July is my birthday month

(Yes I am an emotional wreck of a ?cancerian person.)

This year I wanted to get out of my comfort zone. I mean I’m not jumping from planes or doing things that need a waiver signed but I am doing things I don’t usually do

my reading goals were never reading 100 + books a year, because it doesn’t really matter how many you read. (okay there were times i’d feel intimidated by people who wrote read 300 books this year…like what? how?)

-apps like goodreads promote that kind of consumerism-

it’s more about what you got out of reading:

did you learn about another culture?

did it make you laugh when the pandemonium got you down?

did you see yourself in the words?

did you learn something new?

last year, i went through a phase of gulping down books i didn’t really enjoy like normal people and hijab with red lipstick for example. (I won’t go into details of why because i know someone people out there might enjoy them and i don’t want to keep them from reading it.)

both books were all over bookstagram so i am trying to be more cautious of the content i consume and be more critical with what and whose work i read.

speed reading through my TBR literally felt painful so i stopped and reaccessed what I wanted to achieve from reading and after some reflection i realized i wanted much more than a tick on GR. 🙂 the best of us get tricked into this capitalist mindset. =buying books that are /overhyped/, reading them even though you don’t enjoy them, hate reading them-

(p.s. it’s really okay if you read 1 book this year; you’re still a reader 🙂)

a few things i’ve tried and now enjoy are:

1. keeping a reading journal, reading feels very one sided, i’m listening to the author, taking it all in, and journaling gives me a chance to respond 🙂

2. reading outside my preferred genre (something i started this year)

3. listening to fiction (here I’m reminded of the Alistair Cooke quote “I prefer radio to TV because the pictures are better.” )