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The Start of My Reading Journey
I wasn't interested in reading until about the 3rd grade. I went to my scholastic book fair, and picked up a book series called Percy Jackson and the Olympians. This series completely kickstarted my love and appreciation for reading. A new Rheannyn was born. It was, still is, and perhaps always will be my favorite books ever. -
Reading Whatever I Could Get My Hands On
At this stage in my life, my love for reading had no bounds. I read whatever I could get my hands on, and I read it over and over again. The range was from my favorite regular books, to my sheet music books for my keyboard, to the back of dictionaries, the women's health book my mom gave me, even my child bible (despite not necessarily being super religious). I spent most of my free time reading. I spent as much of my time as I could sitting on my bedroom floor, book in hand. -
The Sci-Fi/Dystopian Books Phase
This is my middle school reading phase, which still took up a lot of my time. In this phase of reading I read mostly, if not exclusively, sci-fi/dystopian fiction books. The Hunger Games, The Divergent Series, The Maze Runner, The Legend Trilogy, Enders Game, etc. I feel like a lot of teenagers around me were just as obsessed as I was with these kinds of books, as they were very popular at the time, which was great for me. I loved talking about my love for these books with my friends. -
Reading to Cope
I had always read in my childhood as a sort of coping mechanism. I loved to read because it kept me quiet, to myself, and I wasn't doing anything wrong by reading. I could escape my surroundings, and the more a book did this for me the better. It helped me escape my unhappy family surroundings, no matter where I was. As long as I had a book, I could get away. My love for reading was always slightly inspired by the need to keep quiet/escape. This (mostly) lasted until my parents divorce in 2014. -
Wattpad/Kindle Phase
This was a phase of life when I wasn't ready to give up reading as something I could do all the time. However, I was beginning to fill my time with other responsibilities, hobbies, and school activities. This was my freshman/sophomore year of high school timeline. I wanted books to always be available to me, should I feel the urge to want to read. So I turned to reading apps, like wattpad and kindle. -
Reading For School
This is the Junior/Senior years of high school. I got a job, a lot more friends, and filled by time with as many school activities as I could take on, and I was having fun doing it. I was also determined to do well in school, which required a lot more time and effort then it used to. Reading as a hobby was less common, and I started reading more so as a requirement for school. It was still great to be reading, it just wasn't like it used to be, when I did it exclusively for fun (or coping). -
Fading Away From Reading
This lasted most of my earlier adulthood life. I graduated high school, got my own apartment, started college, and partied and made friends. I still read, but it was much less often. I appreciated reading, but from a little more of a distance. I also lost the idea of what I actually enjoyed reading. I grew out of the young adult books phase, but didn't know where to pick up again. Reading was still important to me, but I didn't prioritize it. -
A Few Year Break
This is the phase of life when I was just doing other things and reading wasn't on my mind at all. I was taking a break from college too, so it wasn't even a requirement to read anymore. I was working 2-3 jobs, traveling a lot, focusing on friends, and finding other interests. These things kept me busy and tired, and I just didn't have the desire to read. I still missed and loved reading, but admittedly I didn't know if I would ever get back into it again at the time. -
The Love Returns
Eventually, my life started to mellow out a little. I got back to working one job (for the most part), I moved back into my dads house to avoid apartment prices, and I was still on a break from school. I had more time to do what I enjoyed. I always wanted to get back into reading, the reality was that it still kind of felt like work to me, Then, I was wasting too much time on my phone. I felt the need to do better then that. I became obsessed with reading again, and the love re-blossomed! -
Current Day
I am clearly back in school and I have filled my time with many new hobbies and responsibilities lately. Thankfully I still love reading to help me get away. I have a hard time committing to longer books, it takes me longer to finish a book then it used to, and I can't force myself to finish a book I don't like. But I always make time for it in my life, and I am grateful to have rediscover the love. Reading always has a special place in my heart no other hobby will ever be able to take.
