Whether you are in high school or college, there is one thing we can all agree on: the end of year exams are ALWAYS stressful. The free time you had is now spent studying and you’re trying to focus in order to condense everything you have learned into a small spot in your brain. Fast forward to after your exams and it’s now summer! You finally have months to cut back and enjoy all the free time you were looking forward to— unless you don’t know what to do with it.
Getting Back Into Reading
When I arrived home from college, I spent my time with my family and friends in order to occupy all of my free time. This proved itself to be problematic for me because I am (no surprise here), an introvert. I need my alone time to recharge my mind from all the events that happened throughout the day. After finding myself spending more time locked away in my cave that was my room, I decided that I needed something more productive to do with my time.
Through extensive contemplation as to what I should be doing, I decided it was time I start my summer job again. I spent most days of the week working poolside at a country club and life was seeming to fall into place. My daily routine was: wake up, go to work, drive home, have dinner with my family, and then inevitably hideout in my room. See a trend coming? Being a full pledged introvert, I saw nothing wrong with what I was doing, as it was something I can’t control, but I noticed myself feeling bored. Being bored came with a relentless empty feeling that I felt every day. I tried to fill that void by going on my phone, constantly flipping through Snapchat, Instagram, and TikTok. It worked for a little while but it never fully filled that void and I was constantly trying to do something more productive with my time— more specifically— something that would keep my mind active.
It wasn’t until a sequence of events occurred that eliminated the emptiness I was feeling. I caught pneumonia. I remember clear as day because my mom and I needed to stay in a hotel which REALLY did not help with having nothing to do with my time. I was scrolling through TikTok and stumbled upon #DracoTok, one thing led to another, and I found my way back to #HarryPotterTok. I told myself, “Why not?” I picked up the first book of Harry Potter and started reading.
Finding What I Liked to Read
Needless to say, I read the Harry Potter series in less than a week and I was finding that I actually liked to read. When I got to work one day, my coworkers and I made lists of all the books we planned to read during the summer. There were a large variety of reading tropes but I gravitated towards the fantasy books because I had just finished reading Harry Potter and I wanted something more like it. I found a book series called Zodiac Academy and immediately bought the entire set. While shopping, I also ordered a series called The Selection which was on my To Be Read list. The day the books arrived on my doorstep, I was debating which series to read because I knew it was about to occupy a LOT of my time and I didn’t want to read something which would deter me from reading all together.
I picked the Selection to read first because I would be lying if I said the cover was not the cutest thing I have ever seen. Now, I know it sounds pathetic that I would read a book series based on the cover, but I was finally getting back into reading, so yes, I judged a book by the cover. This series introduced me to the romance trope and it was one of the first romance books I have ever read. I enjoyed it but I was still slightly mourning my Harry Potter books. I never really read books, so why would I think that a book hangover existed? Well I had what people would like to call a “rude awakening.” Especially when I realized that I had book hangover from not one series but TWO.
Going back to the fantasy trope, I quickly read through the Lord of the Rings series and the Hobbit, and I thought to myself, “this is the type of book I love.” Well that quickly changed when my coworker brings me a book called We Were Liars, a mystery book. I had read some of Stephen King in the past and really enjoyed his work which tied into a lot of different tropes, but this book was a mystery at its PEAK. Cut to mass confusion on what type of books I like to read because now I have fantasy, romance, mystery, horror… what else could there possibly be?
The answer to that is hundreds more. I read through the Zodiac Academy series and my mind was blown. Enemies to lovers? Check. Slow burn romance? Check. Fantasy? Check. Mystery? Check. More than that? Check. Who even knew such tropes could exist… definitely not me.
Well, one thing led to another and I found myself placing a massive book order for all of Colleen Hoover books (I would like to thank my friend Giulia for that). After reading through a few of her books, including Ugly Love and It Ends With Us, I found that romance novels are the types of books that put my heart and mind to ease.
What Do I Do Now?
Overall, I would like to say that I have always been a positive and happy person. I enjoyed spending time with family and friends but it was never enough for me. I needed my alone time. After spending year and years doing nothing but go on my phone, in my room alone, I realized I needed to make a change. Reading books has always been something I enjoy but I never spent the time to process what I was reading in order to fall in love with it. When I started reading more and discovered the types of books I liked to read, I fell in love. So now, instead of scrolling though TikTok for hours, I can pick up a book and be productive with my day. I get to experience all kinds of emotions that I never would have, probably in my entire life. If you are like me and need alone time to recharge, or you are an introvert, I would recommend picking up a hobby. Find something you enjoy doing and go from there.