This little corner of the internet is changing. What was once a neglected blog of a 20-something college student, is now being pivoted into be a deeper extension of a bookstagram project. I, like many others in the last few years, have gotten (back?) into reading and have truly fallen in love with the hobby. With this being the first entry of this reimagined blog, I thought I would start with how I got back into reading.
I learned how to read at a very early age and read a lot when I was a kid, but once reading books started to become a task for school, not something just recreational, I lost interest. Of course I read all the mainstays throughout my childhood and adolescence (Harry Potter, Twilight, Hunger Games, etc) but very rarely anything beyond that. I fell in love with movies and TV (still do!) but, lately with the oversaturation of the space, and the pressure of picking “the right thing” to start streaming, reading has become a nice thing to imbibe in.
In March 2023, my boyfriend was admitted to the hospital that would require near-emergency surgery. It was the most intense medical thing I’d ever had to directly deal with. I was stalwart in my attention and care for him, taking as much time off work as I could afford, being at the hospital everyday for as long as they’d let me. I knew right away that downloading a bunch of shows was going to be too cumbersome and that I would lose my mind if I sat on my phone to doom scrolled for hours on end. So, in packing my Hospital Waiting Game knicknacks, I grabbed my beloved but oft neglected Kindle and mulled over what I could read. I had all the Harry Potter books on there but, I wanted something new and unfamiliar, that I could fall into and distract me.
At some point, I remembered there was this interesting miniseries coming out on Amazon Prime called Daisy Jones and the Six. I was casually interested but knew it was based on a book. Bingo. Immediate download when possible.
Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid became the first domino in my re-introduction to reading. It was a slow start, but being at a hospital I had no choice but to dive in. I fell in love quickly. The writing style of telling this story through a series of interviews was fascinating and character-driven works always go down easier for me.
I will forever be grateful to Daisy and her band for bringing me back into the world of books. After her, I read her sisters, Evelyn Hugo and her seven husbands, Nina Riva navigating a rising Malibu, and that tenacious broad Carrie Soto.
When it comes to books, my worldview is very small right now. Leaning toward romances and adult fiction while also dabbling in romantasy too. I know whatever stories that have become, or are becoming, TV shows and movies will likely be a huge motivator toward what I end up reading, but I’m keeping an open mind and looking forward to the journey.