Reading Diaries #1 (being gentle to myself, getting back into reading & May reading journal)

 

Reading Diaries #1 

May 20th 2024 — May 31st 2024 

being gentle to myself, getting back into reading & May reading journal

Wanting to read more

| Monday, May 20th 2024 

I miss reading. I haven’t really been reading anything but the Bible these past few months. Since having eye issues last summer and currently I haven’t had the desire to read as much since it bugged my eyes. But I miss it. I miss reading (especially physical books). So I want to start reading again! 

Just today I finished reading Winnie-the-Pooh but I’ve been reading that off and on for almost two months. Yikes. 

I know I’m not going to (at the moment) get back to my “normal” pre eye issues reading speed. But I want to read more than before. 

So I want to challenge myself to get back into reading and document it (so I remember, lol). 

The goal: read more (at least one book preferably by the end of May) 

The tbr (I’ll be having multiple books on my tbr but that doesn’t necessarily mean I’ll read then all right now): 

1. A nonfiction book

2. A short book

3. An audiobook

4. A mystery or thriller (I’ve been wanting to read these again)

5. A summer book because it’s almost summer 

So my goal is to pick one book for each category and try *fingers crossed* to read at least one of them before May finishes up! 

I’ll pick out the books officially tomorrow! 

Picking the books 

| Tuesday, May 21st 2024 

So today I want to pick some books! I want to try and read at least one of these before the end of May. So I have about ten days to read a book! Can I do it??? 

As I said yesterday, I want to pick a book for five different categories and choose and hope around from there! Let’s get to picking! 

Nonfiction: 

• Automic Habits by James Clear 

• I started reading this book years ago. It was so interesting (the beginning *jaw drop*). But then I never got past the second chapter. I think I want to try reading this one again and it will be an easy one to pick up, read for a little, and go to another book if I wanted. 

Short Book: 

• C. S. Lewis letters to children

• I love C. S. Lewis’ work! This is a sweet short book I found at a local bookstore. It’s a collection of letters C. S. Lewis wrote to the children who would write to him about his stories (Narnia) and for advice! I’ve already read a handful of letters and they are all about a page long so this will again be an easy read. 

An audiobook: 

• The Windeby Puzzle 

• I really like Lois Lowry’s writing and this is a short 3 hour audiobook and was already available on Libby! Really the 3 hours is what got me to pick it, lol. 

A mystery or thriller: 

I was struggling on which book to pick. I only own a few mystery/thrillers. I’m only in the mood to read a book by two specific authors (I’ve already read those books I own) so I’m thinking maybe a reread. There is one book I don’t really remember the ending of and it’s about a podcaster so I think I’ll try that one! 

• Point of Danger by Irene Hannon 

A summer book: 

I also have been craving summer time books so there is a good chance I’ll reread one of these books that feel like summer! ☀️

*note: these books are not the most clean as far as language. There are a few curse words here and there (in my copies I’ve blocked out the words) but that is something to note. So I don’t fully recommend these books unless you are okay with the occasional bad word. 

• 100 Days or Sunlight by Abbie Emmons 

• The Blood Race by K. A. Emmons 

• Instant Karma by Marissa Meyer 

I’m also trying to do daily-ish reels on Pinterest as an experiment so I am posing lots of bookish and writing related content over there right now!! 

Check out my Pinterest here: https://pin.it/6DzJZKiAg 

The first day of summer   

| Friday, May 24th 2024 

Today my siblings are officially on their summer break so for us it is now summer! 

Today I finished reading Fighting Words by Ellie Holcomb! It’s a 100 day devotional and was so fun to read! I also started reading Atomic Habits by James Clear! It is so good so far and easy to read to pick up when I’m babysitting my youngest siblings during the day or when I’m outside. It’s a good book to read in snippets and even when I’m interrupted by my siblings it doesn’t throw off the story. It’s been really fun so far! 

