Reading is Fundamental
Wow, does anyone else remember those reading campaigns from elementary school? If you read so many books you could get a free one as a reward. I used to think it was pretty silly that kids didn’t want to read, especially because I loved it so much. From the minute I could decipher words I began to consume nearly anything and everything I could. And then high school happened. Something changed some time part way into high school. I went from reading and thoroughly enjoying new books to finding it exhausting and even a chore. I began to Sparknote and everything seemed so boring and depressing. Every book was thick with too many words, too much pain, and too many pages. How could I read a 200 page book in a month? Yet just a few years before I was reading 200 pages in a single day.
The answer, sadly, is not so simple. I think a massive piece of the puzzle is assigned reading. Reading for personal enjoyment is so much easier because its something you are choosing to do, its something you want to do. Assignments are bogged down with analysis, exposition, and reflection. Its always good to analyze and understand a book, but to be force-fed it is difficult and disheartening. There were definitely some exceptions to this rule, especially when I took AP English in my senior year, but it thoroughly affected my reading once I entered college.
Today, I find a lot of my enjoyment from reading has rarely come from the physical pages of a book, but more and more often from the recordings of audiobooks. Working a full-time job while trying to kickstart a career as a writer on top of taking care of life’s everyday worries is exhausting, but audiobooks are a sweet and pleasant relief. I generally listen to them while working (I work as a delivery driver so I’m in a car for a decent portion of my day) but have sometimes listened once I’m comfortable at home and about to fall asleep. There’s been quite a bit of debate over whether or not audiobooks should technically be considered “reading”. Personally, I think as long as you’re taking in the words, following the story, and understanding the general themes of the story, you’re doing just fine.
—Ricky
Just a small stack of some of my favorite essentials in my own collection!
