New Year, New You...?

I have always thought that the social media frenzy of “New Year, New You” posts to be annoying and doomed for failure. Why do people think that because the calendar flipped, we will all of a sudden wake up to be different people? I have found that anything that is a commitment that starts in a new year, new month, on a Monday is not really a commitment, it is a phase.

All that being said, on this January 1st, I will be starting something new. I, like many other people, tend to fall into the “too busy” trap. know I am not alone in this trap. Whether it is work, kids, partners, pets, or any of the millions of other commitments we all have in our lives, we are all completely booked. But taking time for ourselves is always important. Even if that time is only 20 minutes before bed to read.

For me, reading has always been a way to relax. A way to escape the day. I love nothing more than finding a book that I can read and become so engrossed in it that I lose track of time, even if that does mean that I am up until 2am reading “just one more chapter”. Even as a kid, I would do this. Hiding under my blankets with a book light, reading long after I was supposed to be asleep. I know now that there was no way I was fooling my parents, but to their credit, they never stopped me.

The challenge always is finding the next book to read. Like many book lovers, I have an endless stack of unread books on my shelf. Many of them were purchased on a whim. Because the back cover sounded interesting or more often than I would like to admit because to cover caught my eye. Yes, I do often judge a book by its cover (as a graphic designer, I will tell you that the cover is very important). But, these books will all get pushed to the side if I receive a personal recommendation for a book from someone. A book that has been endorsed by someone that also loves books always makes its way to the top of the pile.

That is where the inspiration for this blog came from. We are all so busy that sometimes the seemingly simple task of choosing what to read next is so daunting. My goal for this blog is to give short, simple reviews of books I (and maybe a few others) have read. Hopefully, they will help everyone to keep reading through their completely booked lives.

Happy New Year!

Jes