After a conversation with a friend about how reading had become more and more difficult for us as we aged, I decided to stop beating myself up for not reading as much as I used to.

For each of us, the circumstances why we found ourselves reading less than we once did are vastly different. For them, increasing demands at work and marriage and children were the biggest factors. For me, an escalation of my anxiety symptoms, coupled with reading fatigue after a graduate degree were mine. It also seemed as if my reading preferences had changed. I no longer enjoy horror and drama. I found I was more interested in nonfiction - biographical, political, social justice, and true crime. But it was also harder to sit and read for hours on end - I am also married with responsibilities.

One of the things I also noticed was what seemed at first to be an inability to focus on what I was currently reading. I would lose interest at some point and just stopped reading altogether. Our discussion helped me realise that that was perfectly acceptable and instead of stopping out of some sort of guilt or shame, to simply put the back on the shelf and choose another one. There really is no shame in having a dozen or so half-read books. Sometimes that's just the way things shape up.

And so ... since that discussion, I've started looking for more books that interest me. I just finished the first of Anne Rule's true crime series and I feel good about my reading for the first time in years. 😊