Because the second semester of senior year is not as demanding compared to the first semester, this meant that I now have more free time. During the first weeks of February, I was annoyed that I barely achieved any goals for the new year. I only finished one book because that was for English class, so that meant I read zero books outside of school. I wondered how I could finish 55 books by the end of 2021 when I was already 5 books behind the ideal schedule of reading 1 book per week. Fortunately, boredom drove me to read book samples on Overdrive. Overdrive is a library database that has many ebooks and audiobooks. Initially, I thought that I would stop reading after the sample ended but I was wrong. The first sample I read was Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda and I wanted to know what happened in the end so I borrowed it right away. This marked the beginning of my obsession with books.
After finishing Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda in a day, I started using Google to find book recommendations and book lists. This involved going on Barnes & Nobles and Penguin Random House quite often. I didn't read young adult books in a long time, so I decided to read them again because I realized that some young adult books weren't that cheesy or cliche. After researching popular young adult books, I started reading Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe. Wanting to know more about racial injustice, I read Dear Martin and then Dear Justyce. The captivating plot and fascinating characters made reading addictive. I couldn't stop.
As time went on, I realized that reading made my life so much richer and interesting, especially during the pandemic. Reading fiction and memoirs made me enter various worlds, from a quiet town in upstate New York to the streets of Johannesburg. It was as if I saw the world from a different perspective using a different pair of eyes. The more I read diverse books, the more I desired to know about the lives of people across all backgrounds. Another observation I made was that after reading a lot of books, I develop greater empathy for the flawed characters. I acknowledged their mistakes and weaknesses, but at the same time, I understood where they were coming from. I became more accepting of others and less judgmental than before. Of course, I still have a lot of room for improvement when it comes to not judging others.
An interesting thing was that reading online books was a lot more addictive for me compared to reading physical books. I don't really have a good answer for this behavior, but I hypothesize that ebooks are a lot more accessible because you can simply type in the website and the book is in front of you. For physical books, I am too lazy to take an extra step or two to get the book and read it. The downside of Overdrive is that my screen time increased significantly and this probably worsened my vision even more. I am already having 15-20 hours of Zoom class each week, which makes it a better reason for me to not use Overdrive. In all honesty, I was too lazy to ask my mom to borrow books at the local library when I could borrow ebooks instantly on Overdrive without having to wait for the physical books. Even though there are disadvantages of Overdrive, one main benefit is that Overdrive has this wish list function that made me save lots of books I wanted to read in the future, which I found to be a better way of organizing things instead of writing book titles on Notes. By putting books into my wish list, meant that I had no excuse when it came to not having a book to read. There were so many books in the world that were waiting for me to be read.
A problem that arose from reading was that I started to develop feelings of senioritis. I put my work on the side because I wanted to read so badly. I had a week where all I did was read book after book. I noticed that this lifestyle was unsustainable and could potentially cause me to have poorer grades so I decided to stop. I ended up blocking Overdrive during the workdays so I could get actual work done.
From this new habit, I have greater confidence that I can potentially read 55 books in 2021. I may not be able to finish 55 books, but I think it is reasonable to say that I will read more books this year compared to last year (30-35 books).
Here are my general tips behind developing a reading habit:
1. Think of what interests you
What do you like to learn about? What do you want to get out of your reading journey? Which stories interest you?
For me, I wanted to become more global-minded from reading so that meant reading books written by authors of different racial, ethnic, religious backgrounds.
2. Do your research
Good online resources include your local library's website, Barnes & Nobles, New York Times book reviews, Goodreads, Penguin Random House, etc. The easiest way is to search on Google lists of books categorized by year, awards (Pulitzer, National Book Award, etc.), genres, topics, etc. I started my search with certain books that I didn't explore before. I then entered a lot of rabbit holes by searching best-selling books that were published in recent years.
3. Don't limit yourself to classic novels
While reading classic literature and other serious works is good, please do not force yourself to read these books if you don't have a genuine interest in that genre. It is ok if you want to read romance novels or horror novels. In other words, read what catches your attention. If you pick up the reading habit, then it may be worthwhile to challenge yourself with complex literary works.
4. Start using Overdrive
I wouldn't say Overdrive is a necessity for starting a reading habit, but Overdrive has a useful wish list tool that lets you save all the books you want to read in one place. The wish list is an indirect reminder that there are always books available for you to read.
5. Get multiple library cards
I am not sure if there are any specific requirements for getting a library card (e.g. residency), but having a couple of library cards allows you to borrow more books. It can also decrease the waiting time of popular books that are frequently checked out.
6. Replace online time with reading time
The easiest way to do this is to replace all your internet leisure time with reading time. If you can't stop yourself, simply shut down your phone and put the device in another room. This generates enough friction, which discourages you from wanting to go on your phone. For the computer, I use Frozen Turkey and I cannot access my computer for some time.
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