I ended 2020 overly consumed by the news, social media, politics and what everyone else was saying or doing. The more I focused on the uncontrollable aspects of our crazy world the less in control I felt of my own life. Forget the monumental stress of a global pandemic, the influence of the media in whole is an amazing thing - and not always in a good way. 2020 was exhausting.
My mind was exhausted. My heart was exhausted. My family life was exhausted. My professional life was exhausted.
I was tired. I desperately needed to 'unplug' from life and refocus that time, energy, and headspace somewhere else.
'You are what you think you are' is popular in the Buddhist teachings, showing just how powerful thoughts can actually be. If you are thinking happy things, you will in turn be happy and the same is true for sadness, anger, hostility, optimism.
I decided to transfer that time, energy, and headspace towards books. I would much rather talk books with my friends and family than talk about politics, the pandemic...
I needed some motivation and started searching Facebook for some help.
I stumbled across a friend from high school's blog called, "The Book Girls Guide." She and her friend had created a couple reading challenges that looked interesting. They had a Decades Challenge, where each month The Book Girls would provide a list of suggested books from a different decade in time. January was the 1910's, February the 1920's and so on. They had also just come out with a new challenge for 2021 called, the Book Voyage: Reading Around the World. January had a list of books set in Arctic and Antarctic.
I also found a group on Facebook called The Book Hive Book Club. The founder of the club would pair 12 readers from all over the US together for a year long book swap. You would choose any book you wanted and your first month in the hive you would read your own book and then journal about the book. At the end of the month, you would mail your book and journal to the next person in line. Each month, I would receive a new book and journal to read and write in. At the end of the year, you get your original book and journal back and were able to see what each person thought of your book choice.
This all sounded so great! But how do I ever keep track of it all? Through The Book Girls, I was introduced to the app, Goodreads. I love this app! I can track the books I want to read, the books I am currently reading, the books I have finished and I can even set reading goals.
I jumped right in!
I set a goal to try and read at least one book each month and listen to one audiobook each month, with a conservative goal of reading 20 books in 2021.
I joined the Decades Challenge.
I joined the Book Voyage Challenge.
I was placed in a Book Hive.
I swapped out the morning news and started my days with a cup of coffee and a book. I downloaded audiobooks and listed to them in the car while I showed houses, shuttled kids around, waited for carpool pick up. I listened to audiobooks while I vacuumed the house, changed the laundry, mowed the lawn, drove the tractor and worked out at the gym. I laughed, smirked, ached and shed real tears for so many characters in so many stories. I fell in love with the adventures, the romances, the thrilling mysteries and the heartaches. I fell in love with books this year!
I opened my Goodreads app this morning (Happy New Year!) and was surprised to see that not only did I read, or listen, to more than 2 books a month, I also participated in all 3 challenges, every single month. I read more than 20 books. I read/listened to a total of 104 books this year!
Here was my 2021 year in books!
There were very few books I didn't like out of this list. I loved the challenges. They pushed me to read each month, but more than that, they challenged me to read outside of my little box. They offered so many titles I had never heard of and they pushed me to read books and genres I never would have considered on my own.
There were only two books I started this year that I could not finish - Radium Girls and The Orphan Sister - maybe I will revisit them in 2022.
Speaking of 2022... I have set a new reading goal of 75 books.
I want to read one paper book, one kindle book and listen to one audiobook each month as a minimum. There were so many great suggestions in the reading challenges The Book Girls created that I am going to take another spin through the Decades, Book Voyage and participate in the new, 2022 challenge - A Lifetime of Reading.
I also joined another Book Hive. My choice this year - The Book of Lost Names. I highly recommend it!
The BEST things that came from reading this year - the world's noise quieted in my head.
I have met so many amazing women, from all over the country, from different backgrounds, and ages, because of books this last year.
I read The Giver with My Brown Eyed Girl in the fall. It was her assigned reading book for school. I enjoyed comparing our thoughts on the book with her. We will both read To Kill A Mocking Bird this spring - I admit that I skimmed that book when I was her age and I do believe I should revisit it.
My Brown Eyed Girl and Mr. Blue Eyes have started to enjoy listening to audiobooks with me. We finished Ice Dogs and Zero G together in the car as we bustled from hockey practices and school. Mr Blue Eyes and I are working on Dragon Planet now, a sequel to Zero G. My Brown Eyed Girl is listening to Project Hail Mary on her own. This brings me so many smiles.
"I do believe something very magical can happen when you read a good book."
JK Rowling
