So, I used to read a lot more. The last two years I’ve slowed down some, mostly because of some truly epic reading slumps. I’m kind of back on track right now, but I still have days where I just don’t want to read a book. Sometimes I want to read some fanfiction or just watch a movie.

This got me thinking about the pressure I feel to read every day and to read a lot every year. I wondered where that feeling comes from. And the answer is social media. I like to follow book YouTubers and Instagramers, because they give me ideas and it’s entertaining to watch other people’s reading journey. But they all read a hundred books a year or more, and often read 7 books a week if they push themselves. It’s not all of them, but if you get into BookTube, you’ll see the number of super readers on there far outpaces the normal paced readers.

I can’t do that, and yet I see them doing it, and I think I must do it too. I used to read about 50 books a year, but I have just not kept up with that. This year it will be around 20 or 22. And that’s fine. That is way more than most people read. It’s not going to win me the star on BookTube, but I’m not competing with them. It took me a while to realize that.

It’s okay not to read every day. It’s okay to have months where you don’t read a book at all. I know from experience that eventually I’ll get back to reading. For myself, I know that the more pressure I put on myself to read more, the less I actually end up reading. So, I just need to remove that pressure. Less BookTube for me, and I think I’ll be happier.