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Last month, I came clean about my recent sabbatical. For those who read to the end, I snuck in a plot twist ... we are new empty nesters!
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How's it going, everyone asks? Well, when I'm not lying awake panicking about our kids dealing with this messed up world, I have been panic adopting new hobbies and panic binging tiktoks about couples communication.
Kidding (sort of). Straight talk. The kids are okay. The new hobbies are awesome. And turns out refreshing partner communication habits is good for all of us, who knew?!
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But all that has crowded out something I had really, really, really been looking forward to in this life stage: more reading. It turns out all those piles of books I have been saving for "when the kids go to college and I have more time" will not just read themselves.
In fact, the to-read piles have just gotten taller since the last Dear Good People book issue back in March. And, here we are in the next semi-annual Dear Good People book issue and the piles just keep growing!
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To be fair, I'm doing better now in my mid 50's than I was in my 20's, 30's, and early 40's when I was doing zero reading for pleasure. That's when I realized I had left behind my truly favorite pastime due to some misguided notion that I was too busy/important to read. I checked myself and even wrote about my 17 hacks for becoming a "born-again reader".
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Now, I feel like I've lost some of my reading mojo again. Over the last year, I worked on reading consistency by reading a few pages most mornings, but it's hardly leisurely or immersive. And I'm not reading for pleasure outside of those 5-10 minutes.
For example, I recently read a very fun and smart romantic comedy of average length (highly recommend Romantic Comedy by Curtis Sittenfeld!).
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But at my micro-dosing pace of 5-10 minutes per morning, I could barely remember the quirky neighbor character from Chapter 1 six weeks later when I finally finished the book. And I'm a fast reader!
I miss sinking into a book, all-in with no sense of time or place. That's what my empty nest fantasies promised! This isn't cutting it!
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So it is time for me to refresh my reading hack go-to's for this new phase of my life. There's nothing like public accountability and solidarity with 10,000+ friends. So before we dig into the list of new 2024 and 2025 book releases down below, here's my it's-on-the-internet-so-it-must-be-true declaration of what I'm going to try to get my reading mojo back (maybe some are useful for you too!).
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1. Put it on the calendar: If it's not on my calendar or to do list, frankly, it doesn't happen (unless it's scrolling tik-tok lol). The "time confetti" approach (reading while on hold with customer service, in the waiting room of the doctor, waiting in line) is amazing but I would savor some real flow too. I started with a 30 minute block yesterday.
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2. It all counts: I love print just as much as the next purist AND I am recommitting to be agnostic on medium—print, kindle, audio—because easier access to books means reading while steep walking on the treadmill or walking Cocoa in Central Park. And yes, my fellow purist friends, audiobooks count in my book!
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3. Invest in redundancy: Redundancy helps me maintain momentum. Getting both the audio + ebook or both the ebook + print versions doubles the chances I can dive in when the opportunity presents itself. It sounds decadent but on a dollar per hour of joy basis, this is still dramatically cheaper than other activities I love - like seeing a movie, going out for dinner, or getting drinks with friends (at least in NYC!). Plus, libraries are a thing, I have to remind myself!
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4. I am all about the gold stars: I am going to get back to tracking my reading on goodreads.com. I have kept up with adding books to my queue but miss that library-sticker-chart ego boost I get when I mark my progress. I may start the 2024 Reading Challenge now ... albeit towards the end of 2024!
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5. Parallel / Book Club Reading: Until my kids were 10 and 11, I read aloud to them every night and yes, you better believe I “counted” those books. We read 70+ meaty, substantive books including the entire “Little House” series, “Anne of Green Gables” series, “Wrinkle in Time” series, “My Side of the Mountain” series, “Mysterious Benedict Society” series, all the books of Christopher Paul Curtis, and many others. Maybe I'll see what they are reading at college and occasionally read in parallel so we can chat about it. Kinda book club-ish.
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Okay, hacks in hand, I've got plenty of new book releases to tell you about, many by or recommended by my fellow behavioral scientists or my amazing literary agent, Leila Campoli.
Have I read them all? Oh gosh, hardly. Will I read them all? Doubtful! Still, I love celebrating and sharing what's new. And the march of a million words begins with a single page.
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Here's to getting my reading mojo back!! If you have a hack or book that excites you, let me know at newsletter@dollychugh.com.
And, as always, my goal in this free newsletter is to share the journey, with a touch of science, on how to be more growth-y and good-ish. I bet there are some great past issues you missed - you can check out all of them right here for free. In fact, this issue is #50 woohoo!!
Feel free to share this issue with others and if you aren’t a subscriber, you can hit the subscribe button below. The next issue will be the annual November/December 2024 JOY ISSUE, always a crowd favorite!
Until then, breathe - read - vote.
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