Reading for Pleasure?

Have you found it easier or harder to carve time out to read this year?

I’ve been a member of Goodreads for a couple of years and I set a goal of 24 books for 2020. This was before the pandemic, and before everyone’s work patterns changed. While I find my work hours bleeding into “after hours,” I still try to set aside time to read for pleasure.

Looking for some statistics on reading for pleasure among adults, I found the UK devotes far more effort to studies of the topic than the US. According to a report from The Reading Agency:

Research finds that reading for pleasure can result in increased empathy, improved relationships with others, reductions in the symptoms of depression and dementia, and improved wellbeing.

In addition to the health benefits, reading for pleasure has social benefits and can improve our sense of connectedness to the wider community. Reading increases our understanding of our own identity, improves empathy and gives us an insight into the world view of others.

The biggest change in my reading habits is what constitutes reading for pleasure. As CMR Communications’ niche has evolved to focus on association and grants management support for nonprofits serving disadvantaged or vulnerable populations, my reading list has come to reflect that!

Here’s a sample of what I’ve read in 2020, in no particular order:

• Light for the World to See: A Thousand Words on Race and Hope
• The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America
• Love Your Enemies: How Decent People Can Save America from the Culture of Contempt
• Belonging: A German Reckons with History and Home
• Caste: The Origins of Our Discontents
• Ghostland: An American History in Haunted Places
• The Address Book: What Street Addresses Reveal About Identity, Race, Wealth, and Power
• The Warmth of Other Suns: The Epic Story of America's Great Migration
• Spying on the South: Travels with Frederick Law Olmsted in a Fractured Land

What have you been reading – for pleasure or otherwise? Drop me a line – let’s make #SmallTalk!