Fact: I write better when I read more. Reading also helps me relax and unwind, especially after long days spent in front of the computer. I’ve found that I sleep better, too, when I choose to read before bed instead of watching TV or playing games on my phone. Generally, I’m better when I read. And so it’s kinda odd that I stopped.
I used to read a lot when I was younger. I would read all the time, actually. Even in the shower. With the water running. I mastered the art of the one-handed bath when I was 12. I know, it sounds gross, but I promise I was always clean. See, I wasn’t kidding, I was always reading. Then came motherhood, and adulting, and work, and life. I had to make time for everything else. In doing so I lost time for my books, and in effect I lost time for myself.
For several years my book collection sat neglected, tucked away in drawers in my old room. Then, weeks ago my mom went on a mad cleaning spree because my sister was coming home from New York, and would be needing that old room in the Alabang house. Whatever stuff the boys and I left there had to be pulled out. And so, my books finally came home with me.
Seeing them all felt like reuniting with a bunch of old friends. There were some still wrapped in plastic, unopened and unread. Some, I had actually forgotten that I had. Other books remained unfinished over the years, abandoned for one reason or another. And then there were the old favorites – Angela’s Ashes, Interview With The Vampire, The Green Mile, The Godfather, and others that I would love to read again.
So this year, I’m challenging myself to read more. I owe it to those books that I spent all that money on (and those that my dad and MrC spent on, too!) And, more importantly, I owe it to me. I owe it to myself to make time to read because I know that I’ll be better off if I do. The mere thought of it excites me. Seriously, my idea of me-time is an afternoon on the couch with a good book, a cup of coffee, and a plate of cookies. Oras lang ang puhunan, guys. All I need to do is make time for it, and make time I shall.
24 books is the goal this year. So far, these are the ones I’ve finished:
- Big Little Lies by Liane Moriarty (My second favorite so far this year!)
- The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami
- Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan
- Outlander by Diana Gabaldon
- Heartburn by Nora Ephron
- Something in the Water by Catherine Steadman
- Eleanor Oliphant Is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman
- The Client by John Grisham
- The Guernsey Literary and Potato Peel Society by Mary Ann Shaffer and Annie Barrows
- Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen
- I Am Legend by Richard Matheson
- Eleanor and Park by Rainbow Rowell (My favorite so far this year!)
- Bel Canto by Ann Patchett
I am currently reading The Curious Case of Benjamin Button by F. Scott Fitzgerald. I can’t believe I’ve never read this before!
I initially thought of posting reviews of the books I read this year, but I don’t think I’m gonna end up doing that anymore. Unless you guys want me to? Let me know!