How I Got Back To My First Love: Reading | thecapriproject
By: Riley Zander
Tags: Passion, Reading, Books, Reading Books

I’ve been reading books for as long as I could remember

My childhood was comprised of book fairs, library visits, and bookshelves at home filled towards the back. I was reading books from children’s fantasy to dystopian and YA fiction. I never had my feet planted on the ground growing up because I was up in the clouds dreaming of other worlds I’ve only read about.

In primary school, once the bell has rung to let us out of class, I would head to the library. While waiting to be picked up, I would pick out a book and sit nicely like the quiet child I used to be. Most of the time, I would finish the book before I was picked up. Other times, I would check the book out and finish it in the car before I reached my house.

For the longest time, all I knew was that I loved to read. I wanted to give to the world what books had given me. A space to escape my reality and step into a world of imagination. My friends in school knew me as a writer. I would be multitasking, writing down notes while also reading books in class. I remember my chemistry teacher coming by my desk and closed my book because I was ‘distracted’.

Here’s How I Got Back Into Reading:

Pick out your favorite book that you used to love to read

A book I never get bored of reading is The Fault In Our Stars. Every time I pick this book up, there’s always something new that I notice. There are two ways we read books: readers internalize the words we read, while writers analyze the words. John Green might not be everyone’s author they look up to, but I knew I wanted to write YA fiction as my genre.

John Green became my inspiration because he was able to grab your attention with such beautiful words, I wanted to be like him. I sped through the book quite fast, because it was a book I knew I wouldn’t get tired of reading. The last time I picked it up was in my final year of university. I wanted to push myself to get used to reading again, so I would be motivated to put more effort into my final year.

Start by making a system

Read a book for 15 minutes a day. Take it slow and easy just to get the pages turning. Here’s who inspired me of making a system: Rowena Tsai. If you don’t know who Rowena is, she’s a lifestyle and productivity content creator based in NYC.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WK-sZjuXA6A

A system is a journey, Rowena stated. It’s been ingrained in our minds that we need goals to strive for, but how do we get the motion going in order to achieve those goals?

“It is your commitment to the process that will determine your progress”

Though I’ve taken her advice in a different direction, I knew I needed a system to map out the habits I want to retain. In the book she referenced, Atomic Habits, James Clear said, “When you fall in love with the process, rather than the product, you don’t have to wait to give yourself permission to be happy. A system can be successful in many different forms, not just the one you first ambitioned.”

I was happy I spent even 5 minutes trying to get myself to read, let alone 15 minutes a day. It starts as simple as that, you just need to take that first step.

Challenge yourself to reach a goal

The way Rowena differs between a system and a goal follows the quote, “It’s about the journey, not the destination.” A goal is the destination you want to get to. If creating a daily routine is difficult, I understand because I know I struggle with habitually following my routine every day. Another way is to then create a goal with no deadline. I followed this method to finish Disney CEO Bob Iger’s memoir, The Ride of a Lifetime, before the end of December.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MHv1sKAtfg

My challenge was reading 10 pages a day because I had about 100 pages left. It didn’t have to be daily, but I knew I wanted to finish the autobiography before the end of December. The challenge then turned to see if I could finish a chapter every day, which I succeeded in doing.

It was the first autobiography that I bought for myself, but not the first I’ve read. The first autobiography I read was Obama’s A Promise of Change. In his 15 years running Disney, Bob Iger acquired Pixar, Marvel, Lucasfilm, and 20th Century Fox. They are both fearless, brilliant, and compassionate leaders that I strive to follow.

Understand that it’s okay to put a book down

https://www.instagram.com/p/B5dD5dzgDsO/?utm_source=ig_embed

It took me a while to finally pick up the Raymond Carver collection I bought at an independent bookstore in Bristol called The Last Bookshop. They sell books for £3 each, but and they offer a 4-for-£10 deal. It was a collection of short stories, so you’d think I’d be quick to read it.

It was a lucky find because I’ve always wanted to get into Carver ever since I found this one quote from the movie Stuck In Love (2012): “I could hear my heart beating. I could hear everyone’s heart. I could hear the human noise we sat there making, not one of us moving, not even when the room went dark.”

I wanted to analyze his writing, so I went about it quite slow to identify his style. However, it did end up becoming boring and long-winded. I got through 15 stories from a total of 22 before finally putting it down and said that was enough. I chose to put down the book, despite not finishing it, and I was happy to walk away from it.

Choose a book you would be interested in

I shared my love for YA fiction and traveling with my friend Addie, who is an avid reader as well. She brought up the book Just One Day, which sounded so familiar to me. I kept mistaking it for the 2011 Anne Hathaway film with Jim Sturgess. Which it was not. However, I knew I’ve seen the book before because it was hidden away in one of my bookshelves. After reading Bob Iger’s autobiography, I was quite eager to read another book. I hyped up myself with the promise of sweet heartbreak, and boy did that book deliver.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CGeo1lCAd5y/?utm_source=ig_embed

18-year-old American girl Allyson goes on a European tour before she goes off to college. She meets a 20-year-old Dutch guy named Willem who invites her on a trip to Paris. Together, they spend one fateful day, and… It’s a story about self-discovery and travel and love, which was a novel that was right up my alley.

I started reading that night, so I got to half of the book before I continued devouring it the next day. The thrill of not putting a book down because of my desire to get to the next page was an adrenaline rush I have long forgotten. So, thank you, Addie, for always motivating me and for your help reigniting my love for reading. She runs a bookstagram account @eleanorandbooks where she posts her favorite quotes from her beloved books, so check it out!

This is my story as a fellow reader, and future published author

I studied for an English Literature degree, despite never having experience with it in high school. I’ve never read classics such as Shakespeare, or Dickens, I felt like such a fraud. And when reading books became an obligation, for some reason, I was very discouraged. It became quite a problem as I was never able to fully comprehend the books I was writing about because I never finished reading. I could count the number with my fingers on how many books I actually finished in university.

For the longest time, I was quite disappointed in myself. It felt like I coasted, and I was taking my own dream for granted. It took me an entire year since graduating from university in 2019 that I regained my passion for reading. People have been picking up more books during the pandemic than they’ve ever had. I knew if I wanted to get back into reading, this was the time to do it. I had to be able to show up for myself and the dream I’ve fought for my entire life. I’m still in the early stages of getting back to reading, but I am proud of myself for the effort I’ve put in now.