Sultry scenes.
Intimate surprises.
Engaging conversations.
These things and more can be found within the pages of a good book. Unfortunately, reading for pleasure is somewhat of a lost art. As a parent, when was the last time you read a book for pure pleasure, and not as a way to lull your child to sleep?
Even as a writer, I’ve experienced reading dry spells.
That’s quite a change from the voracious desire I had as a girl – reading everything from novels to cereal boxes. It seemed my hunger for reading could never be satisfied. I always wanted more.
As life filled up with work, friends and my latest crush, I put reading on the back shelf. My habit dwindled and my love of reading for pleasure faded. I still dreamed of becoming a writer, yet I didn’t even support my own craft.
Fact: There was a time in my life when reading a book felt like a chore.
Maybe you know the feeling.
Why would I want to read at home after reading at work all day? It seemed like a good idea in theory, but in practice, it was just one more thing to do.
I’m hoping this post will open your mind to reading books again. Purely for your own pleasure.
Reading for pleasure is sexy. It turns on your mind like no reality TV show ever will. The rhythm of a captivating story can take your breath away.
Project: Indulge in Pleasure Reading
Unlocking your passion for reading is easy – you just have to find the right books. Like lovers, one size does not fit all. Here are some tips to make reading for pleasure a blissful diversion.
- Make time for it. Spend one night a week with the TV off. Wake up 15 minutes early and steal some time just for you. Read on your lunch break. Log out of Facebook. You only need a few moments.
- Get comfortable. My favorite time to read is at night before bed. Yours might be in the morning with a cup of coffee or snuggled in the nook of the couch after the kids are asleep.
- Permission to break up with bad books. While you’re discovering your passion for pleasure reading, my advice is to break up fast with books you don’t like. Your time is precious – don’t waste it on a book that doesn’t grab you from the beginning. That’s the beauty of reading for pleasure – your satisfaction is all that matters.
- Try new genres. Spice it up with books you never dreamed of reading – you may be surprised by the stories you like the best.
Start Here: Pleasure Reading Book List
Books to expand your horizons
- Young Woman and the Sea: How Trudy Ederle Conquered the English Channel and Inspired the World by Glenn Stout
- Finding Oz: How L. Frank Baum Discovered the Great American Story by Evan I. Schwartz
- Road Map to Holland by Jennifer Graf Groneberg
- The Omnivore’s Dilemma by Michael Pollan
Books to escape life
- The Hunger Games, Catching Fire, and Mockingjay, all by Suzanne Collins
- I Sing the Body Electric! Stories by Ray Bradbury
- A Great and Terrible Beauty by Libba Bray
- Anything by Anita Shreve or Elizabeth Berg
- Anything by Dr. Seuss
Books to cry over
- A Tree Grows in Brooklyn by Betty Smith
- The Lovely Bones by Alice Sebold
Books for pure fun
- Charlie and the Chocolate Factory by Roald Dahl
- Cleaving by Julie Powell
- Dog Loves Books by Louise Yates
- Anything by Janet Evanovich
Intense recent read
- Room by Emma Donoghue
Reading for pleasure is such an intimate, sultry experience. Try it again and see how it feels. It’s a beautiful escape that every woman can afford.
What books do you read for pure pleasure? Please share them in the comments below.
Sharing is caring: Please do via Facebook or Twitter. Thank you!
Special thanks to my sexy librarian friends for recommending the books above.
Photo by José Antonio Carretero
{ 23 comments }
Hello, I am quite new to your blog and I am really enjoying your posts. With my sons being 4 and 6 I have just recently rediscovered the pleasure of reading and I have already learnt many things. Actually I have too many thoughts about this topic so I think I am gonna write a post about is on my blog. Please keep me inspired!
I have recently rediscovered reading. We moved outside the US to live for two years. I won’t be working and finally have time to read and do art. I am currenlty reading the Omnivore’s Dilemma. Great book…highly recommend.
I really enjoyed Alphabet Weekends by Elizabeth Noble, it made me laugh so hard, and I don’t remember any book that made me do that.
The Film Club by David Gilmour was a treat too!
Great post!
At some point after I became a mother, I pretty much stopped reading books. Like you, I was a voracious reader as a kid and teen, and yet I just…stopped.
With money I’d received for Christmas of 2009, I bought myself a Kindle, and it made reading seem possible again. Not only was I able to fill it with free books (since our library is sad and paying for books was part of what was holding me back), but I could also carry my books with me, not worry about losing the page because someone stole my bookmark, and be able to go from one book to the next without having to search the shelves.
Now I read 2-3 books a week again (I prefer books over TV most nights), and I’m a huge proponent of e-readers for busy moms. Even as I was juggling my regular responsibilities and writing a book of my own, I made time to read. Because I know how easy it is to slip into the habit of NOT reading, and I don’t want to go back there!
First, let me say, as a Reading Omnivore, I also love to read anything all the time…preferrably every waking moment. Oh, wait, every waking moment is spent on my daughter, day job, keeping up the bare minimum with the house, running errands… I am sure you all are living it, too. The way I get my reading in is by listening to books on my iPhone using Audible.com. You can also check out books on CD from you library for free, if you have the time to get there. BEST BOOK I HAVE “READ” RECENTLY – A FEEL GOOD MUST – “I Still Dream About You: A Novel” by Fannie Flagg.
