I never read as a child. Never. I never picked up a book and anything that was assigned in school i barely looked at. The first book I was ever interested in was 'The Outsiders' and I didn't even finish it. (I watched the movie tho).

It wasn't until 2020 when i read the Harry Potter books for the first time and absolutely loved them - but then again; haven't finished the last 2. That was until recently. Possibly in the last 2 months.

I have fallen in love with reading and books, especially fantasy and historical fiction. I am barely on my phone nowadays and just look forward to reading my book at night. I sleep better, I feel more engaged with life, and my emotions are that of a normal person because I am not looking at social media all the time lol

I am putting this here because I don't really have anyone else to talk to about this but I am so happy to be in this community and I can't wait to read until my little heart's content.

Happy Reading everyone :)

What are you reading? What are you excited about reading next? What have you finished this week? Let us know your thoughts on it and share in each other's joy about books!

When I was younger I loved to read. I would read 2/3 books a week - I was known as a bookworm. My favourite author is Jodi Picoult. Then I got older and life gets in the way, so reading wasn’t something I was able to do as much.

When I was a few months married and a few months pregnant I decided to read the Harry Potter series and settled on the sofa.

The comments from my husband were confusing. Comments I had never really heard before, especially about reading because I was always praised for reading books growing up - “Why are you reading that shit” and “Harry Potter is for children” and “Reading is for idiots. You’re so stupid.”

I never picked up a book again.

Fast forward almost 10 years and two children later. The kids and I have been free for almost 7 years. We have been through some things, trust me, but we are free. About 4 months ago I realised how much I was missing out on, but due to supervised contact with the children happening in my home twice a week I never felt comfortable reading. It made me feel sick, made me upset, and I wouldn’t even be able to pick up a book. But I wanted to.

And then I saw an advert for a Kobo E-reader about 6 months ago. I realised I might actually be able to do this. Could I read again? Using this device meant no one could see what I was reading and I could sit in my house and read ANYTHING I WANTED without prying eyes and comments (yes he still does it).

I took the leap and I bought one. So far I have only read 5 books. This is huge for me. I’ve enjoyed every second of it and I love how hidden reading can be on an e-reader. I’m getting faster at reading (because it was hard to focus to begin with), and I’m finally feeling like I got a piece of myself back.

I’ve had to work through the shame and guilt but there has been a silver lining. My daughter (7) now loves audiobooks - what do I do? Encourage it. I give her a dollar for every book she listens to. I don’t care if it runs me dry - I will give her all of my money if it means that she gets to do something she loves.
I also constantly remind her that she should NEVER let ANYONE tell her that reading is stupid or put her down for reading. And I say it in-front of her dad too.

I just wanted to share because I am proud of myself for getting back into it. I did a big thing :)

Hoping this is my next great read. So far, the prose is so readable and lovable. It reminds me of Brick on The Middle! And I'm a sucker for time traveling or multi-generational viewpoints.

Has anyone read this? Will this book crush my heart or be hopeful?

I was never really interested in reading books at first. One day, a friend recommended a book to me, so I gave it a try. She ended up not finishing it, but I continued reading and then started the second part, third part, and eventually more books from the same author.

Somewhere along the way, I realized I had actually fallen in love with reading. Now I can easily get lost in a good book for hours.

Did anyone else start reading because of one random book or recommendation?

Loving the atmosphere. I know nothing about this book, and have never seen the film, but I’m loving the vibe so far. Have you read Rebecca?