Feb 24

Feb 24 Books for 2022

Books are a special magic that you just can’t quite replicate with any other type of media.

Since I was very young, books functioned as an escape, a friend, a solace, a source of information, and anything else I needed most at the time. I could travel far away from a situation I didn’t want to be in and find myself on a whirlwind adventure, falling in love, or learning something new.

Though I’ve always been an avid reader, I definitely wouldn’t describe myself as someone who “devours” books. Nothing against the people who can zip through books at light-speed and have read many more books than I’ll probably read in my lifetime, but that’s just not my style. I prefer to savor my books. I like to have the same characters kicking around in my head for weeks at a time, rather than meet them and replace them over the course of a weekend. So, compared to others who also love to read, I’m probably pretty slow.

The stresses of adult life and the struggles of depression and anxiety, have held me back from reading as much as I used to. Some years I’ve been lucky to make it through a handful of books. Its just easier to scroll endlessly (and mindlessly) or binge watch a show. Though, that kind of media consumption always leaves me feeling more empty than fulfilled, like a tiny bit of my brain is melting away with each hour that’s lost.

So, for 2022 I want to try to hold myself just a teensy bit more accountable for the time I spend consuming media and instead of just grabbing for my phone or the remote, I want to embrace some silence and read a book. Thus, I created a book shelf tracker! I’ve been having a lot of success using habit trackers in my bullet-style journal (I should probably talk about that more at some point), so I wanted to carry that over here. I was inspired by a lot of adorable bookshelf trackers I saw online, but I wanted to create one for myself that felt more like me.

With every book I finish for 2022, I’ll update the tracker below and write up a quick review to go along with it. I haven’t decided the books in advance, but I’ll just choose them from my stash as they strike my fancy. I have piles of books sitting around just waiting to be read, so hopefully, amidst the chaos that is everyday life, I can fill in all these spines!