New year, New Book-worm

Helen Ramage
Mar 22, 2019
4 min read

Usually, I make my New Year resolution something like complete the squat challenge, lose five stone, exercise daily. But - because I’m a fat girl who loves nothing more than eating chocolate digestives while watching Ru Paul’s drag race I, unsurprisingly, never stick to these resolutions. They become ideas which last the first 11 days of January and then distant memories by January 14th. This year I decided I wanted to try a resolution I might actually stick to. So, I chose to make my New Year’s resolution of 2019 to read a book each month – 12 books, 12 months simple.

Now, this is a pretty easy challenge – probably why I’m managing to stick to it but the reason I chose to read 12 books is because I was so sick of spending my spare time scrolling. Whenever I was at home, on a train or waiting for the bath to run I would always be scrolling through Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest or ASOS. I only really realised how much screen time I was having when I started to see those updates from my phone – my daily average in December 2018 was 4.5 hours. Of this 4.5 hours, almost 3 and half hours of it was scrolling on social media. Now, we’re all guilty of spending too much time on our phones and social media but does anything actually really happen on social media? The short answer is – no. There is never going to be a shock announcement exclusive to Facebook or Instagram. So really, I was just spending time on these platforms to fill time.

This year I decided to jack in Instagram and swap in books. January, I read ‘You’ by Caroline Kepnes. This choice was obviously influenced by the Netflix series – even though I’ve started to read more I still spend the majority of my time-consuming TV and still eating digestives. The book follows Joe – a good-looking psycho who develops a fascination with the local writer with daddy issues. It’s clichéd but oh so good. I would definitely recommend this book as an easy-read. It’s a big page turner, perfect for holidays, the train or bedtime reading. It slightly differs from the Netflix series so if you loved the series then you might not like the book so much but I really enjoyed it.

February, was ‘The Tattoist of Auschwitz’ by Heather Morris. A tear-jerker and true story about a young Jewish man who is imprisoned by the Germans during WWII and meets his soul mate while tattooing her prison number onto her arm. My sister read this before I did and she looovvved it. So, I think when I was handed the book I had big expectations. My sister handed it to me literally in tears, she said the prologue made her cry. I can confirm I did not cry. I sat with a Kleenex at each sitting and not one solitary tear fell. I don’t know if that means I’m heartless but it was a good book nonetheless. Again, another page turner and easy read, some of the scenes described are actually horrific like hand over mouth stuff but the story truly is heart-warming and uplifting. If you fancy an ‘awh’ and a ‘why can’t I meet a bloke like that’ then this book is for you – ‘You’ on the other hand will not give you either of these feelings.

This month I tackled ‘The Good Liar’ by Nicholas Searle. I had been trying to read this book for ages. Last year, I picked it up about seven times and got in about 60 pages and never picked it up again. This is usually a bad sign for a book but actually I got really into it. It’s an unexpected book, more twists and turns then a Waltzer. The ending literally got me shook. If you fancy a quiet thriller then ‘The Good Liar’ is perfect. It’s unassuming and expertly told. You’re rooting for Betty, hating Roy and living for the ending.

April is a book which has been recommended by best mate’s mum. ‘All is not forgotten’ by Wendy Walker. I’m only about 20 pages in but my friend’s mum assures me it’s a good read so I’ll let you know how I get on.

You may be thinking, ‘I don’t have the time to read’ but honestly once you factor in how much time you spend scrolling through celebrities lives or watching videos on Lad Bible you defo have enough time to spend 40 minutes a night reading. If you don’t think you like reading try a book which inspired one of your fav films.

My friend hates reading but devoured the whole Fifty Shades trilogy and every copy-cat book since. Just give it a go – I know every time I finish a book I get a massive sense of satisfaction and that’s enough for me.