Reading! This has been a constant for me, because for as long as I remember, my childhood had me with my head buried in a book. And as I grew older, the gains from reading have been immense – from shaping mind-sets, to instilling leadership capabilities and gleaning wisdom about how the best people and organizations succeed. I have in fact blogged about the benefits of reading in an earlier post, which you can access here – How Reading can pull us out of stagnation.
Today, I have invited Nayantara who blogs at MommyingbabyT to pen a guest post on my page. I have known Nayantara for close to a decade, where she has been a part of my HR team. Nayantara recently highlighted to me that she has picked up her reading habit again. I was curious to know how she went about consciously building this practice and I thought it would be a wonderful idea to share her journey with my readers as well.
So, over to you, Nayantara…
Thank God for the Pandemic!! I read 12 books last year. And in this half of 2021, I have clocked 8 books! I am really proud of myself for having worked hard to pick up this this habit and now it’s at a self-sustaining pace. But one thing I have to admit is that doing this took very conscious efforts. I think the last book I read cover-to-cover & found joy in (before this re-awakening happened) was What to Expect When You’re Expecting. Then baby and life happened and with it my desire to read, grow my mind all evaporated.
Returning to work after my self-driven exile from the professional world, had me exposed to a lot of content, either by way of articles, white papers or even books that other people were reading & talking about. I felt the need to expand my creative horizons, problem solving and leadership skills. Apart from the work environment and sharing of thoughts with my able colleagues and senior leaders, I felt this innate desire to learn through reading. So I worked hard on this and here are some of the things which worked for me.
Pick the right book
While book recommendations and suggestions are great, I have to admit that liking a book is a highly personal affair. We have our own individual tastes and experiences which also translate into how much we can relate to the story/ author/ protagonist etc. So accepting that was a big burden I had to first shrug off. If I had to rebuild my love for reading then I had to first find that book which would be a positive experience for me.
I did some soul searching on this and found that I related well to women authors or books about women and the various roles and struggles they are exposed to on a daily basis. Around the same time I came across a Turkish, woman author called Elif Shafak who highlights stories of women and how they tread the path of traditional roles for women and finding their own place in the sun. The first title by her drew me in and moved me so much that I finished the book in a week, a big achievement for me. I then went to read more titles by her and also found other women authors.
So all in all I think finding that first book which inspires you to keep turning the pages and finish reading is like a trophy which can help you find love for reading again.
While we are on the topic of reading a book cover to cover, I think a wise thing to learn is also to know when to give up on a book…
Not every book needs to appeal to you. As grown adults there is no compulsion on us to finish a book we started reading. It’s not like the book is a part of our college course material. It’s really alright to reach a stage where you think that the book doesn’t excite you and that you need to ditch it. There definitely needs to be less guilt about it. For years I beat myself up about the fact that I could never get past 2 pages of a Booker Prize winning author’s writing, only to find that the there was an entire tribe of readers out there who felt so too.
Want to avoid picking up a book which you may not love? Try a sample…
If you create an account on a Kindle or similar e-book reader you can download book samples to get a flavour of the writing style, theme or even plot by a new author. This way you can literally judge a book not by its cover but its pages. I am certain that the success rate of a sampled book would be higher than a blind pick up.
Explore other mediums
It’s no lie that Technology has impacted every aspect of our daily lives. So too with reading. Electronic books or Audio books are fast becoming the norm. Think audio cassettes, would today’s generation even recognise that piece of plastic which we all couldn’t live without a few decades ago? E-books or Audio books give us a lot of freedom of reading in bed in the dark, when you have 15 minutes to spare in the waiting room of the Doctor’s office or even when you are doing mundane chores like the dishes.
That’s actually how I found audio books. Urged by a free trial I tried an app called Audible which allowed me to listen to a book being read out as I did my daily chores around the house. And to be honest it’s also easier on the eyes sometimes where you can just shut your eyes, lounge around and get lost in a book.
So do explore if these mediums work for you. Most apps offer a free trial or a sample to get you into the groove.
Find inspiration
Thanks to social media, you can find every type of influencer out there. And so too there are book bloggers. This clan of book bloggers usually are voracious readers and quick to share their reviews and critiques. This can be a great source of finding new authors, titles and even genres. To find these bloggers, you can search on any social media platform with the #BookBlogger and once you have found someone you can identify with in terms of profile and choice of genres or themes feel free to take up their recommendations and read.
Stop scrolling, start reading
The most important part to consider is that picking up any habit is a gradual activity. It needs focus and constant practice. With reading, you can attempt a page a day or even less, maybe a few paragraphs, build that up to a page or two or a chapter. With time you will find yourself reaching out for your book, instead of scrolling the internet.
Once you’ve found a book you love, share that with the world. Make lists on your social profiles. Rate them on Goodreads. Your review may just help push another wannabe reader over the brink. 🙂
Ruhie Pande 