I am going to start with a question.
I wonder, do you have a list of favourite authors? Is there a ‘go-to’ list that you never deviate from? That’s okay, we all have ones we prefer. But here’s another thought. Do you step out of your comfort zone and go for new authors and controversial subjects every now and then?
I have been an avid reader for as long as I can remember. I have always had a book on the go. When my aunt Sally was alive, we had a book reading contest every year. Every time we finished a book, we’d post the title and a few lines about whether it was worth buying. My favourites were these: Tess Gerritsen, Lisa Gardner, Sinead Moriarty, Lisa Genova, Cecilia Ahern, Dave Eggers, Araminta Hall, Sophie Kinsella, Bri Lee, Liane Moriarty, Jojo Moyes and Jodi Picoult. Long list right? But on top of those, the odd biography would slip through the gap too. So, what’s changed for me. What’s made me stretch out of my comfort zone? Ok, let me explain. It’s quite simple really – life happened
When your circumstances change, it forces you to reevaluate yourself. It makes you stop and take a long hard look. You ask yourself “Am I the same person I was?” For me, the answer was no. That was clear. I had lost a husband. That had changed me irreparably. My mum passed away too; my female soulmate was gone. Now I just had to find me, where I was in all these changes
Well, I knew I was a different person and that reflected in the types of books I read. My comfort zone of regular authors expanded. Here’s what I found myself reading.
- Military history surrounding Easy Company, 506th Parachute Infantry Regiment.
- Military history relating to the Pacific theatre of war.
- Margaret Atwood’s books.
- Virginia Woolf.
- Megan Kelly.
I also found myself reading social commentary books. Books that looked at current and some controversial issues and examined them. Books with authors such as Ben Shapiro, Matt Walsh, Michael Knowles and Candace Owens. These authors, linked to The Daily Wire, examine issues daily in their podcasts and are incredibly informative. The sorts of issues that arise are
- Speech: how words and minds are controlled through censoring of speech.
- Stolen Youth: How the newest generation in America are being radicalised in many ways.
- Blackout: How the Democratic Party hurt the black community.
- How teenage girls are being pulled into transgenderism by following social media crazes and peer pressure.
- What is a woman?: How professionals in medicine, schools, universities and other places cannot define what a woman is.
I found other books too, books that I had never read and wanted to.
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley.
- Time to think by Hannah Barnes.
- Face by Justine Bateman.
- The Year of Magical Thinking by Joan Didion.
- An angel at my table by Janet Frame.
- Lord of the Flies by William Golding.
- One Flew over the Cuckoo’s Nest by Ken Kesey.
- We are Soldiers still by Harold G. Moore.
If I were to give you some takeaway lessons from this article, they would be this:
- Expand your horizons. Even if you think something will be boring, give it a shot.
- Don’t limit yourself to where you live. Look at what’s happening overseas.
- Think of all the books you’ve always wanted to read and make a list. Start reading that list.
- Make it your aim to learn something new from what you are reading.
- Life is way too short.
