I’m a big reader — I love books. I always have a bunch of books out on loan from the local library, a few on hold via my e-reader and I’m not even going to talk about the many, many books I own — let’s just say I have bookshelves filled with books that I am just waiting to read.
One of the things I have noticed during the COVID-19 pandemic — I am having trouble reading. It’s like I can’t concentrate long enough to read a chapter. Now as someone who would typically read a book a week on her commute to work, this is devastating to me. I am now struggling to read a 300 page book in 14 days, and most of the delay is that I have to keep going back to read a paragraph that I already read. It’s like I just can’t focus anymore.
This has been going on for months, and I am just so annoyed by it. I’l finally get an e-book from the library that I have been waiting months to read — I will be so excited, and as soon as I start it…it will take me two days to read 20 pages. And then if you quizzed me on what I’ve read…I’m not sure I could tell you. My local library gives you 7 days with an e-book, if no one else is waiting for it, you can renew for another 7 days, but it someone has it on hold, you have to wait for the book to come back to you. Typically I can read a 300 – 400 page book in 7 days, but the past couple of months I have struggled to read even 150 pages in 7 days. I can’t even tell you how many books I have slowly read for 7 days, lost them to someone else, then gotten a chance to finish a week later, and STILL couldn’t finish the last 150 pages in the next 7 days. It’s happened at least 4 times…and then I have no idea which book I am reading and what’s going on…
I started a new book on Thursday, an actual physical book, not an e-book. It was 240 pages, and I read a little bit on Thursday, a big chunk on Friday, even more on Saturday and I finished the last 15 pages this morning! I read a whole 240 page book in like 3 days! And I remembered what I had read from the day before and I enjoyed the whole book! Maybe it’s because it wasn’t an e-book — maybe I’ve just had too much screen time.
Whatever the reason, I finished it and I am so proud of myself! And I started another 350 page book this evening, another actual book, not an e-book. Maybe I am turning my reading problem around!
Notes from a Self Quarantine 