I hate to admit it. For a few years there, I had stopped reading books, and novels in particular. Now to clarify, I was still reading things like articles and newsletters. I kept up with some print magazines subscriptions too.
But in the shuffle of watching addictive shows and just feeling exhausted at night, I had lost my lifelong habit of reading.
This development was particularly troubling to me, as a writer. Books have always held a special place in my life. I wrote my first book when I was just nine years old with my local library about my cat’s adventures around the world.
I stopped reading after a big book release in 2020 that required years of research and writing, I was tired and burnt out. Reading books felt like another chore that I didn’t want to complete.
Then on a beach trip with some girlfriends in 2023, I noticed how everyone was reading “beach books.” These fun, light paperbacks seemed to consume them on our shared blanket. I had brought a bunch of old New Yorkers and downloaded Roxanne Gay’s memoir Hunger. It was good and critical read but not exactly beach reading, and the heavy subject matter did not tempt me to download another book.
Still, memoirs have always been my gateway to reading. I went to journalism school, and people’s stories fascinate me. But fiction? I had let that go years ago.
Turns out, I’m not alone.
Lockdowns during the pandemic shifted the habits of many Americans, including how and if they read at all, according to Test Prep Insight. In their survey of more than 1,600 U.S. adults, almost half of the respondents said they hadn’t read any books in more than a year. Pew Research Center found that about 64 percent of adults also said they didn’t read a book in the past 12 months.
So how did I start reading fiction again?
I didn’t start with fiction. Instead, I went to my old reliable, a salacious celebrity memoir—the one where she was under a conservatorship for years. Still not a novel but filled with drama.
Next, I downloaded an app, which helped me begin to capture recommendations from friends who are avid novel readers. It also motivated me to set a reading goal. At the beginning of 2024, I set a goal to read 20 books, reasoning with myself that I could finish about two books a month.
Once I got to reading, something shifted. I think when the app gave me stats, it lit up my competitive nature. I’m not competing with anyone else, but seeing my progress helped me want to read more. I would get a slight dopamine hit each time I finished a book and had to re-up my goal several times throughout the year.
In 2024, I read 40 books and more than 12,000 pages. My goal for 2025 is less about how many books I read and more about expanding into new genres to grow my appetite for different kinds of books. Think cozy horror or romantasy.
Reading books, particularly fiction, has a plethora of physical and mental health benefits as well. Spending time with a treasured book helps strengthen your brain, and as a perimenopausal woman, I need all the help I can get.
Researchers in one study used functional MRI scans to measure the impact reading a novel has on the brain and found that as tension builds in the story, more areas of the brain become active. Scientific research has also discovered that people who read fiction tend to have more empathy. I know that when I read, I feel a deep connection to the characters and to their human struggles.
Reading books, as it turns out, can also contribute to your longevity. One study looked at 3,635 adults for a period of 12 years, and found that bookworms survived about two years longer than those who either didn’t read or who read magazines and other forms of media. And yes, as you can imagine, reading is a great stress reliever. A study at the University of Sussex found that reading can reduce stress by up to 68 percent, even with just six minutes a day.
My next approach to reading more books was to download the Libby app. I know, I know more technology. For those who aren’t familiar, Libby is a free app that lets you access your local library’s digital collection. All you need is a library card. I still go to the library and check out physical books too, but I do enjoy the convenience of my Kindle, especially when I travel.
I slowly let the the habit of TV watching at night go and started retiring to bed earlier to curl up with a good book and some chamomile tea. I’ve found it’s more relaxing than watching true crime documentaries or intense dramas. Even when there’s drama on the page, it’s easier to put down. One of my first fiction books was a dark satire about the publishing industry R.F. Kuang’s Yellowface. This book is written in first-person, so it felt similar to reading a memoir.
Once I got going, I realized that books could take me on all kinds of adventures that are even more exciting than many of my favorite shows. This summer I went to Winter Island, the setting of Crissy Van Meter’s beautifully written book Creatures. I also went to Naples with Elena Ferrante to read the harrowing final book in her series The Story of the Lost Child (Neapolitan Novels Book 4). I spent time in Dublin as I read Sally Rooney’s Conversations with Friends and in Japan while reading Sayaka Murata’s dreamlike novel Earthlings.
I kept following my own interests and ideas, instead of trying to read books on the current bestseller list. I didn’t rely on established (mostly male) authors in the canon or attempt to read anything that would impress “literati” types. I wanted to read exclusively female authors and female stories in whatever form they came.
I didn’t give up TV entirely. Some of the books have turned into TV series, and I’ve realized I like reading books before shows come out. I enjoyed watching the new season of My Brilliant Friend based on Ferrante’s books. Once you become a novel person, you realize how many shows are based on novels.
If this non-fiction reader and writer can become a novel person and reap the stress-relieving benefits, I know you can too.