I have always loved books but it got away from me over the last years. In December of last year, I was contemplating setting a reading challenge from 2020 on GoodReads. I had failed to meet my target for the year previous and I never found the time to read or found books I wanted to read. It felt a long way away from the person I was a decade ago who always had a book on the go and read easily over fifty books a year.
Despite this, I decided to be optimistic. I would set a target of thirty books for 2020 and make a conscious effort to read throughout the year. I tried reading before bed which was hopeless as I was always shattered but I would read on a weekend morning or if I ever found myself on public transport. I had a book on the go and spoke with my friends more about what they were reading to inspire my next read. I kept a continuous list on my phone of books I wanted to read as I saw them appear on Instagram or in a conversation. I felt like I was forcing myself, training myself how to be a reader again.
For the first couple of months I was pretty hopeless. I read a rubbish thriller I had had for ages, one I had picked up in a charity shop. The next book I read, Circe, was glorious and I finished it so quickly, almost in one day. It was a case of me picking at the book I was reading for a while until a global pandemic hit, lockdown happened and I suddenly had a lot more free time.
I have read avidly through the pandemic. It was firstly something to do, something to occupy my time to break up the working from home and the university work and the countless cakes I tried to master alone in my kitchen. I lost myself in life after life, world after world in an effort to keep my own head above water. My training paid off, I love reading again and it no longer feels like a chore.
During lockdown I have bought new paperbacks for the first time in years. I have pre-ordered books for the first time in forever. I have accessed my Kindle library again through my iPad after leaving it dormant for so long after my Kindle died. I have made note after note of the books I want to read. I’ve chatted about books with friends at every given opportunity. I have joined an online book club where every title so far has been so rewarding.
Daisy Jones and The Six, Circe, Dark of Night, A Woman Is No Man, The Chestnut Man, The Girls, Rebecca, The Librarian, The Hate U Give, Convenience Store Woman, Home Fire, the list goes on. These are just some of the incredible stories I have read in 2020 so far. I have predominantly read work by female authors (this was by accident but something I’ll be trying to continue) and more titles by BAME authors but again this is something I’ll be actively looking to continue in the future.
Not only have I lost myself in stories, I’ve read couple of of non-fiction alongside. Richard Shepherd’s haunting memoir about being a forensic pathologist and the tragedies he’s seen in Unnatural Causes. I have laughed and sobbed with Dolly Alderton in Everything I Know About Love, the most relatable memoir I have ever read.
And then one quiet evening in a rainy June, I finished my thirtieth book of the year. Six months ahead of schedule. The Chestnut Man by Soren Sveistrup was haunting. A crime thriller set in Copenhagen as a brutal serial killer stalks the streets, this is Scandi Noir as it’s very best. A wonderful book to reach a milestone with.
I am determined not to lose my footing with reading now I finally have it back. It will be harder to lose a whole day to a book when we can see people more freely again and I am very excited to have a bit of a social life back. I will be making a conscious effort however to keep reading. I don’t want to lose it again.
My new reading challenge for 2020 is sixty books. It feels optimistic considering we are now more than half-way through the year but I am going to try my very best. My first book of my new challenge was Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens which was a perfect book to get started on, an absolute triumph of storytelling. I have a few more paperbacks to get through next and a few books on my Kindle ready to go but I am so excited for there is to get stuck into in the rest of the year.
Photo by Patrick Tomasso on Unsplash.
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