#BacklistBinge Giveaway

To celebrate the #BacklistBinge we’re doing a giveaway! Each of us picked one of our favorite backlist titles and two lucky subscribers will get to win the book of their choice. The giveaway starts now and runs to June 21st 6pm EST!

Katie’s pick

Ladies, I have to admit that I’m a total sucker when it comes to a good book that focuses on food or what I’ve lovingly termed “foodie fic.” There is something deliciously feel-good when it comes to reading about bubbling pots of stews and glowing bouquets of asparagus. That’s why I want to share my quintessential foodie fic read, Kitchens of the Great Midwest, with you.

The story centers around Eva Thorvald, a culinary wunderkind who “finds solace and salvation in the flavors of her native Minnesota.” You will watch Eva grow from a precocious home cook to the famous chef behind the nationally acclaimed pop up dinner club.Told in a series of vignettes that will make you feel as though you’re watching a more decadent version of He’s Just Not That Into You with the flare of Top Chef, Kitchens will have you savoring each morsel of the story till the very last bite. It’s the kind of book that pairs well with food, especially if you’re willing to make Pat Pragar’s award-winning peanut butter bars.

Kait’s pick

I may have a slight obsession with Caitlin Moran and I think you will to after you read How to Build Girl. Moran captures the brilliant inner voice of a teen girl trying to find herself. I love a good teen coming of age story.

As a former angsty teen, I couldn’t help but relate to Johanna Morrigan, our 14-year-old main character. After publicly shaming herself, Johanna creates a persona known as Dolly Wilde which allows her to let down her inhibitions. By sixteen she is smoking cigarettes, getting drunk with rock stars, and has proclaimed herself a Lady Sex Adventurer. This is not your squeaky clean YA novel. I fell in love with Johanna’s struggle on her journey of self-discovery where she finds out sometimes the person you’re born as is often the best version of yourself.

Want to win a copy of one of these books? Be subscribed to the blog and leave a comment on this post with the name of the book you’d like to win.

For extra entries head on over to our Instagram @littressblog for more chances to win!

Disclosure: You must be 18 years or older or have the permission of a parent or guardian to enter. The giveaway is for U.S. Residents only. This giveaway is not affiliated with WordPress or any other companies.

Is This Classic Lit? LIVE STREAM!

Hey, Littresses! We’re excited to announce the soft launch of a new monthly live stream called Is This Classic Lit? Each Month, we’ll be reading a book from the classic literature canon and giving you our no-nonsense opinion about whether we think this classic is lit (or not so lit). This is no academic lecture – we’re just here to talk about great books in literature and give you our take on them.

For our first live steam, we will be reading Daphne Du Maurier’s REBECCA, a nail-biting romance suspense novel and a favorite among our book readers over on Instagram. Our live steam will be on June 21st at 7:30 pm. To access the steam, visit http://bit.ly/classiclitlive.

We’d love to get your feedback during the session to talk ideas as we work on polishing our format. Make sure to chat with us in the live steam, or send us a DM on our Instagram!

#BacklistBinge Recommendations from @oxfordjanebooks

For #backlistbinge! Here are some books that Monica from @oxfordjanebooks recommends:

A River Runs Through It by Norman Maclean is one of my favorite books of all time! Set in Montana in the 1920’s Norman writes about fly fishing and about the beautiful Montana landscape, but mostly he writes about those we love and fail miserably to help. It is a beautiful, sometimes funny, heartbreaking story. (published in 1976)

Idaho by Emily Ruskovich is told through the voice of Wade’s second wife. We come to understand how Wade’s first family shattered into pieces. The center of this story is the tragedy, yet the story is also about human memory–what we hold onto, what is taken from us, what we try to construct, and, maybe most importantly, what we let fall away. This book will keep you thinking for days after you finish it. It is different and really good. (published in 2017)

Piece of Mind by Michelle Adelman is a well-crafted, thought-provoking and, in the end, uplifting story with a lead character that we almost never read about. Lucy suffered a traumatic brain injury as a young child. For those of you that want to hear different voices in literature, put this on your list! Lucy is a marvelous character. You will be rooting for her. And her voice may nudge you to see others in a gentler, more accurate light. (published in 2016)

Happy Reading!

Have you completed any of the #BacklistBinge Challenges? Tell us in the comment below. Don’t forget to tag @littressblog on Instagram with #BacklistBinge so we can see all your posts!

