Obviously I love to write. Why else would I have this blog that I don’t even get paid for? But even more than I love to write, I LOVE to read. My boss at this gym asked me this week what I was reading, and she said, “Whenever someone tells me that they don’t have time to read, I tell them about you. Because you’re the busiest person I know and yet you always have a book in your bag.” I felt pretty proud of that.

Yesterday was Read Across America Day, and in honor of that, I’m going to do a short series on my passion for books. First, about reading in general. Then, about how I can read in NYC. It’s a challenge. And finally, about Goodreads, which has changed my life and has opened my eyes to many, many, many more books.

Speaking of NYC, my constant reading is now a consequence of my V long subway rides (made longer every day by the nonfunctioning MTA), but it wasn’t always that way. I used to hate reading. In fact, my parents used to BRIBE me to read. With money. Granted it was only a quarter per book (change used to actually buy things back then!), but I used to have a chart in my room where I could put up a sticker every time I read a book. Clearly this led to some childish “cheating,” trying to figure out what the SHORTEST books were. Also, for some reason I loved reading books in series. Maybe it felt like less books because a lot of the characters were the same. The two different book series I remember clearly reading every one of was the Babysitter’s Club and Nancy Drew. I loved Nancy Drew. But never Hardy Boys. EW BOYS. COOTIES. I truly believe my Nancy Drew addiction blossomed into my later-in-life Law and Order SVU addiction. Sort of similar (looking at you, Detective Benson).

A lot has changed since my early days of reading bribery. For example, the store where I got my books doesn’t even exist anymore! RIP Borders. I went through a very long “sick-lit” phase where the only books I read were about people dying. I knew more about cancer and brain tumors than 99% of healthy 12-year-olds. I remember every Monday night, going to Borders for my brother to play chess with the old men in the café (this really happened), and I would scour the back of the store for a new book by Lurlene McDaniel. Literally every single book she wrote, I read. According to her Wikipedia, she has written more than 70. I had favorites. I had favorite diseases. I think I was sick, myself. Mentally. But my mom never complained, she was just happy I was reading without her shelling out a quarter per book for me.

I don’t read exclusively sicklit anymore, but I do have some favorite authors, and some of them do love sicklit. Every author in this paragraph, I’ve read every book by them. And if they have new books coming out soon, I already have a hold on their books at the library. First there’s Lisa Genova, who writes almost exclusively about illness, but in a more neuroscience-y way (graduated valedictorian, summa cum laude from Bates College with a degree in Biopsychology and has a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Harvard University… she’s pretty smart). You probably know her book, Still Alice, because it was made into an award-winning movie with Julianne Moore. And then of course another brand of literature I eat up… anything sad and terrible. Enter, Jodi Picoult. She writes about suicide, and school shootings, and racism. It’s too much to handle for some people, but I just love it. I listened to her most recent book, Small Great Things, on audio on my phone, because the wait list for the paper version was too long and I just HAD to hear it right away. There were at least 10 times where I was walking down the street or sitting on the subway with a steady stream of tears down my face. Then there is the new-comer to the scene, Liane Moriarty. You probably also know her because of the HBO series made from her book, Big Little Lies, with Reese Witherspoon, Nicole Kidman, Shailene Woodley and Laura Dern. I mean, come on, to get a cast like that, obviously the book was amazing. That was not even my favorite book of hers. I have many other favorites. I love chicklit in general, and I think 90% of the books I read are written by women. Jennifer Weiner, Lisa Scottoline, you name it, I’ve read them all. This year, I am keeping track of the gender of the authors I read in my bullet journal. I’ll keep you posted. If you follow me on Goodreads, you will be up-to-date with all of the books on my shelves, but more on that later this week.

My newest goal this year is to read more non-fiction. I had a head-start last year with a few comedian memoirs (Amy Schumer, Jessi Klein, Mindy Kaling, Lauren Graham), and then some heavier ones (Forty Million Dollar Slaves, F*cked: Being Sexually Explorative and Self-Confident in a World That’s Screwed). Currently, I am reading the KWEEN, Hillary Rodham Clinton’s book, What Happened, and I love it so much. I have some other great feminist reads lined up like Shrill, Hunger, and Lean In. I can’t wait to read them all. But I’ll probably space them out with chicklit in between. Gotta keep it light. It’s heavy enough just to open Twitter nowadays.

That brings me to my next point… why I like to read. I love stories. I like to tell them, I like to hear them, and I love to read them. They are an escape. I recently started reading Young Adult novels occasionally because they are a great escape. The subject matter is sometimes heavy, but they are quick, easy reads, and they are a good respite from heavier reads like the non-fiction I just wrote about. My absolute favorite YA book from last year is The Hate U Give, about a young girl whose best friend is killed by a police officer. Not a light topic. HIGHLY recommend. It was also the Goodreads 2017 Choice winner for both YA book and debut author.

Books also give you a chance to learn. Especially after finishing school, which took 3 years too long – thanks law school, I feel like books are the main way to learn something new. Whether it’s a word you never heard before, or something about a disease (sicklit!), or a chance to empathize with a character you never knew you could identify with, it is an opportunity to go outside of yourself. After three years of law school, reading mostly school books, cases, and case notes because I didn’t have time to read the full case, it is a breath of fresh air to get to choose the reading material. That is not to say, however, that I never read anything amazing in law school. One book comes to mind, Is There No Place on Earth for Me? by Susan Sheehan, Robert M. Coles. That book was assigned as part of a Mental Health and the Law class, about a teenager who became schizophrenic and spent 17 years in and out of mental institutions. It taught me about history, schizophrenia, New York deinstitutionalization, and about the emotions of a person with mental illness. I would recommend it to anyone.

People often ask me how I find books, or how I decide what to read next. Honestly, I read anything I find interesting. That may change from day to day. I use my mom as my personal librarian. She is an active member of four books clubs. If you think I read a lot, you should talk to her! She has been keeping a journal of her books, with reviews and ratings, for decades. We have similar taste in books, so she is always recommending books to me. I don’t use a paper journal (although I do keep my stats in my bullet journal), but every time she recommends something, I put it on my to-read shelf on Goodreads. More on that later this week. Speaking of Goodreads, that’s another way I find books. Also, social media and the good old New York Times best seller list. Something I am DYING to read is An American Marriage, about the toll a falsely accused husband’s incarceration takes on a young married couple, which debuted on the best seller list. It’s also an Oprah’s Book Club Selection (another way I pick books). I’m on the wait list at the library for it.

I use books for different purposes, and one of them is just to kill time. As I mentioned, I have very long subway rides. It’s the best time to read uninterrupted. Although it’s often interrupted. More on that later this week when I tell you about the challenges of reading in NYC! Stay tuned.

Do you have any favorite authors or books? Leave them in the comments, I’m always looking to add more to my shelves.