Zizi Sparks: Reading isn't a chore for me any more

Book in some time for a good book. Photo / Getty Images

OPINION

Last week I achieved a milestone.

In the last year I have been trying to read more. So at the start of the year I downloaded the app Good Reads and set myself a goal - to read 26 books this year.

One a fortnight seemed achievable.

Last week was the 39th week of the year and it was also the week I finished my 27th book.

I was always a big reader as a child. We would go to the library each week and get a big haul of books then devour them over the course of the week.

I remember my siblings and I each reading the Series of Unfortunate Events, the Percy Jackson series and, of course, Harry Potter. Before that my dad would tell us bedtime stories - myths, legends, fables and folk tales from around the world.

However, when I went to university, that fell by the wayside. It is a time in your life when you've flown the nest. I'd moved to a new city and was making friends and study time was full of books. The last thing I wanted to do when I got home was to read some more.

Then I finished university and the following year (2015) Netflix launched into Australasia - I found a new way to spend downtime.

By late 2019 I found myself wanting to read more and spend less time in front of a screen.

A summer trip away, coupled with books for Christmas, was what I needed to resume. In the past two years, I have read 54 books (that I've noted down anyway). It includes 27 so far this year.

I've also strayed away from reading only hard-copy books, thanks in part to the pandemic. I discovered my local library has an e-reader app and it means I can take a book anywhere I have my phone and hire a new book at short notice. I do return to hard-copy books though.

I find people who say they aren't readers generally use the excuse they don't have time. I think if you want to do something you will find the time. If you read for 10 or 20 minutes a day - before bed, on a lunch break - you can get through a book in no time at all.

There aren't really any excuses for not reading, I believe.

And it shouldn't be a chore.

I've got lost in thrillers and murder mysteries (my favourite), read fascinating biographies such as Barack Obama's A Promised Land and Ruth Bader Ginsburg: A Life.

I've read nonfiction books on leadership and the well-known book Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind, as well as fascinating true stories such as The Happiest Man on Earth and The Tattooist of Auschwitz, and a book about the journalist who investigated and broke the Harvey Weinstein story.

I've been shocked by plot twists, cried at Eddie Jaku's tale of Holocaust survival and learned new words reading Obama's book.

Now, reading before bed is part of my routine and a better addition to the routine than scrolling social media or watching Netflix, which I still have time for.

So I would encourage anyone to read more. Set yourself a goal to read a certain amount. Choose books with small chapters for bite-sized reading sessions. Ask friends for recommendations or loans.

Reading books unites and provides an escape. There is no bad time to start.