Learning to Like Reading Again

Convincing people to read for enjoyment is not easy; I know this because I’ve tried. There are many different reasons why people may find reading unenjoyable. The reasons I have found to be the most common include: associating books/reading with homework, school, or stress. Unfortunately, you cannot change your class's curriculum to your liking or take books out of the curriculum as a whole. However, you can change your opinions on reading by changing what you read outside of school. Here are some of my personal recommendations:

It Didn’t Start With You - Mark Wolynn (Non-fiction) As someone interested in learning about mental health and psychology I knew I would enjoy this book; it discusses different mental disorders such as anxiety, depression, obsessive thoughts, and more. It goes in depth about genetic familial patterns regarding mental disorders and explores how different traumatic responses can be passed down throughout generations helping to further understanding of emotional and physical wellbeing.

Women, Race, and Class - Angela Davis (Non-fiction) I have TikTok to credit for suggesting this book to me. As someone also very interested in varying social issues and any sort of dissertations that discuss women and the struggles they face, my for you page was spot on with this one. This book contains 13 essays that center around subjects like the women's liberation movement during the 1960’s, feminism, politics, slavery, white supremacy, reproductive rights, and racism.

Daisy Jones and the Six - Taylor Jenkins Reid (Fiction) Contrary to my last two recommendations I 100% favor fiction over nonfiction; I always have ever since I was little. I’ve also always loved drama and romance combined so it’s no surprise this book appealed to me. This book in particular got adapted into a series on Amazon and was inspired by Fleetwood Mac. It tells the story of a band and their rise to fame as well as their fallout. It contains themes of drama, romance, identity, and infidelity which is always a fun topic to read about! (Note: I am being sarcastic, but it is really engaging to read about in this context).

If you are anything like me I hope at least one of these titles interests you, and if you think every single book I suggested sounds incredibly boring that’s great too. I can’t promise that reading these 3 books will make you want to read again but if you take anything from this I hope you realize that it’s up to you to find things you are interested in reading about. I used to hate reading with a burning passion until the 10th grade (Thank you Mrs. Silverman) when I found a book that got me out of my reading funk, prompting me to ask just for books for my 16th birthday. So I encourage you to go renew your most likely expired library card and find something you want to read!