Books to Read During #BacklistBinge

Last week, we excitedly announced our #BacklistBinge reading challenge for the month of June! If you missed last week’s post (you can read the whole thing here), Backlist Binge is a reading challenge dedicated to readers grabbing pre-2018 titles off the shelf of the library, bookstore, or home library and checking it off your TBR. This challenge is meant to inspire book discovery in the way many of us remember growing up and sharing some hidden gems that get lost in the midst of amazing new titles.

However, if you’re a little unsure what to pick up this month, Kait and I are sharing some books we’ve read over the past few years and absolutely loved! They are all, obviously, pre-2018 and books we are passionate about.

Kait’s Picks

The Fifth Season by N. K. Jemisin – Holy fantasy, Batman! This is book one of the Broken Earth trilogy that doesn’t get enough love on social media. If you are a lover of fantasy, you will love N.K. Jemisin’s masterful world building. The book opens with Essun, a woman living an ordinary life, mourning the death of her son, who was murdered by her husband, and her daughter who was kidnapped by him. Essun sets off in a dying landscape that is plagued with seismic activity to find her daughter. She is one badass lady who you will keep you engaged.

How to Build a Girl by Caitlin Moran – As a former angsty teen, I couldn’t help but relate to Johanna Morrigan, our 14-year-old main character. After publicly shaming herself, Johanna creates a persona known as Dolly Wilde which allows her to let down her inhibitions. By sixteen she is smoking cigarettes, getting drunk with rock stars, and has proclaimed herself a Lady Sex Adventurer. This is not your squeaky clean YA novel. I fell in love with Johanna’s struggle on her journey of self-discovery where she finds out sometimes the person you’re born as is often the best version of yourself.

The Heart’s Invisible Furies by John Boyne – This book wrecked me. If you missed picking this up last year, there is no time like the present. Born out of wedlock in the 1940s, Cyril Avery is put up for adoption and finds himself in a family that meets his basic needs but not much else. The book follows Cyril over his lifetime trying to live in a society that will not accept his sexuality. It’s a book that will make you both laugh and cry but mostly cry. A lot.

Katie’s Picks

Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy – This would not be a book recommendation list from me it if it didn’t have at least on YA title on it. Part romance, part bramance, and a whole hell of a lot of fantastic discussion surrounding fat culture, Dumplin’ is literally like eating a dumpling – delicious till the last bite. Our starlet is Willowdean Dickson, chunky teen that works at a greasy fast food joint while salivating over fry cook (and ever so delicious) Private School Bo. The daughter of the beauty queen of the county, Willowdean feels like she can never make her mother happy and is tired of not feeling confident in her own skin. With a Dolly Parton tune as her call to arms, Willowdean decides to enter the local beauty pageant and prove once and for all that Freddy Mercury was right in saying “big girls you are beautiful.”

Crazy Rich Asians by Kevin Kwan – There is something about summer that just screams for books that are a bit more lighthearted and with a new movie adaptation coming out in August (cue my audible screams of excitement), there is no better time to pick up the first book in the Crazy Rich Asians trilogy. Reading this series is as close to that $1,000 gold sundae as you’ll ever get (unless, you know, you have one-thousand bucks to spend on that kind of insanity). Filled with lots of romance and family relationships, this book is ultimately an intimate look at the gaudy lifestyles of Singapore’s insanely rich. This book is absolutely crazy.

The Snow Child by Eowyn Ivey – While a book about the rugged and cold terrain of Alaska might not seem an obvious choice amidst the summer heat, one might argue this is the perfect book to cool you down. A stunning retelling of a popular fairy tale, the snow child is quiet in its beauty and brimming with beautiful imagery. Centered around a barren middle-aged couple who transplant to the Alaskan wilderness, we see the pair of lovers decide to build a small child made of snow as they yearn for one of their own. Their wish come true when they find their small snow child has come alive the next day. The book moves swiftly, creating a full cast of enthralling characters. This is the kind of book you long to linger with – just make sure to enjoy it before it melts.

Have some recommendations you’d like to share? Tell us in the comment below. Don’t forget to tag @littressblog on Instagram with #BacklistBinge so we can see all your posts!

