When the ball dropped at 12:00am on January 1st, no one could have predicted the hardships that we all have faced in the past 10 months. Many of us have found ourselves confined to the walls of our homes, only leaving to go to the grocery store or take a quick walk around the neighborhood. Anxiety and fear have come in waves as the news coverage of this pandemic has highlighted nothing more than the tragic loss of life and the selfishness of our fellow humans.
“Reading gives us someplace to go when we have to stay where we are.” -Mason Cooley
Since escaping to a fabulous tropical island is currently not an option, one activity that has taken my mind away from all of this chaos is reading books. I will admit that this is the first time since I graduated from college that I have had the desire to crack open any sort of reading material other than a magazine. Up until now I was the person who enjoyed buying books for no other reason than using them as decorations on my coffee table.
Recently however, I have been wanting to expand my horizons and do more than watching hours of Netflix or getting lost in my Instagram feed. I have decided that getting lost in a great book would be more beneficial to my overall mental health than looking at half naked photos of Kim Kardashian.
A few benefits of reading that I am really looking forward to include:
- Improved memory
- Increased vocabulary
- Lower chance of mental decline with age
- Lower stress levels
- Heightened creativity
I don’t now about you, but with the state of our current political climate, I could really use some help lowering my stress levels!
THE GOAL
Each month will be a new book, rotating back and forth from fiction to non-fiction. I think it is important to learn and grow by reading self-help books that can teach you something new about yourself or help you develop a new skill. But I think it is equally important to find a great novel that will take you on a fabulous adventure and give our minds a break from all the craziness that is happening in the world around us.
Now, as many of you will find out from following my blog, I am ADDICTED to GILMORE GIRLS. This show is one of my most notable obsessions and I feel absolutely no shame in admitting it. If you have ever watched the show then you know that Rory Gilmore has read just about every book ever written and is always excited about the prospect of learning.
Although I find myself relating more to Lorelai’s obsession with television and movies, I have always envied Rory’s desire to bury herself in a good book. With this in mind, I have decided that I would like to take a shot at reading just a few of the novels that are referenced on the best show ever created. Some of these include:
- 1984 by George Orwell
- An American Tragedy by Theodore Dreiser
- The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
- Emma by Jane Austen
- Angela’s Ashes by Frank McCourt
- Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
- And many, many more (about 300+ plus to be exact)
Now, while getting through 300 books may seem very overwhelming, the plan is to take these one at a time and see where we end up. I hereby reserve the right to pick and choose from this list as I please and I am absolutely open to any suggestions that you may have.
“A reader lives a thousand lives before they die. The person who never reads lives only once.” -George Martin
In terms of non-fiction, I am still working on creating this list. There are currently a few titles sitting on my bookshelf right now collecting dust that I have always wanted to read. Some of these include:
- Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert T. Kiyosaki
- Talking to Strangers by Malcolm Gladwell
- The Power of Now by Echhart Tolle
- The Total Money Makeover by Dave Ramsey
- A Curious Mind by Brian Grazer and Charles Fishman
- Crucial Conversations by Kelly Patterson, Joseph Grenny, Ron McMillan and Al Switzler
I invite you to join me on my journey into the world of books. I cannot wait to dive in and get started on these lists. Stay tuned for our first book which I will be revealing in next week’s “Book Club” post. Try not to let the anticipation drive you crazy!
