Back to Reading

 As an English student at uni, all I ever seemed to have was an endless amount of reading and because I was always focused on course reading, I never had much time for reading outside the course. Since graduating six months ago and actually finishing my course eight months ago, you could say that I had a bad relationship with reading books. I think having been told for so long what to read, or at least a topic to read around, it suddenly seemed a bit daunting being able to choose a book to read because I wanted to, as opposed to having to.
 Although I did still read books, I hadn't found anything that excited and really compelled me to read until recently. The book that got me back into reading was The Girl on the Train, and I think it helped that inadvertently I was reading it at the same time as a colleague which meant we could talk about it. I think I missed having this interaction with people who were reading the same book, as I always enjoyed going to seminars and discussing the set text for that week, and this was missing post-graduation. I also have a longer lunch break in my new job and this has helped me actually get into a book and has been a nice break from a computer screen. It's made me want to venture out into different types of fiction, and find which ones I genuinely enjoy and which ones I can live without.
 It's so nice to finally have back the spark of enjoyment for reading that has been missing for a while. I love finding out what everyone's favourite books are, because it's so nice when you recommend a book to someone and they get as much enjoyment out of it as you did. What are some of your favourite books to read? I'd love to have a variety to choose from on my 'to read' list, so please do leave recommendations in the comments!

Jess x