How I got back into reading
I was an avid reader as a kid. According to my Mum I would come home from school and tell her I wanted to read on my own because we had been read to enough at school.
When I was in high school I kind of just stopped reading as heavily as I used to and this continued into university. I wasn’t hugely taken with the YA books that were out when I was in high school, there has been a massive shift in the YA genre in the last 5 or 6 years and there are some stellar books in the genre.
Since I finished my studies I feel like I have had the space from having to do academic reading and am able to really enjoy recreational reading again. For so long reading was such a chore and took such effort, and now that pressure valve has been released. The thing is where to start there are so many books and having not done too much reading for sometime I really didn’t have a clue about what kind of books I wanted to read. This is where I started.
When I started reading for fun again, I started with some Classics. Think Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, Mansfield Park, Little Women, Jane Eyre. Between the Penguin and MacMillan Classics there are plenty of books to pick from.
Research if any of your favourite online writers or podcasters have written any books. I came to read Dolly Alderton’s Everything I Know about Love, Jia Tolentino’s Trick Mirror, Amanda Montell’s Wordslut and Scarlett Curtis’ Feminists Don’t Wear Pink and Other Lies because I love their online writing and wanted to read their books.
Read books that were turned into movies or television shows. Ever watched a movie and then realised it was based off a book? Whenever I watch film adaptions I always wonder what was left out of the story, Call Me By Your Name was one of my favourite films I watched last year so it was one of the first books I picked up to read.
Read non-fiction. Non-fiction is a great place to start when getting back into reading, almost everything and a fair amount of people have been written about at some point. I was really interested in feminism so wanted to pick up a few books about that, also if you’re interested in a person, a biography or memoir is always interesting. I haven’t read it but Becoming by Michelle Obama is meant to be amazing, and I recently finished More than Enough by Elaine Welteroth (the former editor-in-chief of Teen Vogue).
Look at people you follow and what they are reading. Sophie from States of Sophie is a big reader and I love her book recommendations, Pandora Sykes recommends some amazing reads on The High Low, Brooke Saward from World of Wanderlust also has some epic recommendations.
Bookstagram is a great place for reading inspo. I have my own book instagram (@awaywiththebooks btw) to keep track of my reading, but there are literally millions of book posts Olivia from Reading Nook and Bookish Madeleine are two of my faves. I also love Abigail Bergstrom is also one of my faves for recommendations she is a literary agent (the dream) and soon to be author so she has some great book recs.
GoodReads, once you’re back into reading make sure to make a goodreads account. You’ll be able to track your reading and rate books you like, but they will also give you recommendations based on what you have read, which is super helpful for finding new books.
Book prizes. The long and short lists of book prizes are great places to get good book recommendations. The Booker and Women’s Prize are a few of my faves.
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