Me and reading have been friends for a long time. Back when I was still in primary school I would wolf down just about anything I could get my hands on. Every time I was taken out of class to go read to someone they'd have to tell me to 'slow down' at least 3 times per session. There just was no stopping me!
And then I turned 14.
It's not a particularly interesting tale. I just ended up not reading as much once I had to start really focusing on school. GCSE's and A-levels really take it out of you!
I did still read. I read books for my English classes and I'd read the manga that a friend would loan to me. Just like I was at the tender age of 9, I was wolfing these stories down like they were going out of style. And hey, maybe Shakespeare was going out of style with everyone who wasn't me and another friend of mine.
But as soon as I got home I just didn't have an urge to read for the pure enjoyment of it. I managed to read 10 books in 2023 and a whopping 5 in 2024. Now to me that's a lot of books, but to a lot of people that's fucking nothing. Most of these I actually read in school, like, in my study periods. For some reason I'd just lose any and all urges to read at home; it was so much effort to pick a damn book up.
So, this year I've decided to take the tme and get back into forming a reading habit. Every moring I will read something for an hour. That's it!
I'm also including the stipulation that this one hour minimum reading time will be a physical book. I own too many and need to get through them. I also want to spend less time staring at a screen because reading on anything (be it phone or laptop) makes my eyeballs ache.
I've been doing it for a few days now and I'm halfway through a 200 page book! That might not sound impressive, but it is for me! And it's a very enjoyable book, so I'm not gonna berate myself for 'taking too long' or whatever.
I guess this is my new years resolution? I wonder how long it'll last.