June 23, 2016

TALKTIME #18: Respect Your Relationship with Reading


TALKTIME #18: RESPECT YOUR RELATIONSHIP WITH READING

WARNING: This might seem really strange to start with and you might not completely follow my line of logic, but if you can manage to track through it, I think you will understand what I am trying to say.

      So as I am keen to do with most of my posts, I'm going to start off with some background because I don't like you guys to go blind into these posts and thinking "what the hell is she even saying???". During the school year, I had some good reading months and I had some bad. After winter break, I had a long string of bad reading months until May came and I had a great reading month until I started my summer medical program in June and I have once again come back to having a shit reading month.



      During my really shitty reading months, I have often found myself trying to force myself to read. Sometimes this kickstarts my love for reading into high gear and I find myself soaking in a book with every spare second. But more often than not, I end up taking a hella long time to read just one book and I think the book is just alright or I straight up hate it. 



      This has led me to the conclusion that I need to respect my relationship with reading. Now what exactly do I mean by that? Reading is something that requires your complete respect and love. There are going to be times in your life where reading is your everything and it makes you happy and you genuinely enjoy the books. But there are also those times when you do read, you're reading because you feel either guilt-tripped into reading, you have to (whether it's for class, a review, etc.), or you just slowly trudge through the book because you want to read, but it just doesn't feel right.



      Last year I would have told you guys that I want to read as many books possible and that reading 100 books was a goal I just had to accomplish (which I barely did). But I have changed my thoughts since then, and I like to think these thoughts are for the best. Reading a lot of books is not worth it if most of the books I read are sub-par or I hate. I would rather read 20 really great books than 100 okay books. Reading should be about the content and the joy of reading, not how many books you read. Last year as a blogger, I felt my worth as a reader and a blogger was based off of how many books I read. I needed to read a shit ton of books and be like everyone else who seems to have all the time in the world to read. But I'm not like a lot of other bloggers. I'm a premed college student who frankly wastes too much time as it.   



    Basically what I'm trying to get at is that reading is something that you should respect and balance out. For me that means reading only what I truly want to read and not basing my worth off of how much I read. If you are one of those people who feel compelled to reading a billion books in a year, then by all means, do it. But you should really stop and think about what why you are reading and if you even love the books you are reading. Are you reading for yourself? Or are you reading in order to stay tuned with the booksphere? Think about it.



I would love to hear what you guys think in the comments. What is your view on reading? Tell me down below. 

Join the conversation!

  1. BLESS THIS POST! Do reading your way Sierra, and don't let anyone tell you different!

    I read a ridiculously large amount - but that's because I want to, and luckily I'm quite a fast reader (or lord knows I'd forget to eat and sleep.) And because books and blogging are two of the things that keep me going when I'm having a bad day. Also, I've developed the ability to read a book and watch a TV show at the same time. Don't judge me. I love TV.

    I don't read books just because everybody else has read them, unless I respect the opinions and enthusiasm of those people, and genuinely think I'd like to try the book.

    Forcing yourself will just a) sap your enthusiasm, and b) exhaust you and make you ill. Do things your way. Take a break from reading (gasp!) if you need to. And know that the books will still be there when you get back :)

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    1. Haha thank you! No judgement here, I love tv and am still working on being able to read and watch tv myself. I'm glad you have the time and love towards reading so many books!

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  2. Great post Sierra! I definitely think that reading should not be forced, and that it will just take time to get back into the swing of things. I saw a great post by Denise @ The Bibliolater blog where she said that its ok not to read sometimes. And I totally stand by that. It's ok to have some distance sometimes!

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  3. This is so true!!! I never force myself to read when I'm not feeling it, because 9/10 I'll end up not liking the book. And I definitely felt pressured to join reading challanges when I first started blogging, but I don't want to look at reading like that. I think everyone should just read what they want when they want. And med school is hard!! I can't imagine pressure of trying to keep up with a regular reading schedule on top of that. Great topic, Sierra! :)

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    1. I'm so glad I'm not alone. Oh my gosh I always felt the need to join reading challenges. I agree! Haha it's definitely hard, but I'm really passionate about medicine. Thank you!

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  4. I get this! Lately, I've not had the time to really read a lot. It seems like anything and everything to stop me from reading has in the last 5 days. It has made me appreciate when I have gotten to read!
    I also completely understand the wanting to read more quality over quantity! I said I wanted to read 75 books, but if I only got to 50 & they were all books I enjoyed I would be happy.

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    1. Haha I feel the same way, only with the last month. I'm glad you agree with me!

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