Rediscovering Reading

I've recently rediscovered reading. I know that sounds insane considering I teach writing, I write, I read a ton, but it's almost all work-related. I listen to a lot of audiobooks, which is great. I can listen to The Dutch House or Atomic Habits or most recently The Lords of the Rings trilogy while I'm putting in baseboard or washing dishes or raking the yard. But there's something really amazing about opening an actual book and just sitting down and reading -- not for work or even for educational purposes, but just because I want to. A friend recently sent me books with a note that just said "These are some that I've enjoyed". And I want to start that again. I want to send books to friends. I want them to send them to me. I want to go to the library and come out with a big stack that makes me feel slightly overwhelmed and slightly giddy. 

So, here are some I've read (and reread) recently, and then more below that are on my list to read:

Eleanor Oliphant is Completely Fine by Gail Honeyman

The Fisherman by John Langan

Circe by Madeline Miller

The Reading List by Sara Nisha Adams

The Midnight Library by Matt Haig

One Hundred Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez

A Wrinkle in Time by Madeline L ’Engle

The Sound of Waves by Yukio Mishima

The Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell

The Age of Innocence by Edith Wharton

The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt

Books I'm going to read:

Spring Snow by Yukio Mishima

The Creative Act by Rick Rubin

Harry's Trees by Jon Cohen

The Nightingale by Kristin Hannah

How to Stop Time by Matt Haig

(Posted Jan 30th, 2024)