How I Fell Back Into Reading in 2020

In January of 2020, I made a resolution to read one book a week for the entire year. As a communications major, I had read quite a bit in college and also found it as a way to pass the time at my slow-paced call center job. However, once I graduated I didn’t take time to read anymore. Aside from being busy working, I didn’t have the energy to sit and dedicate myself to a 300 page novel. Instead, I resorted to watching TV shows like Parks & Recreation or Community that I had already seen a million times or mindlessly scrolling through social media.

I got off to a strong start in January and February, but once the pandemic hit, I eventually started reading less and less. I think my brain was in shock from the new change of pace in life I was experiencing and I was trying to adapt and survive. However by the end of the summer, I woke up from my funk and slowly began researching new books to read. I placed holds for books at my library to get back on track, Googled phrases like “greatest books of all time,” “books for people in their 20’s,” “books every woman should read in their lifetime,” and so on. I used reading-related hashtags on Instagram and TikTok to make a list of books that strangers on the Internet said were interesting. I started getting into a reading routine and ended up reading self-help books, classics I had always wanted to read like The Catcher in the Rye and Wuthering Heights, financial books, mysteries, fiction, and even the occasional YA novel.

I became more and more excited to continue reading some of these books, staying up until 2am to finish a story that either fascinated me or broke me. I had not read a book for pure enjoyment for what felt like forever, but now I was going back to a familiar feeling of contentment by immersing myself into these worlds. By the end of the year I finished 37 books. Even though I fell short of my goal by over a dozen books, I still felt a strong sense of accomplishment since I had never read that many books in a year before.

This year, I am trying to reach my original goal of 52 books and have compiled a diverse list of books from all genres to read. A few of these include Moonglow by Michael Chabon, The Four Winds by Kristin Hannah, and Broke Millennial by Erin Lowry. I noticed how reading frequently changed my life--for one, I felt smarter. I have been out of school for over a year and have lost the usual sense of curiosity about new topics and ideas. Reading about varied topics like budgeting, stocks, and the habits of successful and happy people opened me up to a world that I had not been knowledgeable about. Having new insights helped me progress both financially and emotionally. Now that I am educating myself on how to save and make money, I feel much more confident about my financial future. My emotional intelligence has also grown from frequently reading stories about characters in difficult or depressing situations, causing compassion towards them. On the other hand, reading fiction allowed me to escape from the stress of being quarantined and limitations that came with it.

So why should everyone make it a goal to read more this year? For one, it’s good for your mental and physical health. As noted in the Healthline article by Rebecca Joy Stanborough, several different studies showed that reading regularly can improve your vocabulary and “soft skills”. The same article notes that reading also maintains and improves cognitive functioning, prevents Alzheimer’s, and fiction readers have more empathy.

If you need more motivation, think about the benefits of joining or starting a book club! I joined a book club last year and it drove me to actually dive deep into the book we were assigned so that I would be able to bring my best thoughts to the table. I was fortunate to have a friend start her own book club and was then able to make friends with the other members who appreciated reading as much as I did. If you don’t have a club around you to join, there are several different options online. Great resources for both virtual and in-person book clubs in your area can be found on sites like Bookclubz and strictly virtual clubs can be found on the Goodreads Community tab.

The Goodreads app remains a great place to track your progress, rate the books you read, and read reviews from others if you are on the fence about a certain novel. I have found that the reading community is always willing to discuss and recommend new novels. Based on a glowing review by one of my friends on Goodreads, I picked up the book With the Fire on High by Elizabeth Acevedo and ended up loving it too.

Lastly, reading allows people to become more open-minded and learn more about others as well as themselves. The goal doesn’t have to be to read a new book every week; it could just be one book a month, to dedicate an hour a week to reading, or reading one chapter each night before bed. I started out by making a resolution, but I discovered that by keeping the resolution I felt accomplished, proud, and like my life was a little bit together amidst a tough year. I will continue to keep reaching my reading goal this year, but I hope that this love of reading will be with me for life.