the couch every night adds up.

• even just 5 pages a day = 35 pages a week

• which is 140 pages per month

• and almost 2,000 pages a year.

• that’s about 6 - 8 books.

“People read for a multiplicity of reasons. Nearly forty years in, I can tell you why I inhale books like oxygen: I'm grateful for my one life, but I'd prefer to live a thousand --and my favorite books allow me to experience more on the page than I ever could in my actual life.”
― Anne Bogel, I'd Rather Be Reading: The Delights and Dilemmas of the Reading Life

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• What stops you from reading?

• Where do you expect to read and then feel disappointed when it does not happen?

• What do you need to feel comfortable reading?

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My hope is that you will find joy once again on this reading journey. 

Start again, start today. Just a few pages makes a difference.

We can reconnect with this hobby that slows us down and fills us up. We can gather new ideas, visit faraway places, experience new things, and hear from voices of others.

We can choose to make space for this beautiful practice.  We can read in our homes every day and not just on vacations that we make up in our heads.

I would love to hear about what you are reading, your reading habits, and how it has impacted you. 

📖📚Happy Reading! – April 

See this companion article:

How I Read Every Day - Why Getting A Lamp and Taking My Shoes Off Helps Me Read.

1. TBR - To Be Read written list of books that I want to read next or maybe just a precarious stack on my side table. 😜