Littress #BacklistBinge Reading Challenge

It’s almost June and, as promised, we are back, baby! Not only do we have the summer months jammed packed with great posts about reading culture, but we’re excited to announce that we’re making the month of June all about reading those forgotten pre-2018 titles with our #BacklistBinge challenge!

For the month of June, we making it a challenge to set down our trendy reads for the month and go back to our roots of discovering timeless classics, connecting with readers, booksellers, and librarians about books they loved (and we might love too), and reconnect with the joy that comes from perusing books in the stacks in hopes of finding serendipity. That means from June 1st to June 30th, we’re going to try to read as many pre-2018 titles as possible. Plan your month to exclusively read backlist titles or vow to incorporate more into your monthly #TBR. You’re #BacklistBinge plan is up to you. Just make sure to share your backlist reads by tagging @littressblog or #BacklistBinge on Instagram so we’re sure to see those posts (and share them with our readers, too)!

To help kick things off right, we’ve put together our #BacklistBinge challenge to help inspire you. Think of these as prompts to get you thinking outside the frontlist catalogs. There’s no pressure to finish them all. Just have fun with getting lots of backlist reading accomplished!

Want to print off our challenge list so you can keep track of which challenges you’ve accomplished? Click here for the printable version of the #BacklistBinge reading challenges.

If you decide to join us make sure you tag us @littressblog and use #BacklistBinge on all your social media posts so we can see what you read! Make sure to sign up to get our weekly posts sent straight to your inbox by signing up here.

Ask Me About My Chronic Ilness: How Female Authors are Tackling Gender Disparity in Medicine

By Molly Thibault

Do you know someone who identifies as a woman who also has a chronic illness? Maybe your mother, or your sister, or your friend? Perhaps an aunt or a colleague? What about yourself? Statistically speaking, you answered ‘yes’ at least once because many, though not all, chronic illnesses affect women disproportionately more than men. For instance, three-fourths of the approximately 37 million people with autoimmune disorders in the U.S. are women, 1 in 10 women have endometriosis, and three out of every four people with migraine are women. Despite the fact that so many women experience chronic health conditions, the gender gap in medicine and society at large results in the constant dismissal and mistreatment of women’s pain and illness.

I have been a woman with chronic illness since I was 15. Through high school, college, and now into my twenties, I have learned to navigate spaces and institutions that fail to accept, understand, or accommodate people whose bodies function in an ‘abnormal’ way. This experience has been both emotionally and physically challenging, and has resulted in feelings of isolation and otherness. However, I am grateful to have found understanding and community in a variety of places, including in books.

2018 has brought a diverse selection of narratives written about chronic illness. Four particular books, all works of nonfiction written by women living with chronic illness, provide a variety of perspectives on the dynamic between women, illness, and society. While I sometimes find it difficult to see aspects of my own experiences with illness in the stories of others, I have also found it comforting to read such narratives and know that I am not alone. These stories serve to educate and connect, and I believe it is vital to share them both with those who can relate to them, as well as with those who can learn from them.

If you are interested in a memoir about one young woman’s relentless fight to make doctors believe in her pain, read Ask Me About My Uterus: A Quest to Make Doctors Believe in Women’s Pain by Abby Norman. Norman’s debut delves into her experience of being diagnosed with endometriosis as a student at Sarah Lawrence College and then spending the remainder of her 20s fighting for adequate treatment and understanding despite her worsening health. The story also discusses Norman’s traumatic childhood, for which I would give a content warning for disordered eating and child neglect, which some readers may find upsetting. Both aspects of Norman’s personal story – the physical trauma and the emotional trauma – are complemented by a discussion of the social and historical context of how women and their pain have been dismissed by society and medicine for centuries. Though at times grim, Ask Me About My Uterus is an encouraging and admiral story of strength and resilience.

Another chronic illness memoir is Sick by Porochista Khakpour, which will be released in June 2018. Though I’ve yet to finish this book, what I’ve read thus far has been a beautifully written and painfully honest telling of Khakpour’s experience of life-long illness, which was eventually identified as late-stage Lyme disease. Khakpour discusses the traumas of her past, including fleeing Tehran as a child during the Iranian Revolution, experiencing drug use, sexual assault, and abusive relationships as a college and graduate student, and beginning the long and difficult journey of finally having her severe health problems diagnosed. Though not an easy read, Sick is a raw and eloquent telling of one woman’s attempt to survive in a body that has “never felt at east.”