Well, my pleasure-reading has fallen off quite severely since I’ve had kids. That’s one of the biggest things I miss about pre-kid days. Like you, reading was a HUGE passion for me, and I look forward to the distraction-free days of the upcoming year when my second daughter goes to kindergarten. I’m going to bookmark this post, so I can refer back to it in September!
Yay! School days are great days to take a little time for mom. In fact I think that should be a must-do for moms – reading catch up the first day of school.
Thanks for sharing!
I’m going to save that idea.
This is something I miss doing! Since I discovered blogs, that is mostly what I read! And before that, it was personal development books. I need to remember how to read for FUN!
Thanks for the list!
Bernice
Moms need a timeout too!
I have been a voracious reader all my life! I’m just beginning to get into ebooks and audiobooks. A dear friend of mine, Jeffrey Pierce, has just published his first fantasy novel, Escaping Destiny, and is giving away free copies of the ebook formats until March 14th. Go to http://www.smashwords.com/books/view/40434 and order the ebook. When you’re ready to checkout, enter coupon code MA93H for a 100% discount. Then enjoy the ebook format of your choice: Kindle (.mobi), Epub (open industry format, good for Stanza reader, others), PDF (good for highly formatted books, or for home printing), RTF (readable on most word processors), LRF (for Sony Reader), Palm Doc (PDB) (for Palm reading devices), Plain Text.
I started a read-what-you-want book club. We come together once a month and share our likes/dislikes of the books we have read. We do a swap of books so you too can enjoy or not the book that someone else talked about.
I love that idea! That way everyone gets new ideas, too.
Thanks for sharing with everyone.
Melissa
I love your writings! I agree we need to relax and not always try to produce something. Just have fun!
I enjoy Harry Potter books for some fun!
Thanks for sharing your thoughts and reminding us all to lighten up and have fun!
There needs to be more fun in our lives. Thanks for commenting and enjoy some time just for YOU.
Melissa
Jen Lancaster’s books were my reintroduction into reading for pleasure. I had fallen out of the rhythm of reading for pleasure some time ago, but in the process of simplifying my life over the past couple years I discovered how much I missed reading for pleasure. I still don’t find much time at home to read for pleasure, but I read during my lunch hours.
That’s great, Lauren! I don’t have a lot of time to read either, but now instead of turning on the TV, I’ll read for a while. I enjoy it so much – it’s all about forming new habits for the right reasons.
Thanks for commenting here. Happy reading!
Melissa
Found your blog through Zen habits and I’m really enjoying it.
, I fell away from it after becoming a mom. Or at least my focus shifted to children’s books. I’m rediscovering that balance of my pleasure reading and kid-stuff reading. Also find that I’m loving the opportunity to read things I never picked up as a kid, like Alice in Wonderland, Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and others. Can’t wait to delve into some of my childhood favorites with my daughter, too. 
As someone who read voraciously growing up (drove my mom crazy that “my nose was always in a book”
That’s a good point – having children allows us to expand our book selection. Thanks for stopping by and sharing.
Peace to you,
Melissa
Thankfully I have never lost my love for reading. I adore books and go through them as fast as I can. Reading is my #1 favorite hobby. My personal favorite genre is urban fantasy, but I also enjoy a good mystery novel. Everyone should fall back in love with reading.
I agree! Urban fantasy sounds intriguing. Any titles you could recommend?
I have a huge stash of Christmas novels. I have slight shame in admitting that, coming from a very literary family. But the good ones are total escapist and non-stressful reads, originally chosen to lower my stress at Christmas time. Problem is, I’ve accumulated a huge box of them, and many are not good. Last Christmas I decided to read through and ruthlessly cull the ones I don’t love. Now it’s April and I’m getting a little tired of them! But what this project has done, however, is remind me of the great pleasure of reading in quantity, like I used to do on holidays, weekends, summers – any time I had more than the usual number of free moments. Also, it’s helped me turn off the TV more, in my efforts to get through this task. When I’m done I want a SMALL collection of Christmas romances I enjoy, and then I can’t wait to go back to the books that HOG me – my intellect, emotions and spirit! This has been like pouring gas on what had dwindled to a very small flame.
Great post!!
Hi Jan,
Your project sounds wonderful and uplifting. I’m all for non-stressful reads (a favorite series of mine is the Stefanie Plum saga by Janet Evanovich).
Thanks for reading – here and your stash of novels, too.
Melissa
I’ve really been enjoying your blog. I’m a former full-time writer/editor (newspapers, trade mags) now a full-time mama and part-time writer/editor. I love to read but like you the amount of pleasure reading I’ve done has ebbed and flowed over the years. I agree that audiobooks are a really great option. Though sometimes I feel guilty sitting down with a book, I can always listen on my iPod while washing the dishes or doing other chores. Right now, I’m listening to PSmith, Journalist by P.G. Wodehouse from Librivox (free audiobooks in the public domain). In hard copy I’m reading “The Imperfectionists” by Tom Rachman (about an English-language newspaper in Rome). Apparently I choose my books by theme!
Hi Amy,
I’m so happy to hear that you enjoy my blog. Sounds like we have a lot in common! What are you writing for these days?
I know what you mean about feeling guilty, though it helps when you’re kids are older and can snuggle up with their own books to read. Both of my kids are voracious readers … it’s a very enjoyable bonding time!
Thanks for stopping by,
Melissa
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