Reading was an escape for me when I was younger (especially through Harry Potter and Artemis Fowl), but the public education system made me see reading as more chore than joy. Instead, I eventually became partial to video games and film for that escape. That said, I never forgot what passionate reading FELT like. The feeling of being engrossed in a well-crafted book is simply unparalleled…
Over the past few years, I’ve dealt with a failed long-term relationship and a complete collapse of the life I’d built. I’m well over the hump now, and I’m brimming with an optimism and lust for life that I’ve never known. Something inside of me has kept thinking about books, but much to my dismay, reading physical books (despite my love and preference for [old 🥴] hardback particularly) has become something I’ve struggled with. So after days of research, I begrudgingly bought a Kindle to assist me in facilitating the reading habit, and it’s coming tomorrow.
Imma be so real with y’all: I ain’t been this excited about something in a long time.
In anticipation of its arrival, I started looking at broad book recommendations and quickly became overwhelmed by the vast array of titles and varying degrees of quality (and the obvious factor of subjectivity).
Frankly, I don’t know where to dive in. I don’t even necessarily have a genre preference. All I know is what I “want” from a book-reading experience. I figured I’d give this sub a shot as I begin to build my digital library. Why not pick the brains of the most passionate readers?
While I like the aesthetics of fantasy, or the bleakness of horror, and that fuzzy, heart-fluttering feeling of a good romance, I guess I want to read books that really capture the beauty of life/“human” spirit in some way—be it in adventure, friendship, romantic love, etc. The kind of book that when I finish it, changes me in some small way forever. Something that resonates and stays with me long after reading the final page.
I want to laugh. I want to cry. I want to mourn. I want to be moved. I want to truly succumb to the majesty of life through artful literary depictions. I’m chasing that feeling when I read books.
tl;dr—i’m a 30yo contemplative caveman and i haven’t read a fiction book for fun in nearly two decades. pls help.
by jordanofthecosmos