Photo credit to Pavan Trikutan on Unsplash.
I went through a recent time in my life when I read almost nothing.
And man, did I suffer for it.
I was so absorbed in writing that I forgot how important it was to read. I struggled with finding inspiration and ideas for my stories, and after wondering why I was struggling so much, I finally realized that the problem was that I wasn't reading good books. In fact, I wasn't reading at all.
I've been scarred by some reading experiences. Book series that started out incredibly well have ended incredibly badly, and sometimes I've quit reading them all together because they weren't edifying or weren't even worth it. But being disappointed a couple of times doesn't mean we should quit reading. Books are the food of a writer. If we want to learn, we need to read. Most of my writing skills aren't from natural skill, but just from having read all my life. I'm sure most writers would tell you the same.
But how do we find good books? Personally, I'd rather know a book was edifying right off the bat as opposed to just picking it up and giving it a try. To add to that, for those of you who are Christians, you know we are to be good stewards of our minds. That means watching what we fill our brains with.
I've found that when I'm reading a good book, I'm not only inspiring my storytelling, but my overall mental health is greatly improved. I've determined to start reading more good books---and today I'm going to share with you how I got out of my reading funk.
The answer was that I joined Goodreads.
For those of you who don't know, Goodreads is an app you can download. To put it plainly, it's a site where you can look up any book and add it to a digital booklist, whether of books you've read, books you want to read, books you would recommend, etc. The reason I love Goodreads is because you can (1. follow your friends and see what they're reading (2. easily read several different reviews on the same book (3. follow authors or readers you trust and see what they think of different books they review.
I've found that after joining Goodreads it's so much easier to make sure a book is edifying and worthwhile before I read it. What's more, my friends can easily share books with me that they think I will like. I even have a digital list of books to read that I can easily pull from when I've finished the current book I've been reading and am ready to move on.
Long story short, I'd highly recommend considering downloading Goodreads. For those of you who still need to check with your parents before downloading an app, I'd highly recommend you ask them about it. Since Goodreads is connected to about every book there is out there, you do have to be careful like with anything else. There are security measures you can put on your Goodreads account to keep you safe, and the social aspect of joining digital book groups is completely optional (I personally am not a part of any).
If you end up joining, I'd love to friend you! You can find me here under E. G. Runyan. I'm excited to see what you're reading! Now, go read some good books!
Thank you! I needed this. :D
Squeaky Clean Reviews and The Story Graph are also pretty helpful (especially for checking if a book has potentially upsetting content).
Love this post!! I've recently gotten into using Goodreads and it's so helpful especially when my library doesn't I have a book I can still keep track of wanting to read it!! *glances over at "Want To Read" list on Goodreads that has over 150 books* *long sigh* I'd better get reading! 🤣
I love the title, Emma 😅 And, as I'm sure you know, I am a huge advocate of the fact that great writers must be great readers. Wonderful post (and I'm glad you like Goodreads so much)!