I will post how many books I read REGARDLESS of how you feel about it.
Because reading is a numbers game, you cannot convince me otherwise (says my IG feeds).
The Rant
Before I start this post, I want you to know that I did set a 2024 reading goal for myself this year. This is purely because I became addicted to one particular podcast this year (8,000 minutes is too long to spend with anyone shouting in your ear) and I need a numerical book goal to keep me away from that feed and into my audiobooks. I will not disclose which podcast this is no matter HOW much you want to know (unless you ask me, in which case I will happily blab for hours about it.)
Here is the thesis of this post: reading is not a competition.
I love to read. I always have. Hence my rebranded Substack, in which I will send you bi-weekly (probably weekly) updates on things I have read. This will mostly likely also include things I have consumed via other mediums, like TV shows and movies and yes probably TikToks.
The CCP knows a lot about recipes I want to cook. That is ok with me. I’d love their advice, honestly.
Not only do I love to read, but I’m currently working on teaching my kiddo to love to read. She does not currently know how to read (she is two) but right now she’s standing next to me as I type this, rifling through her “A Bug’s Life” picture book and babbling about Princess Dot and the “mean guy” (Hopper, the grasshopper. He’s truly terrifying.)
My mom did the same thing for me. Her very dedicated version of motherhood included taking us to the library once a week, where I would check out hoards of books and voraciously read in my bedroom for a week. Once, one of my friend’s dads yelled at me for reading too much when I was supposed to be playing with his daughter at a BBQ. I was a NERD (thanks mom, love you.)
Some kids are encouraged to read because their adults have the time, resources, wherewithal, mental health, access to a library, and/or funds to get them to do so. Kids of readers are much more likely to become readers themselves, and kids who read grow up to have better test scores, better mental health, and better income than those who don’t. Researchers are not sure if that is due to nature or nurture.
Other kids are not encouraged to read because their adults do not have the time, resources, wherewithal, mental health, access to a library, and/or funds to get them to do so. This lack of resources is systemic, and kids not learning to love to read is a self-perpetuating issue. Kids who do not grow up reading generally do not teach their kids to love reading. Researchers are not sure if that is due to nature or nurture.
One thing is clear: reading to your kid and in front of your kid is a good thing for them.
All that is to say that I believe in the power and importance of reading, not because I just happen to like reading, but because the research bears this out. But also… I just happen to like reading. I live a pretty standard life. Some would call it boring (me, sometimes.) I am not a change-maker. I am not a person in power. I wake up, do my job, raise my kiddo, enjoy my city, try to stomach reading the news, and pay my bills. Reading books is the way I stay connected to joy, magic and truth. It opens up what life could be. It’s fun and heartbreaking and powerful in ways that no other experiences can be. Reading is a connection point to things bigger than myself.
Artists will often say that creating for the sake of creating is enough. I say that reading for the sake of reading is enough, too. You may have read 276 books last year. You may have read one. And you know what?
Reading is not a numbers game. There are no awards. If you read and enjoy it, then that is enough. It’s enough for you, and it’s enough for the kids in your life who are looking up to you.
Read what you enjoy, read what fills you up. You’re not going to win an award if you read more than the person next to you. Conversely, you will not be punished if you read less. Just read, and keep reading. You’ll never run out of books, or chances.
Whether you obsessively reread (in my case, when I’m stressed out) or fly through 17 new books a month or you haven’t read a book in a long time but you’d like to try again - it’s all ok. It’s enough. A reader is a person who reads (you, right now.)
What I’ve Read/Listened To/Watched This Week That I Liked
This quote from Mark Twain: “I didn’t have time to write a short letter, so I wrote a long one instead.”
This book by Lisa Jewell: “Then She Was Gone” - Creepy, unsettling, weird twist, terrifying antagonist, gorgeous London neighborhoods.
This podcast by PJ Vogt: “Search Engine: Why Don’t We Eat People?” - When an adorable-sounding four-year-old with a scratchy voice comes into a podcast studio asking why we don’t eat people and expressing interest in eating the meat of a human head, you know you’re in for a ride. It’s less creepy than you think it’s going to be, and I’ve never seen someone dive so satisfyingly into the concept of taboo.
This TV show by Benny Safdie and Nathan Fielder: Episodes 1-9 of “The Curse” on Paramount+. There are moments in this show where you are begging yourself to look away, but you can’t, because the characters feel familiar in the worst way. I love Emma Stone and I hate Emma Stone and I really just want her outfits.
What I’ve Read/Listened To/Watched This Week That I Did Not Like
This book by Lisa Jewell: “Invisible Girl'“ - I’ve read too many Lisa Jewell books in the last month, and this is the last in a string that I’m going to pick up. I would have liked it if it was the first one I picked up. It is the seventh. The formula is making my head hurt.
This TikTok from overnightblowout: “Part 1 | Tutorial….” First of all, her technique didn’t work. Second, she spent such a long time explaining that you need to readjust the rods if they hurt. This is my very specific, very petty complaint from the week.
This TV show by Benny Safdie and Nathan Fielder: Episode 10 of “The Curse” on Paramount+. I put myself through intense but weirdly enjoyable discomfort for the first nine episodes because I heard rumblings that the last episode was brilliant. Maybe it was, maybe it just flew way over my head. Did not like it. Felt angry about the wasted 10 hours of my life. Art is a scam and whoever is telling you otherwise is probably Benny Safdie.
The Big Recommendation
The thing I’ve been thinking about this week, regardless if it is something I consumed recently or not.
This TV show by Phoebe Waller-Bridge: “Fleabag” on Amazon Prime. If you know me, you know I love this show. If you haven’t watched this show, you do not truly know me. This quote specifically haunts my recent TikTok plunges (as referenced in the above list):
“Hair is everything. We wish it wasn’t so we could actually think about something else occasionally. But it is. It’s the difference between a good day and a bad day. We’re meant to think that it’s a symbol of power, that it’s a symbol of fertility. Some people are exploited for it and it pays your f**** bills. Hair is everything.”
Love you. Drink some coffee for me, or read a book. Or both - they go really great together.
Love, Sam
This post makes me feel like I'm floating - maybe even orbiting the galaxy.
also loved the mark twain quote