The first book of 2018!

So... I've just finished my first read of this year!

If you follow me on Instagram (@anateresabarreiros), you might know that since November last year I stopped reading as much as I used to. These last three months have not been easy because of my Master's degree, which requires a lot of reading (and I also work).

So, this year, when I picked up a book, it just didn't stick with me. My mind would never focus on the story. I was ready to postpone my GoodReads Reading Challenge, maybe start my reading days in February.

On the other hand, I didn't want to postpone it. So, I started reading a book I had started last year and had only the chance to read the first 100 pages. That book was Cress, by Marissa Meyer.

Day by day, I took baby steps. I had the time to read, but my mind had forgotten what it was like to sit still for an hour with a cup of tea and a good book. It would always try to find something more entertaining to do. Like, play a game on the phone.

Ah, the games. Those are the ones that kill time. You're not doing anything besides staring at a screen, letting the time pass. Sure, it's easier to just carry a phone in one hand than hold a book in two. But that's what I started to think that if I wanted to be successful (accomplish reading those 30 books I pledged), I had to kill those time killers. So... uninstall the game. I believe my phone was also very happy with that because now the battery lasts more than 24 hours (which also made me think how much of my time I was spending on playing games...).

Cress was the wise choice for me to train my mind to read again - and to focus on the story. The book is compelling, I'm already used to the characters and the way they speak. The book has action and many of the chapters are short (about 7 to 10 pages).

I was aware that it was not going to be easy. I didn't realize it was going to be that difficult either. The mind is so powerful. It had to be trained. I started timing my time: 10 minutes reading. Then, 20. Let's go for half an hour, shall we? And then, when that was becoming boring, I started timing my time with the number of pages I could read in a row. Every 25 pages. Every 50 pages.

Some days were easier than the others. There were days when I could fit only 8 pages. There were days when I read 70 pages. I still haven't found a good trick, besides sitting on the couch and... well... open the damn book (sorry!) and read. Look at the words. Look at the words forming the story. Look at the page inside a chapter, inside a story. Looking at the pages going by.

Still, no expectations for the next book (I still haven't decided which one I'll choose). All I want is to find some time to read.

I finished reading this book in nine days. I'll try to finish the next one in eight days. Baby steps. Low expectations.