I think I have an addiction to Margaret Attwood at the moment; first it was The Edible Women, then The Year of the Flood, and now I’m reading The Handmaid’s Tale, all in the space of about two months. I have fallen in love with reading this last year and, since starting my PhD, I have found reading is a relaxing activity to get my mind off my research.
You might be thinking, ‘I don’t have time to read’ or ‘I can’t afford to buy extra books’, I know that’s how I used to think about reading. But reading before bed is a well-known approach to helping you sleep, and reading something which is not in your area of research or just a pleasant story can open you mind to new ideas and recharge you brain, meaning you can return to your work with a fresh mind and perhaps a little less stressed! By taking a book around with me in my bag, I’ve realised there are multiple occasions throughout my day when I can read my book when I would otherwise be scrolling on Twitter or Instagram. So not only has a book helped me to relax, it has also made me realise how often I check my Twitter!
Buying books should not be a barrier to reading. As students at UoM we have a massive library full of books. Classic and modern novels, eBooks and physical books, academic and as well as accessible nonfiction; the library we have will probably be the biggest library we will ever have access to in our lives, so why waste it on just exploring books on your reading list? After all, as Dr Seuss famously said:
“The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go.”
So why not pick up a book when you’re next on campus, you won’t regret it!