Falling in love with reading again

Reading used to be one of my favourite pass times. Without question it was how I would choose to spend my free time, and reading for half an hour or so before bed was the norm.

That was a few years ago.

I realised a few things recently.

Firstly, I realised that I was in the process of reading three books all at the same time.

I also realised that I don’t read half as much as I used to.

I now find it quite difficult to get really interested in a storyline to the extent that I am not itching to pick the book up again first thing in the morning, and it almost feels like a chore to read before bed. So the book sits in the drawer untouched for days/weeks sometimes even months at a time until I miss the act of reading and I try and get back into the reading routine again. And because it will have been so long since I had last read the book I’d have to go back a chapter or two to remind myself what was going on; at which point I’d remember why I stopped reading it in the first place. So the cycle would continue.

I also realised that I don’t really enjoy reading as much as I used to. Maybe because there is just so much to do/achieve in the course of a single day that I am either a) too tired to concentrate on a book when I get into bed because I’m too tired, or b) if I’m not too tired and do sit down to read I feel a sense of guilt that I shouldn’t be “wasting” my time reading when so much else needs doing in the house etc… anyone else ever feel like that with anything?

But the last two nights I have made a conscious effort to not look at my phone once I get into bed and instead focus solely on the book I am reading. And it has worked. Not only do I seem to be enjoying it (which I wasn’t doing previously – I think I started the book in February and managed to get about 30 pages in before I decided that it wasn’t fast-paced enough for me, and so it was consigned to the drawer not to see the light of day again for a good long while), but I am enjoying focusing on one thing for longer than a minute or two at a time (Instagram you're the culprit here!).

And so with what I hope signifies the return of my love of reading I’ve been thinking about how lovely it would be to have a dedicated reading nook at home; somewhere to curl up all cosy and snug, a place to lose myself in the stories that have tumbled from the minds of great authors, to explore the worlds created by their limitless imaginations. This then got me thinking about what a good reading nook looks like and there are a few key pieces that can turn a corner of a room into a reading nook of dreams.

How I’d love to settle down in a room like this…..that chair though!