Reading in the morning    

| Saturday, May 25th 2024 

Today, after finishing writing a chapter in my story I had extra time on my hands so I got back in my bed and started reading C.S. Lewis Letters To Children. I love that it opened up with a letter from Lewis’ stepson (who also worked on all the Narnia movies) and then went into a mini biography of Lewis’ childhood. One of my favorite parts was finding out about the house Lewis lived in when he was a kid that had an attic and all sorts of hidden passages and crawl spaces that became inspiration for The Magician’s Nephew. There was also a large carved wardrobe in the attic where he, his brother and cousin would hide away in and Lewis would tell stories which was the inspiration for The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe. I LOVE behind the scenes things like this! 

I am also starting to read anywhere from 3 to 7 picture books to my siblings each day to get them ready for nap time! I’ve been loving this and loving finding sweet books to read to them! 

Soon I think I might do a post on picture books I recommend for little ones 6 months old to 4 years old! 🫶🏼

Rest Day    

| Sunday, May 26th 2024 

Today was a resting day for me. It was nice to relax and enjoy the day. I got to go to a thrift store and find some cute clothes with my parents and youngest sister. I did some cleaning and got a bag full of things I wanted to give away. I still have stuff to do but I'll leave that for another day. 

I am about 37% done with C.S. Lewis: Letters To Children. It is so sweet and the perfect quick read. Each of the letters are a paragraph to a page or two long which makes it a breeze to go through. I’m learning so many things! If you love letters, are a writer, or love Lewis’ writing then I very much recommend reading this book! 

It’s 11:00 pm now so I’m off to bed (I stayed up WAYYYYY too late). Goodnight!! 😴

Finished a book and picking the next     

| Wednesday, May 29th 2024 

Yesterday I finished reading C. S. Lewis: Letters to Children! It was SO good! 5 star read! I have the review here: C. S. Lewis: Letters To Children review  

I’ll also be doing a whole post with reviews of my most recent reads coming up very soon! That should be fun! 

Today I’m deciding what fiction book I want to read. I was going to read Point Of Danger by Irene Hannon but I don’t know if I’m in a mystery/thriller mood right now so I may reread the one contemporary I own written by Irene Hannon or I’ll read one of the books on the summer list. 

Later that day…

I think I’ve decided to try reading One Perfect Spring by Irene Hannon. From what I remember it’s really sweet and has a slight mystery to it. I think I’ll read this before diving into a murder mystery. I’m wanting something sweet and lighthearted right now. 🥰

Being gentle to myself    

| Thursday, May 30th 2024 

Today I started my cycle and though I wasn’t in pain, I felt weak. Something I’ve been wanting to prioritize and be intentional with is being gentle to my body and giving myself time to heal and rest when my body needs it. I’ve also been learning more about the actual cycle your body goes through each month as a woman but that’s a topic for another post, lol. 

The bottom line is, I like to be productive and moving and push myself. Whenever I get on my cycle my body is weak and instead of giving myself time to rest I push myself and end up having daily meltdowns and increasing my pain. I want to get better at not doing this. 

So today I prioritized resting. I had my Bible time before anything else. I did some editing in the morning and let myself get up slower. Instead of my normal daily workouts, I took an hour long slow walk outside while listening to the audiobook of Christopher Robin (the book version of the live action Disney movie which is one of my all time favorite movies). That was so delightful. It was such a lovely day. 

Then I started watching Ryan Trahan’s 2022 penny series with my siblings today which was so fun. 🪙 

I started reading One Perfect Spring by Irene Hannon. This is the most I’ve read in a day in MONTHS!!! I’m about ⅔ of the way through (page 248 of 380). I haven’t done this much reading in…I don’t remember when. I’ve missed this! I’ve missed getting lost in a story and just wanting to keep flipping the page so I can see what happens next! This is a really sweet story so far. It has adoption, lighthearted mystery, sweet romance, second chances, flowers and lots of cute things! Whenever I finish *fingers crossed it’s tomorrow* I’ll have a review up on my goodreads! 😄

All the books I read in May    

| Friday, May 31st 2024 

I read eight books in May including books of the Bible!!! I have them listed below!

Question: do you count books of the Bible you read as a book for when you are counting how many books you read in a month/year or am I the only one???

🍓 1 Chronicles

🍓 2 Chronicles 

🍓 Ezra 

🍓 Nehemiah 

🪻 Winnie the Pooh 

🍓 Esther 

🪻 Fighting words 

🪻 C. S. Lewis: Letters To Children