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Reading Habits

journal with pen decorated with flower beside steaming cup of tea on top of a bed

I love hearing how others are able to squeeze reading into their days, so I thought I'd share a typical day for me. The picture is a teensy bit aspirational but the following snapshot is fairly reflective of an average day as I try to maintain reading habits in my life.

When I first get up, I pray and spend some time in the NIV Chronological Study Bible. I discovered that there is a yearly reading plan included, though it is not broken up day by day when there are larger sections; this has actually been helpful as I can read along at my own pace and read a little bit more on the days that I have more time. All in all, there's a plan but it's given me enough flexibility that I'm ahead instead of feeling behind.

After being in the Word, I read my devotional; right now, it's A Shelter from the Storm. I like to try out different versions as I've gone through a lot of the classic ones, but there have been some years where I've repeated some really good devotional books.

If I can, I try to read a chapter from a Christian non-fiction book I'm working on. Right now, I've been plugging away at Another Gospel?: A Lifelong Christian Seeks Truth in Response to Progressive Christianity by Alisa Childers. I tend to be slower with non-fiction, so it's been nice to have something to chew on during my mornings.

I seldom eat breakfast, so I usually have tea at my desk. I think I'd be too nervous about having tea in bed and spilling! I'll sometimes listen to an audiobook, depending on what type of work I am doing. If I have to write, I prefer music or silence. Otherwise, I'll listen to a Christian non-fiction audiobook as I don't tend to listen to fiction too often. However, right now, I am listening to Authentically, Izzy by Pepper Basham as the accents are so charming and I have already read the book, which means I won't miss as many details. Being visual, audiobooks are more a way for me to squeeze in books as opposed to being my primary form of reading.

If I'm not in lunch meetings, I might take a break away from my desk and read a quick chapter from an ebook or paperback. This is also aspirational as I tend to be at my desk most days! If I'm in the office, I'm actually a little better at taking breaks, but that also depends on the time and if people are around. Ironically, right now I am reading Loyally, Luke by Pepper Basham, which is fun as I don't usually read multiple books from the same series. I'm normally a little faster at reading ARCs but since this is in a PDF format, it requires me to resize each page each time I flip through, which has made my reading quite a bit slower (I'm still very grateful for the copy, though; it's more that I didn't realize the app didn't automatically resize these types of files). It's a wonderful story to be in while listening to Izzy's!

Other than possibly listening to a book during work or reading some pages throughout the day—either of which doesn't always happen depending on my schedule, I don't usually have time to read again until later in the evening. I'm trying to be more on top of cleaning up and then sitting down to read, as opposed to reading and then having chores to get back to doing (this is a habit I've really been trying to cultivate with varying degrees of success!). Although I have a lot of books on the go, my preference is to try to finish them as quickly as I can, especially ARCs. Evenings and just before bed are great times for me to catch up. Right now, I'm trying to finish The Story of Your Home by Courtney Warren. Once I'm done that, I'll switch back to Pilgrimage by Lynn Austin.

Finally, my day ends with Scripture, which is lovely when I think about how I get to bookend my days. My husband and I have been reading from the New Living Translation for the past couple of years, just to switch things up. We normally read the New International Version in our own time with God, but it's been fun to hear how things are phrased in a more colloquial translation. I don't think either of us will ever read The Message though; that one is definitely a paraphrase!

I don't have the best reading habits as I don't always progress too far with my reading, but I'm content with how much I get to read and all the different genres I'm in. From time to time, a really good title will capture my attention so I might spend the greater part of an evening or weekend in reading it, but my days are fairly busy with work, meetings, volunteer commitments, Bible study, and social activities.

I'm curious how others are able to add more reading to their days! I'll often have an audiobook on while doing chores, or will read in the car while I'm waiting. Other than that, I'm not too creative in tackling more books than I already have on the go 😄

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