If you are looking for a book that utilizes personal narrative and social science research to discusses the unique challenges of being a young, chronically ill woman, try Michele Lent Hirsch’s Invisible: How Young Women With Serious Health Issues Navigate Work, Relationships, and the Pressure to Seem Just Fine. In this debut, Lent Hirsch uses narratives of her own and others’ experiences with several medical conditions to open a dialogue about how many ‘typical’ aspects of being a woman are often complicated by life-altering health issues. Though this book is less personal than the previous two memoirs and is informed by sociological research, it remains very accessible to audiences of all kinds. Additionally, this book covers an array of diagnoses, from cancer to HIV to autoimmune disorders and beyond. I am incredibly appreciative of this book and felt both empowered and comforted to see a number of my own experiences and anxieties about being a young woman with chronic illness reflected back at me in the stories Lent Hirsch shares.

Finally, Doing Harm: The Truth About How Bad Medicine and Lazy Science Leave Women Dismissed, Misdiagnosed, and Sick by Maya Dusenbery is perhaps the least personal but most comprehensive and hard-hitting of these four books. Dusenbery examines how gender bias is embedded in every level of modern medicine and healthcare, and how this widespread and festering bias results in the mistreatment and misdiagnosis of women. Whereas the previous books rely heavily on the personal narratives, Dusenbery’s is full of ethnographic, scientific and sociological research. Though dense, this book is groundbreakingly insightful and informative and provides readers – chronically ill and otherwise – a lense through which to understand the treatment of women in modern medicine.

Thank you to Beacon Press, Nation Books, and Harper Perennial for providing copies of Invisible, Ask Me About My Uterus, and Sick for review.

Want to see what else Molly is reading? Make sure to follow her on Instagram @readmollyread! Have you read any books about gender disparity in medicine that you’d like to tell us about leave us a comment below or tag us @littressblog on instagram and twitter or by using the #littressblog!

Brazen Blazes into New Territories

by Katie Male

When I think back to the feminist icons of my childhood, I quickly recall the days admiring women like Austen, Alcott, and Montgomery. While I (and many others) acknowledge them as advocates for the feminist movement, we do not think of them as being exactly loud about it (although I’m sure Austen would have given a cutting glare to any misogynist standing in her midst).

Brazen is exactly what the titles says it is: a bold compilation of stories about badass ladies who lived their lives shamelessly. This is the kind of book I needed as a teenager, a book that explored the complexity of feminist issues while telling it in a simple, accessible manner that would have made me swoon. Topics move between the artistic, political, and social spaces, and while they might be considered boring to the iGeneration, Penelope Bagieu finds a way to make these international women relatable and compelling.  

Using limited color palettes and simple line drawings, our Brazen women span from the Las Mariposas sisters of the Dominican Republic to Tove Jansson, the creator of the Moomin trolls, to (my personal favorite) Annette Kellerman. The true beauty of this work is that Bagieu decides to pick outside-of-the-box choices for her subjects, women that might be overlooked by mainstream media, giving the reader the chance to meet women that have been kicking butts and taking names since before baby Jesus.

Bagieu doesn’t shy away from dealing with some of the more difficult aspects of some of these women’s stories. Many face sexual abuse, assault, rape or domestic violence, but Bagieu treats the topics with respect while considering the age of her intended audience.

The book also does well at selecting Brazen women comes from different backgrounds including their race, sexual orientation, ethnicity. If there was one fault with Brazen, it was that while the book tackles a variety of topics very well, there was no discussion about brazen women of spirituality (like Mata Amritanandamayi or Mother Teresa). I would have like to see a least one female from any spiritual background included in the work to fully fill it out, but at the end of the day, it’s a small complaint.

While authors of my favorite fictional characters will always have a special place in my heart, there’s something about having a book that possesses stories about real women that accomplished some crazy cool stuff. Congrats to Elizabeth for wooing Darcy and Anne-with-an-e for slapping that chalkboard over Gilbert Blythe’s head, but it’s nice to know, at the end of the day, that we can look up to ladies who blazed a path for us to make our own incredible stories.  

Enjoyed this review? Comment below with other titles you would like to see reviewed on the Littress blog or share it on Instagram or Twitter using #littressblog!

#ShowUsYourShelfie: @Kaitbattista Edition

The concept is simple: we’re asking some of your favorite readers to share their bookshelves with us, give us a glimpse at their reading life behind the scenes, and maybe get a little personal. Up first? Co-founder of Littress Blog herself, Kait Battista.

