Why Reading Is Not Always A Good Thing

I cannot believe that I just wrote that in the header, but it is something that I have been reflecting on a lot lately, and it is true. Sometimes there is a such thing as too much reading, and reading too much is not always a good thing. I challenged myself to experience a different kind of reading this year, and currently I am only on my second book for the year, and I am okay with that. There are several reasons for this. The first being that I am now only reading for me. This means that I won't navigate towards slimmer novels just in a attempt to read more, therefore having more content to write book reviews for. No, the books that I have been navigating towards are the massive fantasy novels that I forsake last year because they were 'too time committing'. Now I ask, is it better to read four young adult novels that you will more then likely walk away from disappointed, or should you read the books that you love, the ones that stay with you? I made my choice. I have not regretted that decision, and I am thoroughly enjoying books again. This year there have been several hyped up young adult releases ("Truthwitch" by Susan Dennard, and "Passenger" by Alexandra Braken), and you know what? I have absolutely no interest in reading these, and I won't. I have ventured away from the young adult genre, and I don't foresee myself returning to it. I do have a trusted few young adult authors that I will continue to read, but the genre in general is just too stale and too immature for my tastes. With that being said, I have also spent less time reading this year. I have put aside a hour or two each night for reading, and I will sometimes read more during the weekend, but I am not just focusing on reading anymore. Reading used to be my entire outlook on life. I wanted to rush home after work to read, I didn't want to do things on the weekends because it would cut into my reading, I didn't want to pursue my other interests because once again, it would cut into my reading time. And I don't even think that it was about the reading itself, but rather feeling like it was my job to read. I had to read as many books as possible, and I had to read 'all' of the books. It was unhealthy, and quite frankly it was ruining the experience for me. Now I read when I feel like reading. If I don't feel like reading, I don't. My new years resolutions didn't just involve books, it also involved goals for myself. So I have also been focusing more on exercising every night after work, which also means less time for reading. And I am okay with that. Reading less also intensifies each experience that you have with the books that you do read. I can usually recount each book that I read, and it stays with me, but I have heard it said that people that read massive amounts of books cannot always recall what a particular book was about, it gets buried in the shuffle.

Reading is a wonderful experience, and I love living inside of the worlds created within books, but you need to live your life as well.