Last year I realized that I was decompressing and relaxing by streaming tv shows. A lot of tv shows. But it wasn’t fulfilling.

I would be mid-show and think, I should be reading and in fact, I want to be reading. So I started to consciously read.

To do that, I first picked a book that was easy to get in to, if not necessarily cerebral. Then, I pre-selected a set of books

that I would look forward to reading and want to pick up to read right after I finished another book. I stacked the set of

four books on my bedside table for easy access. I gave myself a goal to read all four throughout the month. (I also tend

to read two books at a time which does help with the 30 day timeline!)

I even went so far as to post my monthly stack on my Instagram as an accountability of sorts.

Things were going well! I was reading – continuously. I was making time at the end of the day to settle in and read.

And…then I got a new job.

Yay!

But balancing a new job, my role as a maternal unit (as my daughter’s cell phone label for me says), volunteering,

and wife-ing, I reverted to the tv streaming.

I needed to just zone out.

But I kept the stack on my bedside table. Sometimes I made a dent in it and sometimes our occasional pet/housesitter

saw the same stack on the bedside table multiple times (and has kept my dirty little secret!).

On another note.

Reading (or attempting to) four books a month is a feat worth recording.

Take all the glory!

Check out these book tracking apps recommended by Bibliolifestyle!