At the beginning of this year, I made a promise to myself that I would get back into reading. When I was young, most of my free time was spent reading. I would devour books, eagerly waiting for my weekly trip to the town library. As I grew older and life got busier, my love for literature did not fade, but my ability to read so freely did.
Like many, in recent months, I noticed myself picking up my phone a bit more than I’d like. It became clear to me that something needed to change. There was no reason for my screen time to be so high, especially when extended amounts of time spent on my phone make me feel unmotivated and leave my mind racing.
When the time came to pick up my first book to achieve my new goal, which is to read at least ten books this year, I wasn’t quite sure where to start. I had seen and tried many of the “BookTok” titles that many have raved about, but nothing I was seeing online seemed to be what I was looking for.
I ended up picking up a book from a small local bookstore and decided that this would be my first try. I had read the back and loved the look of the vibrant cover, and that was enough for me to say yes. Little did I know that I would be discovering one of my new favorite authors and reading something that would reinvigorate my love for literature.
“Meet Me at the Lake,” by Carley Fortune, is a contemporary romance novel that tells the story of Will and Fern, two strangers who spent an incredible day together in Toronto, then lost touch. The story follows their journey to reconnection, jumping back and forth between the day they met and their days navigating their second chance at love.
I have always loved romance novels, but this one stuck out to me because of its realistic, heartwarming nature. Fortune’s writing is conversational, making it easy to read and hard to put down. Following this, I knew I had to find out what other novels she had out there. I followed this with “Every Summer After,” another second-chance romance that will leave you feeling like you just spent the summer at the lake. It’s safe to say that I’ll continue to read Fortune’s books this year.
To leave you with one piece of advice: if you are also trying to get back into reading, start somewhere easy! Pick up something that you know you will love and slowly build back into deeper, more dense texts. Most importantly, take it slow and enjoy it. Life is constantly changing, so remember to take some time for yourself and throw yourself into a story that isn’t your own.
At the beginning of this year, I made a promise to myself that I would get back into reading. When I was young, most of my free time was spent reading. I would devour books, eagerly waiting for my weekly trip to the town library. As I grew older and life got busier, my love for literature did not fade, but my ability to read so freely did.
Like many, in recent months, I noticed myself picking up my phone a bit more than I’d like. It became clear to me that something needed to change. There was no reason for my screen time to be so high, especially when extended amounts of time spent on my phone make me feel unmotivated and leave my mind racing.
When the time came to pick up my first book to achieve my new goal, which is to read at least ten books this year, I wasn’t quite sure where to start. I had seen and tried many of the “BookTok” titles that many have raved about, but nothing I was seeing online seemed to be what I was looking for.
I ended up picking up a book from a small local bookstore and decided that this would be my first try. I had read the back and loved the look of the vibrant cover, and that was enough for me to say yes. Little did I know that I would be discovering one of my new favorite authors and reading something that would reinvigorate my love for literature.
“Meet Me at the Lake,” by Carley Fortune, is a contemporary romance novel that tells the story of Will and Fern, two strangers who spent an incredible day together in Toronto, then lost touch. The story follows their journey to reconnection, jumping back and forth between the day they met and their days navigating their second chance at love.
I have always loved romance novels, but this one stuck out to me because of its realistic, heartwarming nature. Fortune’s writing is conversational, making it easy to read and hard to put down. Following this, I knew I had to find out what other novels she had out there. I followed this with “Every Summer After,” another second-chance romance that will leave you feeling like you just spent the summer at the lake. It’s safe to say that I’ll continue to read Fortune’s books this year.
To leave you with one piece of advice: if you are also trying to get back into reading, start somewhere easy! Pick up something that you know you will love and slowly build back into deeper, more dense texts. Most importantly, take it slow and enjoy it. Life is constantly changing, so remember to take some time for yourself and throw yourself into a story that isn’t your own.