1)    How do you organize your shelves?

The short answer is I don’t! Don’t judge me fellow bookworms.  It’s just my personality. I have accepted I am a disorganized person who has books in literally every room of my house. My poor boyfriend can attest. I’m the type of person who always wants to be organized, goes through the tedium of doing so, and then fails at follow through.  One of my dear friends (Leah, if you are reading this, I am sorry) went through the trouble of organizing my bookshelf by color, but I just couldn’t keep up with it.

However, I feel like because I don’t take the time to organize, I feel like my reading life is more spontaneous. I can close my eyes run my fingers along the spines and pick my next read at random. Also as a book hoarder re-organizing over and over again every time I splurge is stressful.

 

2)    What are you currently Reading?

I am reading a few things actually. I am listening to Tangerine by Christine Mangan on audiobook. And, then I am physically reading the Odyssey, translated by Emily Wilson and Aetherial Worlds by Tatyana Tolstaya. I’ve had commit issues with my books recently.

3)    Hardcover or paperback?

Why did we create this question, Katie? It’s like choosing between mint chocolate chip and cookie dough. I know they both taste delicious, but some days I want Mint chocolate chip and others I just want cookie dough.

There is nothing better than the weight of a hardback book in your hands when curled up on the couch. But have you ever tried to ride the subway while standing and reading a 500-page hardback? That’s just a recipe for a hand cramp. I am also open to any tips on how to avoid this. (Is there a boot camp for training hand muscles?)

4)    If you could bring only one book on an island what would it be?

Seriously? I am a book nerd. I could barely pick my top five let alone one. Who even made these questions? Oh, yeah, right. Me! God I am a jerk. But enough avoiding the subject. Does a Harry Potter Box set count as one book? If not, then the Complete Works of William Shakespeare. Cause that sucker is huge and hits all my genre needs. Love, Comedy, Tragedy, etc.

5)    How many books do you own?

480. Oh dear God, I am never moving. Also, I didn’t really discriminate on the different types. My boyfriend really like instructional books and I have a fairly sizable collection of photo books from when I used to sell Art. I swear I am not a hoarder. Please don’t judge me, even though I know you are because I totally am judging myself right now. Also not all are pictured.

6)    Do you have a favorite shelf?

Nope, that would require organization and that is something we already established I don’t do. I do have a favorite bookcase. It’s the one I am showing you because it’s the most organized and cutest, I also have three others.

7)    Tell us an interesting or fun story about a book you own?

I don’t know if this classify as interesting or fun, but its super sappy. When I was nine my mom passed away abruptly. My fourth grade teacher at the time was so sweet (Hi, Mrs. Anderson!). She gave me a copy of A Light In the Attic by Shel Sliverstein with an inscription in it (side note: I love finding books with inscriptions in them at used bookstores). It made me feel cared for at a really terrible time in my life and inspired me write terrible nine-year-old stories and poetry. Thanks, Mrs. A! Don’t worry, I am still working on that book I promised you!

Do you want your shelfie to be featured on the Littress Blog?  Send us a DM @littressblog on instagram or an email, littressblog@gmail.com. Or just wanna #ShowUsYourShelfie? Make sure you let us know by tagging us in a post on Instagram using @littressblog and #ShowUsYourShelfie!

5 Literary Podcasts Hosted by Females

by Katie Male 

Ah, podcasts. Like slowing sipping on a chai tea latte, literary podcasts are liquid gold for the ears. My personal opinion is there is no better way to treat yourself at the end of a long work day than hanging out with your virtual gal pals, talking books. It really makes the commute home, oh so sweet.

Two weeks ago, I shared some of my best tips on how to discover new books to read, and I want you to think of this as part two to my book discovery article. There are just too many great bookish podcasts hosted by bad-ass ladies out there to not have a whole article dedicated to the subject. These podcasts cover a wide variety of tastes, some focusing more on commercial fiction, some dedicated to high-brow lit. Hopefully, there’s a choice that meets everyone’s audio needs.

Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls
That’s right – the highly acclaimed bedtime storybook for young women is getting its own production in the form of 20-minute episodes. Each includes a story from the popular volumes by the same title, with stories ranging from Jane Goodall to Beyonce and enhanced through music and sound affects that will draw you right in. This podcast is great for all our Littress mamas out there or even the ladies who are young at heart. With lyrical narrators, Goodnight Stories for Rebel Girls is the perfect podcast to listen to before bedtime so you can have sweet dreams of empowering ladies.

By the Book
Fans of comedy and skeptics of the ever-popular self-help genre, rejoice! Here to help us navigate the tricky world of which NYT bestselling diet, organizing, relationship advice book are Jolenta Greenburg and Kristen Meinzer. This podcast is part-comedy, part-podcast reality TV, and part-book review. In each episode, this duo picks one self-help book to read, live by the rules of the book for two weeks, and then report back to viewers how it did (or didn’t) help them. From The Subtle Art of Not Giving A F**K to the Five Love Languages, these ladies are taking no prisoners (except their significant others who they frequently tape while in the process of living “by the book”). Forget about the gym because your abs will get a workout from all the side-splitting humor.

Reading Women
Reading Women is probably the podcast that fits the bill for everything I want out of a listening experience: book based, BFF hosts, and all about ladies. Kendra and Autumn are two good friends that met during graduate school and have taken on the task of “reclaiming half the bookshelf” by discussing books by or about women.

The beauty of this podcast is its aim hits right in the middle of providing some critical texts to explore while talking about what’s happening in mainstream publishing. The topics discussed are vast – ranging anywhere from middle grade fiction, to female authors in translation, to women in mythology. The podcast also dedicates time to examine a variety of books during the span of an episode as well as chatting with some of our favorite (or soon to be favorite) authors.

Reading Women also provides a shortlist for both fiction and nonfiction writing that culminates in the annual Reading Women Award. Both awards lists are chocked-full of substantial texts – these are not the kind of books  you take to the beach. However, if you’re looking to expand your worldview or explore timely topics, these lists are a great guide to use when putting together your TBR.

Literary Friction
Apparently friendships born out of a mutual love of books is a great way to find the perfect hosting duo for any bookish podcast. Produced monthly, BFFs Carrie and Octavia sit down to chat with authors, women (and men) who work in publishing industry, and other persons of interest. Each show surrounds a singular theme, whether it’s “resistance to coastlines to corpses” (their own words).

This is the kind of show that airs a little more on the high-brow side of things and is definitely perfect for any massive fans of British and European writers, since one-half of the duo is, you know, British (hence the accent). With calm voices and amiable guests, this podcast articulates bookish topics in a smart but accessible way, making you feel like you should (finally) pick up and read your copy of My Struggle.  

What Should I Read Next?
Something about the melodic voice of Anne Bogel makes me want to snuggle down with a good cup of tea and bask in the glory that is the reading life. Bogel has a devoted group of followers behind her (including me), and it’s not hard to understand why. In a process that is nothing short of magic, Anne interviews one guest each episode, learning about their reading background and asking the three famous questions: what are three books you love, one book you hate, and what are you reading right now? Based off this information, our girl Anne (with an e) provides three book options for the reader to choose from and 99% of the time, three amazing options for the reader (and us).

Beyond her podcast, Bogel also runs a blog called Modern Mrs. Darcy which regularly provides posts about the reading life, reading lists, and more. This could literally be your one-stop shop for all things books because Bogel is just so spot on with knowing what’s good (and we love her for it).

Have a literary podcast you love and want to share? Make sure you let us know in the comments below or tag us in a post on Instagram using #littressblog!

Reading More While Adulting

By Kait Battista

Last week, the lovely Katie gave some awesome tips on how she discovers books and you all must be thinking, “Ladies, this is killer advice, but how the heck do you find time to read so much?” It’s a struggle for even us. Personally, I work full-time, go to school part-time, run my Instagram, co-write this blog, and manage adulting.  You know those necessary life things we all hate like cleaning, paying bills, and feeding myself. If I can balance it all I am completely confident that you all can do it, too. Here are some of my tips on how I keep on reading with my hectic schedule:

1)    Always have a book on you!

The one thing every dedicated bookworm knows is to never leave the house without a book! Whether it’s digital or a physical copy. You never know when you are going to be stuck some place either waiting in line or at an appointment that is running behind.

