When I was young, I always enjoyed reading. The library in my elementary school was one of my favorite places, and I would check out two “Nancy Drew” books every week. My favorite time of the year was when the Scholastic Book Fair came and going to Barnes and Noble with my mom was a treat. My favorite author was Jerry Spinelli, and I never failed to tell everyone that, even if they didn’t care.
As I grew up, I got a job and found myself reading significantly less. I never liked reading for classes because I felt forced to do so, and I was always too busy. I only read in the summers when I thought I had enough free time to read a couple of books for my enjoyment. Then, even my summers got busy, and by my senior year of high school, I stopped reading altogether. Instead, I spent more time on my phone scrolling through social media.
Tik Tok was new at the time and incredibly popular; it was all everyone ever talked about. I spent hours on the app every day, wanting to stay on top of the trends and drama. However, I quickly felt my confidence plummet as my For You Page transitioned from funny, mindless videos to unrealistic bodies and toxic habits.
I knew I had to change for myself, so I deleted the app and picked up a paperback. I gave myself the free time to get back into reading. I questioned why I ever stopped because one of my favorite things is getting lost in someone else’s story instead of pining over my own.
I prioritized reading over spending time on my phone, and I immediately felt happier, more confident and stable in who I was. I challenged myself to read one book per week, and after giving Barnes and Noble too much of my money, I had an entire pile of books I wanted to read.
As I finished more books and had quite a few to talk about, I formed more substantial connections with new people in my life who also enjoyed reading. We bonded over the books we both read and what genres we liked the most. We could recommend books to each other and then keep in touch when we finished them.
Although I sometimes miss knowing all the Tik Tok references my friends use, I know reading is a healthier habit for me, and I have tried to get more of my friends to join the challenge.
Once summer started, I began posting Instagram story reviews of each book I finished reading. At first, I was nervous about doing this because I thought it would make me look like a nerd, and no one would pay attention to them. To my surprise, these posts started gaining a new following, and with each post, more and more of my followers would swipe up and say I inspired them to read more. I had people randomly ask me for book recommendations and what I thought about specific genres.
Being a book source for other people my age was such a good feeling. Although I changed this habit for myself, knowing it began to rub off on others made me even happier with prioritizing my reading and posting about it.