I only read one book this month and that’s okay!

Looking back at my reading this May has been a little surprising. While I’ve been reading on and off again, I’ve actually only finished one book. I started off the month strong and finished a book I’d been reading for three weeks, but then after that I started and finished one other book.

In the years that I’ve been reading and blogging, this hasn’t happened to me. I’ve consistently read about eight books a month and tried my best to write reviews, so it’s surprising to see how little I’ve actually accomplished in terms of reading.

The world right now is a bit like this gif below:

I’ve recently moved. I traveled to see my family. I was sick for a little while, so all of these culminated to a less than good mental health days where I just felt burnt out and wanted to consume something easy like a TV show I’ve watched a billion times. I felt like I was in a slump where each book I picked up comes with a ton of potential, but never enough motivation to pick it up and finish it. I’ve tried rereading books, reading favorite authors, reading nonfiction, and reading new books I had no clue if I would like and none of it stuck.

And honestly, I’m okay with it.

Life has its ups and downs and I know many people who can read more in times of crisis. But for me (and knowing myself), that’s just not me. And instead of beating myself up for only reading one book and scrambling to put together a massive TBR for June so that I can feel accomplished, I’m just going to sit in my reading slump and let the chips fall as they may. I know if I push myself, I’m going to burn out. I know that if I wait it out, reading will want to just come back to me like an old friend who I haven’t seen in a few years. When it comes to reading, there are no rules. We set ourselves goals and some of us work very hard to meet them, but sometimes the best goal is to do what’s best for you right now. I’m going to go with that.

I hope that you’re reading month is going better than mine. even if you’ve read one book like me, that’s better than nothing. And if you’re getting into reading for the first time, allow yourself the grace to take breaks. In the meantime, I hope you get to spend time with family, friends, and the like. I hope you get to watch your favorite shows or go on that vacation or take that walk you’ve been meaning to take. God knows that this life is worth more than just worrying about how many books you’ve read.