The Things I read.

I stopped reading after I had a kid. There are a dozen obvious reasons why. I was busy. I had major anxiety. I had no attention span. I was so so tired. But reading was one of the things I always really loved to do. To be in the middle of a great book is such a comforting space to be. I used to read not high brow books but medium brow. I would google “top 10, award-winning” kind of books and read those because I thought they were the most bang for the buck.

When I finally felt ready to try reading a book again, I went with my usual list of things I should be reading. I got through a couple of them, but it was so start and stop and taking me forever. I switched to self-help books instead. I read only the first chapter about a book on refining my habits before I put it aside. This was certainly not bringing me any joy.

Then one day I googled “best beach read” and literally ordered a book called Beach Read. JACKPOT. I ordered another book by the same author, devouring it in days. These are rom coms in book form. I’m not going to be quoting these books to you; it’s nothing earth shattering. Recently I found an Instagram account that helped guide me to holiday-themed Lifetime movie type books, one of which I just finished. I bought Jonathan Franzen’s Crossroads thinking I could graduate to medium-brow books by now, but the sheer amount of characters overwhelmed me. These corny love stories I’m into are usually just two people with maybe two more side characters—about all I can process. And I can’t get enough. Fluff with maybe an ounce or two of literary merit. Beach reads, yes, but we’re talking the BEST beach reads. And not only at the beach but most of the time with my nerdy reading light in bed. I ordered an electric blanket because my dream is to be wrapped up in one while reading these cozy tales with my fully charged reading light on low.

These books have helped soothe my “getting through the pandemic with a toddler” blues. They bring levity straight to my brain: the place that craves it the most. I’ve long since stopped caring what people think about what I read, though I do get a little bummed when I see friends posting about the newest Pulitzer Prize-winning literature they are reading. That must be REALLY good. I am probably missing out. But then I turn to my book about a Harry Styles boy-band type and the older woman he has befriended, and I know that there is a time for everything.