I'm an almost 40-year old wife and mother of 2 growing kids. I have always enjoyed reading, and it remains a large part of who I am.
I'm at a point in my life where I am questioning what to do professionally. Right now I am a teacher and have been teaching for around 10 years. While I love my students, I am just burned out. During the last few years, reading has turned into a refuge for me from the stress of my job and motherhood. To help cope with the unhappiness I have in my career, I've decied to create a little side journey for myself by documenting my reading habits for a year. I plan to track and review everything I read for a year and keep a blog of it. I am hoping the blog will help hold me accountable for this endeavor. My goal is to use this reading quest to find out more about myself as well as discover amazing authors and titles to share.
Now for the important part... who am I as a reader? I have always identified as a reader. From a young age, I tried to prove myself by reading the biggest books in the kid section at the library, whether I liked the topic or not. I soon found myself attracted to books that could scare me. R.L. Stine became my go to author in middle school with his Fear Street series. In high school, I was introduced to Shakespeare and The Great Gatsby and fell in love with classic literature.
I began college with the idea of going into public relations. That lasted a whole quarter before I changed my major. I ended up deciding to major in English Literature with the intent of becoming a teacher. This move meant more reading and a focus on classic literature/poetry. I loved every bit of it. Working towards a Bachelors in English and eventually a Masters of Arts in Teaching, my reading was limited to class reading (I had plenty!).
After college, I tried to start my teaching career by subbing and eventually accepting my first job. My reading was almost non-existent during those first few years as I worked and became a mom. Eventually I received a Kindle as a gift and my reading took off again.
Reading became an escape for me from the stress of teaching and being a mom. I pretty much stuck with light stories that were easy to pick up whenever I had a chance. I either read romances with happy endings or suspense stuff that kept me reading to see who did it. Most of the stories were forgettable, but they gave me an escape for a hour or so in the evening (if I could stay awake).
As the years passed, I began really becoming unsatisfied with my job. All I wanted to do was read, talk about my reading, and write. I came up with the idea for a blog while I was driving to work one morning. It took me 3 more years, before I worked up the actual courage to try it. So here we are. Not sure what will happen but at least I'm trying.
