I used to be an avid reader.

When I was a kid, when I was a teenager, but I took a brief hiatus after college (because I was an English major and read more books than a human should be able to consume while also having a life of sorts), and then got right back into it as an adult.

Even with a partner and a full-time job, even when I was writing whenever I had free time I was still squeezing in time to read.

And then…I stopped.

Sort of.

I was reading fan fiction online almost every night before bed for a long time while my books languished on my physical and digital bookshelves, but that’s not the same. Ninety-nine percent of the time I was re-reading favorites that I scanned because I already knew the plots, already knew the twists. I was in a fic reading comfort zone.

I’ve been trying to make an effort to get back to reading novels for a while now, but with lackluster results, struggling to finish  2 or 3 per year, so what did I do?

Googled it.

And found out that other people have been asking the same questions about their disappearing reading habits. 

People with full-time jobs, a family, social commitments…these all take up time. The television and the hundreds of channels and streaming sites are all factors. Add in time spent online scrolling social media, watching videos that lead to more videos and more scrolling and…it all adds up to less free time in general, not just time to read. 

Over time, it can mean shorter attention spans for some people.

And then the activity that used to be easy becomes surprisingly hard. I have fallen asleep reading just a few pages when I used to stay up half the night lost in a good book. My mind wanders to all of the things I could or should be doing instead of reading, ranging from housework to the series I’m watching on whichever streaming site. And let’s not talk about the need to check my cellphone.

The solution, for me at least, is to retrain my brain to read. Starting with an adjustment to my schedule so that there is time set aside and available when I need it. Starting with leaving the television off in the morning over breakfast. Instead, I’ll set up my little bookstand and read and eat. I used to do that once upon a time.

And I’m starting with short stories and fiction books since I never was one for non-fiction in general. I just finished a kid’s book from the 60’s by Lloyd Alexander called Time Cat that was simple yet chock full of life lessons for anyone, not just for those coming of age. It was the perfect starting book for me in 2023.

I have 10 books on my list to read this year. Three in the pile are books which influenced television shows I’ve watched so they give me that fanfic feel, but as with any book a movie or show is based on, there is so much more to it than I’ve watched on the screen that it seems like a whole new set of characters and plots. One is all short stories by Ray Bradbury, another is a recommendation that is, I’ve been told, guaranteed to make me cry, “but is so good you won’t mind.”

I’m not looking at this as a challenge to get back into reading, but as a lifestyle change. This year I will eat better to nourish my body, and read more to nourish my mind. It doesn’t mean I will completely give up chomping through a bag of Doritos or zoning out in front of the television, but it will mean less time doing any of that, and more time being good to myself.

Of course, I know me and my ability to snuggle back into my comfort zones, so I will need to be on the lookout for the signs. I’ve started a creative journal where I record my thoughts on the books I have going so far. I’ve never done that outside of homework assignments, so there’s a weird nostalgia to opening the notebook. Like I’m going to see Dr. Vittum’s shaky notes in the margins. It has given the activity more meaning, and I hope that doesn’t fade over time.

We’ll see how it goes.

Does anyone else want to get back into reading but feel like they have forgotten how? What will you do to get back to it?