Reading today - why we don't read novels anymore & what is on my booket list

First of all, hello to all my readers! It's been A MINUTE since I posted an article in my "Thriving with Teodora" newsletter. To be honest, it was a mixture of business and a lack of inspiration aka. I wasn't thriving. I personally love to get inspired on LinkedIn, but sometimes it feels like an environment of toxic positivity or the same problem patterns.

You may or may not know what I talk about, depending on what slides on your home page. But, for a while, I wasn't able to relate to the posts here, so I sort of took a break. Now I'm back, but I won't promise any level of consistency to put unnecessary pressure on you (& me!).

That was a longer intro, but let's talk about today's topic: books. At one point, my LinkedIn page was suddenly filled with various suggestions on what to read, mostly focused on personal and business development. These can, of course, be very helpful to many people, but since there was an overflow of titles, I suddenly felt like I wasn't doing enough and not 'developing' enough. It created pressure to always do more and be more, even in your free time.

A bunch of ideas on "how to optimize every second of your day"

At first it sounds very helpful and practical, but it made me burnout eventually. These ideas, suggestions, and various titles also seemed to not be entirely applicable if you're not in North America or in one of the Western countries. Sometimes, I couldn't simply relate to an advice.

I wonder if you can relate... Write me in the comments!

Has any of you noticed the huge expansion of self-development books? Not only in psychological sense, but also for business of any sort. Whatever you’d like to do, there is a high chance you could find a book about it. Surely novels are still published, but I don’t remember hearing people talk about a good novel lately, only some sort of professional/personal development books.

While I was a student, I was really into the self-help/personal development. I read a ton of books about it and consumed different content on that consistently. It made me excited and gave me a feeling of doing something good for myself. However, you can only fill your cup for so much. After a certain point, the liquid starts to overflow, and that is what happened to me.

I used to love reading a lot! In primary school and high school, I’d read like crazy. Then, when I went to university, I also had to read a lot (study) and I was reading many self-development books, too. When I graduated, I found myself burnt out. It was such a surprise because I loved reading. But, the truth was my cup overflow. Therefore, last several years I read only occasionally and it was a real struggle for a book to keep my attention, not to mention finishing it till the end. But, in the meantime I saw the popularity of book reading rising. This basically led me to the point where I felt like a failure in this area.

Why am I telling you all of this? Well, I don’t like being my worst enemy and I don’t want you to be yours, too. We tend to put too much on our plate and hope we’ll be able to handle it all. In addition to that, thanks to social media, we’re regularly exposed to various trends that can put a pressure on us to keep up with the certain perfect image that’s being portrayed. On top of that, if you're an "all-or-nothing" type of person like me, you can get disappointed pretty easily when you realize you haven't accomplished or read as much as you planned to for a certain period of time (which you realize was way short anyways).

I noticed that personal/professional development books are a big deal on LinkedIn and it totally makes sense. But at the same time, it’s important to say that it’s okay not to obsess over constantly moving forward, looking for more, doing more. More, more, more. It’s all about the >balance<. There is time everything. Time for work, time for play, time for rest, time for sleep, etc. Why spending you free time obsessing over advancing in your professional life? Give yourself a break.^~^

dolce far niente

One thing that I appreciated about self-help literature is its simplicity and right-to-the-point style of writing. It’s simple and easy to read and digest, and it gives you mostly clear steps of what you need to do in order to be better in some area. However, this is also what I don’t like about this popular reading choice. Funny, isn't it? It’s dumbed-down literature. Sorry, but... This feels like a harsh statement coming from someone who is not a literature major. Still, I mean it. People don’t read classics anymore, and if they do, they don’t like them because they don’t understand them. What does that mean? People don’t know how to use their reason sometimes!

All this makes me very sad, especially because I feel it too. I don’t mentally challenge myself enough. I don’t read "hard" books because they require a lot of focus and thinking. Or, I don't read "easy" books because it's waste of time. But I want to change that. I don’t want the dumbed-down versions anymore; instead, I want to learn life wisdom through a logical thinking process and by drawing conclusions myself. I want to challenge my brain to use its power again. And, have fun while reading, too!

How do I plan to do this?

By reading classics (of course), and entertaining books.

The word "novel" nowadays indicates something (maybe) fun, but not immediately or obviously helpful. However, there can be much wisdom sewed into a novel through everyday stories, events, and archetypal human experiences. That’s how I plan to enrich my intellectual side once again.

Now you might be wondering where to start. Here are some titles on my reading bucket list that are waiting for me to be read:

Brother Karamazov – ?Fyodor Dostoevsky

The Brothers Karamazov is a passionate philosophical novel that delves deeply into issues of God, free will, and morality. It is set in 19th-century Russia. It is a theological play with a patricide-centered plot that deals with issues of religion, doubt, and reason in the context of a modernizing Russia. It has won praise as one of literature's supreme accomplishments.

Master and Margarita – Mikhail Bulgakov

The novel written in the Soviet Union between 1928 and 1940 under Stalin's rule, is about the devil and his company visiting the officially atheistic Soviet Union. Throughout the book, the devil, who takes the form of Professor Woland, questions the Soviet citizens' religious beliefs and criticizes their actions. The Master and Margarita defies classification under a single genre by fusing supernatural themes with scathing dark humour and Christian philosophy. It is regarded by many reviewers as one of the greatest books of the 20th century and the best Soviet satire.

Faust – Goethe

The doctor and scientist Heinrich Faust makes a deal with Mephistopheles in which he agrees to be his servant?selling his soul for limitless knowledge and material pleasures. Tragic play by Johann Wolfgang von?Goethe with two parts, first part nearly entirely written in rhymed verse.

You might be asking, "What about the leisure time?" I have thought of that, too. I really missed the time when I enjoyed a book because of its good plot, which made me happy and excited for what would happen on the next page. For that reason, I’ll read novels to relax as well, but with lighter topics. I personally like feel-good stories, adventure stories, and mysteries (without horror parts). Here are some titles I really liked in case you wanted a good and entertaining beach read:

• French pastry murder by Leslie Meier
• The lost continent, Travels in small-town America by Bill Brayson
• The Flatshare by Beth O’leary
• Before the coffee gets cold by Toshikazu Kawaguchi
• Message in a bottle by Nicholas Sparks

I truly hope this article was helpful in lifting pressure off of you to read only professional development types of books, making you constantly work on improving yourself, and encourage you to do so, but in a different way that is going to challenge you to use good reasoning, draw conclusions, and really enrich you, thus developing you in various ways + few amusing suggestions for your rest time.

Let's finish off with a kind reminder from one of the greatest scientists of 20th century:

Keep in mind that besides the eight hours of work, each day also has eight hours for fooling around, and then there’s also Sunday." - Albert Einstein

Are you a reader? Share your favorite titles in the comment section! :)

Let’s thrive together!