I’ve always considered myself to be a reader. When I was young, I devoured books. I would read the same books multiple times. My family would tease me by asking if the book was better than the movie.
As an adult, I’m a little ashamed to say, I’ve fallen away from being such an avid reader. I still enjoy it, I still love books, I love stories and losing myself in other worlds. Whether those are worlds that are created or historic, if the story resonates, then I enjoy the world! I still love collecting books and adding to my ever-growing TBR pile. But somehow I manage not to find the time to actually read the books.
Then I discovered BookTube. I became so inspired by the recommendations, and the habits BookTubers share for how they read throughout the year and reading challenges this community participates in.
I didn’t know people did reading challenges. Like, together as an online community.
I found it so inspiring that my love for reading was rekindled! I’ve read at least 17 books since this discovery and I’m in the middle of two, no, wait, four more!
I’ve never been one to keep track of my reading but I also can’t seem to turn down a good database to keep track of information, either. So I created a Reading Hub in Notion. As a nerd who quite likes measuring things and analyzing data, Notion successfully scratches that itch.
I’m starting to have a better idea of my reading patterns. Maybe next year and into the future, I’ll plan out my TBR in some form of structure. Or maybe I won’t. Maybe I’ll turn out to be more of a mood reader. Who knows! But let’s go on this adventure together!
Another point of inspiration has been the fact that all of my books are under one roof, unpacked and on bookshelves. My plan is to eventually reorganize all of my books, separating the bulk of the fiction from the non-fiction.
I dream of containing all of my non-fiction books in the spare room study. We have a generous sized bookcase that my brother built.
My fiction collection will remain in my bedroom bookcase.
Eventually older volumes and titles with prettier covers will live in the living room. Those are better suited for display and showing them off in the public living spaces just makes sense, don’t you think?
I love having books in every room because I firmly believe in Cicero’s admonition that a room without books has no soul. I want the rooms of my home to be soulful.
Oh, you’re wondering which books I’ve read? Sure! Here’s the run-down:
The Vienna Connection by Dick Rosano
The Irish Cottage: Finding Elizabeth by Juliet Gauvin
First Lie Wins by Ashley Elston
Into the Water by Paula Hawkins
The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett
The Blue Castle by L.M.Montgomery
The Mysterious Affair at Styles by Agatha Christie
The Little Cottage on the Hill by Emma Davies
Thistlewood Manor: Murder at the Hedgerow by Fiona Grace
The London Bookshop Affair by Louise Fein
The Kingdom of Sweets by Erika Johansen
Emily Wilde’s Trilogy by Heather Fawcett
One or two non-fiction.
My current reads are:
Tess of the D’Urbervilles
Clytemenstra
I also have several books on my bedside table that I “dip” into about once a week. I will tell you more about those in a future post!
