I’ve been working at my public library a little more than usual lately. Its great because I get to interact with the public and see what new books are out. It is especially good for me because I have recently rekindled a fierce interest in reading.
As I mentioned before, my husband gave me a Kindle as a present and it has made me more interested in reading than I have been in sometime.
Right now, I’m reading books on my Kindle. I’m reading books that I picked up at the library. I’m reading picture books and easy readers with my boys. I am taking note of interesting books at the library and online. I am tracking books that I am interested in reading in the future on Goodreads (seriously, let’s be friends on Goodreads). I am listening to books with my phone using the apps Libby and Hoopla that I accessed with my library card.
I am very interested in everything related to books right now. I do not know how I have turned this faucet on, but I am so grateful that it is flowing. As a librarian, there pressure (probably mostly self-induced but also a little bit library school induced) to keep up with the world of books. I do not always feel like I have always been able to satisfy this professional responsibility. I am grateful for this book lust that I am currently experiencing.
I have also been thinking about that act of reading a lot.
I have recently been thinking about how reading, specifically reading fiction, increases empathy that humans have for one and other. Here is another article in Scientific American about reading and empathy.
When I first heard this factoid a few years ago, I did not have much time to think about it. My life for the past 7 years has been a whirlwind of family and life responsibilities, which is good and necessary.
That’s the way it is sometimes. Sometimes in life, we need to give our our energy to our own circle. That is good. That is necessary. However, sometimes our life energy changes and we have more time to give to people outside of our own circle. I am finding that for the first time in several years, I have a bit of time and energy to think about things outside of my own sphere.
With that in mind, I am finding myself interested in reading about people who are a little different than me.
It is a little project for me right now. I am trying to read a little more broadly. I want to build my empathy muscle by reading about people different than me.
My go-to book choices are memoirs about 1) white woman 2) adventurers 3) white women adventurers, and people with life struggles similar to my own. I’ve read them all: Wild, Eat, Pray, Love, Into Thin Air, Running Like a Girl, and When Breath Become Air. I love Glennon Doyle, Joan Didion, Margaret Atwood and Norma Ephron. I am not going to stop reading those kinds of books, but right now I have the inclination to read a bit outside of my normal tastes.
Recently, while I was at the library I saw this display.
June is LGBTQ+ Pride Month so with that in mind, the first book that I am going to feature in my Reading Broadly series is a memoir from that category. Find out what book I chose in tomorrow’s post.
What do you like to read? Do you have a favorite genre? Do you find it hard to venture outside of your own tastes? Comment below.
