Shan's Reading

A play on self-care, shelf-care is the concept of using books as a healing, wonderful restorative practice. Here’s how reading became my shelf-care.

My Pleasure-Reading Reading Rut

I used to devour books as a kid, but after entering college and grad school, I basically gave up pleasure reading. When I read, I felt like I had to “learn something” and I only read books related to my field. I think a lot of us get into this pattern: after going to university, we give up pleasure reading and have a hard time getting back to it. So I did read a fair amount, but nothing I tracked or nothing for pleasure. Reading scholarly books was a thing I “had to do.”

Getting on the Goodreads Train

After doing more reading during the pandemic in 2020, a good friend of mine suggested I try the app Goodreads. She said I could track my books, and scan the books I was always taking pictures of in local bookstores. I also was able to set my goal for the Goodreads reading challenge for 2021. I set it at 25, then 50, and like a game, Goodreads helped motivate me to read 125 books in 2021! I’ve been tracking my reading and bookish goals ever since.

It’s the Feeling, not the Number

Why did I read so many books? I think because reading has become one of my major forms of self-care. As a kid, I loved to escape to fantastical worlds and devour book series. As an adult, I had to give myself the permission to go back to that feeling. I still listen and read a lot of non-fiction, but I don’t limit myself strictly to that genre. Instead, I read whatever book genre I’m feeling including graphic novels, memoirs, rom-coms, fantasy, and cookbooks!

Sometimes our situation or the world around us can be overwhelming. That’s when I curl up with a good book – and get lost among the pages while learning something new. Do you also practice shelf-care? What’s your favorite genre to get lost within?