Reading was never something I enjoyed. I never voluntarily picked up a novel and started reading it for fun.
In the past few months, however, it has become one of my biggest hobbies. I started liking reading so much that I even reached a goal of mine, which was to read seven books in one month. Here is what happened.
Back in June, I became a huge fan of reading. I started with a series that I knew I would. love. It was The Hunger Games. The movies are my favourite films to watch — I love the storyline. So, I told myself, “why not read the books?”
These books were the reason I got hooked on reading. I read the entire trilogy in about a week and a half — which was unprecedented for me. I had never read that much in such a small period of time. After finishing the series, I still had the desire to read.
A few weeks later, I had collected a decent number of books and decided to read another series. As time went on, I realized that I was picking up a book more often than I would pick up my phone. It soon appeared to me that this was becoming a new habit of mine and I was not mad about it.
About a month later I decided to give myself a challenge for the month of August. I would read seven books in one month. I wanted to see if I could accomplish something which I would have never done a few months prior.
Two weeks into the challenge, I was already four books in. I had a little over two weeks to finish three books. When I finished those, I felt so accomplished.
Reading for me has become part of my daily routine. It has helped me with anxiety and sleep, by giving me a way to relax and avoid screen time. I spend a lot less time on my phone and laptop. School is a lot easier and my dyslexia doesn’t seem as present during schoolwork. In other words, reading has improved my everyday life drastically.
I feel like my school readings are a lot easier to keep up with because my brain got used to reading. Reading seven books in a month was something I never thought I would do voluntarily, but I am so glad I did. It proved to me that there are never-ending benefits to reading and hopefully I will accomplish my goal of reading 30 books before 2020.