Driven to Distraction
My recent struggle with being a distracted reader
I used to read over 100 books a year. I would finish one book and move on to the next with no need for downtime. I would sometimes read one book and listen to a second one while I was driving. Reading was my break from real life and was very important to my mental health.
I noticed a drastic change when we were in the midst of the Covid lockdowns. I thought being a reader would make the lockdown a little easier. I even had a job where I could justify reading as work time. It should have been perfect. Instead, I found it harder and harder to focus on a book. I would get a book here and there that would hold my interest and keep me reading, but they became fewer and farther between.
I managed 71 books in 2020. Not a bad number, but way below my norm. Things got a little better in 2021. I read 89 books. Up from before, but down from my pre-lockdown numbers. 2022 is not going well at the moment. I set my goal on Goodreads at 75 books for the year and I’m already 4 behind schedule. Some of that can be attributed to the books I have chosen to read. I’ve read a couple of larger books and I’ve joined a book club where someone else is picking books for me to read. I am struggling with a book club book right now.
