Jump back into reading

• by Amy Bowker

• February 23, 2020

I’ll be honest. I HATED reading. My parents had to pay me to read when I was kid. I got $5 a book and blew through all the Babysitter’s Clubs and Sweet Valley Highs. When I actually started to enjoy it though, my parents pulled a fast one and stop paying me but I was hooked.

Then university came. Reading for pleasure was put on the back burner to learn about psychology, sociology and all things mind-numbing. Having to read for school made me stop reading. That’s really hard for me, an educator to admit. With completing weekly readings and studying there was no way I could pick up a book for fun.

So when did I start reading again? I was forced to. LOL I was in teacher’s college and Harry Potter had been out for a while. I had these 2 students who begged me repeatedly to read the series. Finally, at the end of my teacher placement and out of excuses, I told them I would read it. I started reading Harry Potter and the Philosopher’s Stone and it was okay. Then I kept on reading and reading and then couldn’t stop. I finished the Harry Potter series and was blown away by J.K. Rowling’s writing and how she intertwined all the stories together. Then I became that annoying person who harasses everyone into reading the series. And yes, YOU SHOULD READ IT!

I was hooked! I continued to read obsessively but got stuck with what books to read. Enter ‘Goodreads.’

Goodreads is a website and iphone app that helps you find, keep track of and rate books. Goodreads has 3 main sections to keep track of your books. What you are reading right now, What you want to read and books you’ve read.

Goodreads let you follow authors you love and friends so you can find out when new books are coming out and see what books your friends are reading. Goodreads also suggests books that you may like.

My favourite part of the website or app is that every year you can choose to set a Reading Challenge to push you to read more books. The Reading Challenges and keeping track of books that I want to read, really helps me keep reading instead of getting in a book slump.

Create a Goodreads account, add me as a friend and get reading!

Let me know in the comments if you have any other questions!