2)   Unplugging

A good place to start is by unplugging! I know all of you out there are rolling your eyes, and that’s okay. ear me out before you give up on my post. It’s very easy  to get sucked into a new Netflix show or spend hours stalking your crush’s Instagram because it’s right at your fingertips. There is that old adage “People are creatures of habit.” I am a firm believer  we are also creatures of convenience. So that hour you spend before bed scrolling through Twitter is a great time to put down your phone and pick up that NYT bestseller coming to theaters (because as avid readers we know the book is always better and there is a reason it’s making it to the big screen).

On those days you are finding it truly hard to give your thumbs a break, hand your phone off to a friend, family member, or significant other for safe keeping.  I hand my over my phone to my boyfriend all the time. And if your significant other is anything like mine they’ll take pleasure in lording it over you. There is usually some groaning on my part, but once I’m into my book it’s like, “What cellphone?” Another option is to use that do not disturb function on your iPhone. I swear that’s the only way I get my homework done.

3)   Multitasking

The next thing I do is look at my schedule to see where I can multitask. Learning how to multitask is every busy reader’s best friend. I look for activities where I would normally be listening to music and replace them with audiobooks. For example, going to the gym, a long car ride, or cleaning the house. Trust me scrubbing the toilet while listening to hot new celebrity bio book will make it go much faster. Some of my personal favs have been Trevor Noah’s Born a Crime and Anna Kendrick’s Scrappy Little Nobody.

Commuting is also a big one for me. As someone who rides the subway to work being smashed in between people feels so much more bearable with a book in my hand instead of dwelling the fact that I can feel someone’s breath on the back of my neck or being repeatedly smacked by some frat boy’s backpack. Seriously bro, just put it on the ground. It will be okay! Then you might say, “but Kait, I drive to work.” Audiobooks, audiobooks, audiobooks! I can’t say it enough. I know some hardcore readers think they don’t count, but I don’t prescribe to that. The trick is to find a narrator you enjoy. Plus listening to audiobooks is inexpensive when you make use of apps like Libby, Overdrive and Hoopla. Their free to use  free with the only cost of taking the time to get your library card!

Lunchtime reading is also a great way to sneak in a few more minutes with your new favorite novel. I love finding a cozy spot either in a restaurant  or cafe with my current read. It’s a great way to practice self-care by stepping away from you desk and give your eyes a break from your computer screen.

4)   Buddy Reading

Let’s face it–socializing when you’re  a kid is so much easier. All you had to do was show up to school and you friends were there. Now you have to compare Google calendars in order to spend time with your friends. Buddy reads are a great way to hold you accountable and spend time with friends. Don’t know what a buddy read is?  It’s when you find a friend who likes to read, pick a book, and then make a date to hang out and talk about it. I find that one of the best ways to keep myself accountable is to be accountable to someone else. Who knows, your twosome could grow into a whole book club!

5)   Don’t Waste Time With Books You Hate

As I have gotten older I’ve realized my time is my most valuable resource and I hate wasting it, specially on bad books or books that just aren’t for me. When I try to force myself into reading something I’m just not into, it puts me in a slump. I never let myself feel guilty about tossing aside whatever award-winning book is insanely popular at the time. Confession: I tossed aide All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr. Sorry Pulitzer, I just don’t see it (bad pun intended).

6)   Set Manageable Goals

It’s great if you want to read 100 books this year. But do you really have that much in your schedule? I sure don’t. Maybe you only have time for 2 or 3. That’s okay! I personally burnt myself out in 2017 in trying to read a book a week, and I regret it because it took away from the pleasure of my reading. I’ve found that starting small is best. Try scheduling an hour a week whether it be one whole sitting or sporadic 15 minutes here and there. You’ll start to find that an hour just isn’t enough and look for more time in your schedule

7)   Making Time to Read

This is the most obvious one, but the most forgotten. There is no secret to trick to it. I read because it makes me happy and allows me to check out of my reality and into someone else’s. I need that. So yes, even though I work forty hours, spend eight hours in class, and another eight working on homework, I make sure I take a few hours every Sunday to just read. It’s part of my self-care routine. Maybe for you it’s picking up your book every morning while you sip coffee and munch on toast. Just find what  works best for you! That’s always been my mantra. That and throwing out the words “I can’t” from my vocabulary. You can find time if you want to find it.

Tell us how you juggling your reading life with well the rest of your life! We’d love to hear your suggestions. Let us know in the comments or tag us in your social media posts by using the #littressblog to share your ideas.