Over the past year, it’s been a personal goal of mine to start reading more. Growing up, I was the kid that always had a book in hand. As time went on and social media started to run my life, I replaced reading with easy entertainment on my phone. As I got older and found entertainment less and less on my phone, I realized I had a lot more time on my hands, which sent me back to my childhood roots: reading.
In starting my reading-for-fun journey, I was lucky to have circumstances that gave me ample reading time, and motivation to do so. I started over the summer, while I held a covid-19 screening job, which allowed me plenty of time to read. Once the winter came and my friends and I began setting goals for the new year, we realized we all shared a common love for reading and a commitment to wanting to do more of it going into 2021. We all find it hard to read on top of all the reading we already do for our programs, but I knew that diving into reading was something I wanted to pursue my own self-care. We formed a book club and committed to reading one book per month (see @coolgrlsread on Instagram). It has been a huge motivation for having friends to read with and has also given me a newfound appreciation for reading and getting into books I wouldn’t normally choose to read for myself. Reading has added so much to my life that was dominated by social media, and I’m here to encourage you to seek entertainment in books for yourself.
Here are a few honest reviews and recommendations of books I’ve loved throughout my reading journey thus far, to encourage the lost art of reading for fun.
- Ordinary People by Diana Evans
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Ordinary People follows the journey of two couples within the context of former American President Obama’s election in 2008. As the title suggests, it follows the journey of ordinary people to show how even the most ordinary and seemingly happy paths of life can feed discontentment, a lack of fulfillment, and much more trouble than is detectable at an instant when you meet somebody. I found it unnerving, but interesting, to watch the minds of each character fall apart under the stress of her relationship and her chosen path in life. This book was a relatively light read.
- Hidden Valley Road: Inside the Mind of an American Family by Robert Kolker
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Opposite to the Ordinary People, this non-fiction book follows the journey of a family who is extraordinary. It follows the real-life experience of a family of twelve children, six of whom suffered from schizophrenia at a time when effective research and treatment had yet to make progress. It analyzes the story of the Galvin family from a historically chronological perspective, exploring the arguments of nature versus nurture as possible explanations for schizophrenia and its many forms. A heftier read, this book provides an interesting insight into both the experiences of those suffering from mental illness in the twentieth century. As somebody with no background knowledge on schizophrenia, I found this book provided me with a good foundation in beginning to understand it.
- All About Love by Bell Hooks
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For love month, our book club chose to read All About Love. This book, written by the prominent black feminist scholar Gloria Jean Watkins (published as bell hooks to steer the focus to her ideas rather than her name) explores the many facets of love to reconceptualize love as an action, a choice, as something much bigger than simply romantic love. It challenges modern stereotypes and connotations of love established by the media to give readers hope and inspire them to pursue love in their everyday lives in seeking fulfillment. Everybody will identify with this book, and bell hooks leave readers with lots to take away. This book is best to read a chapter or two at a time, as I’ve personally found I get the most out of it when I read a chapter or two and then let the ideas marinate.
- The Vanishing Half by Brit Bennett
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The Vanishing Half is a fictional book that follows the lives of two sisters as they grow up wrestling with their identity of being black and societal pressure to “become white”. It also follows the journeys of each of their daughters, raised completely differently because of their mothers’ choices, yet they share striking similarities. This book presents very important and not commonly discussed perspectives on race. As somebody who is actively trying to expand my knowledge and understanding of inequality, notably racial inequality, I found it particularly impactful to do so through this book, by being able to put myself in the shoes of the other characters.
I hope these books provide you with a starting point if you’re hoping to dive into reading yourself this year!