How the Pandemic Changed My View of What a Reading Life Could Be

And 2 simple ways to enrich your own reading life

By Joe Greenwell

"I’m really sorry,” your boss or HR rep. says in a tone that tells you what’s coming next. “Due to the pandemic, we’re having to make difficult decisions. And one of those decisions is letting you go. But, we’ll be in touch if or when things get back to normal…”

Many of you heard something like this from your employers. And many of you probably found yourselves sitting at home wondering what to do with your time.

Not me. I knew exactly what I was going to do — after filing for unemployment, of course.

Read. Read. And read some more. I had such grand plans!

Let me tell you why they didn’t happen. Then I’ll redeem myself, and share with you the two simple ways I enriched my reading life. Two ways you can start using now.

They’re very accessible, usually free, and they will give your reading life purpose. And when you read with purpose, you read more and you read better.

But first…

The Ideal Reading Life, I Thought

Before the pandemic, I thought the ideal reading life was a solitary one. Best lived in a cave lit by candles with an endless supply of espresso. Or in a small cabin in the woods with an endless supply of espresso.

Basically, alienated and caffeinated. Nothing to distract me from the words on the page.

So when I was furloughed, I thought I was one step closer to reaching true hermit status and the ideal reading life. I even started growing a neckbeard like Henry David Thoreau. And instead of wearing a monk’s habit, I wore a bathrobe. I was sure wisdom and enlightenment were at the bottom of the stack of books I planned to read.

Now that my job was to not leave my house, I could finally fulfill my dreams of

1. Slowing down and reading more poetry
2. Quickly brushing up on Latin
3. Overheating my brain studying Ulysses
4. and imploding my brain “reading” Finnegans Wake.

My books were stacked, and I was ready to butter them up, and swallow them down like pancakes.

At the beginning, the possibilities seemed endless! And maybe they would have been. Had I not been so wrong about what I truly needed as a reader.

Here’s a hint: it wasn’t a neckbeard, or more books and alone time.

What Was Missing

It took me a while to realize what I was missing. How long? Long enough to watch all of Arrested Development and Ozark.

Then it hit me. I was missing human interaction and conversation. In short, community. That reminds me: I also watched all of Community!

Why didn’t I recognize this sooner? I think it was the way I viewed the ideal reading life, or, at least, my ideal reading life.

I thought of reading as a solitary practice for introverted people. As I subconsciously fashioned my reader-identity, I came to see myself as a lone-wolf. I actively fostered that identity.

I prided myself on my ability to be alone, like it was a superpower. It set me apart from all the people who wanted to go out, party, and socialize. I was the guy who would rather be home with a book.

And that was fine for a while. Until the pandemic hit.

Suddenly, seeing people became something I couldn’t do — even if I wanted to. At first, I thought being quarantined sounded like a wonderful opportunity to read to my heart’s content. My books were buttered, slathered in syrup — hot and ready! (I’m know taking this metaphor too far. I can’t help myself.)

But instead of reading, I found myself in front of the TV. After watching 113 episodes of Jason Bateman, being home all day lost its luster, and I lost my hunger.

The motivation to read and learn new things left me like Chevy Chase left Community.

Finally, I realized that this lone-wolf needed a pack.

However, as an introvert trapped during a quarantine, hitting the streets searching for friends was off the table. Which was fine because I never would have done that anyways.

What options were left?

Finding a Reading Community in a Pandemic

As many of us did and continue to do, I turned to pandemic-approved portals to the outside world: my phone and laptop. With these, I had all I needed to piece together a reading community that would restore my motivation to learn and give my reading life a renewed sense of purpose.

Below are the two tools that resuscitated my reading life.

Online Book Clubs

Thankfully, some readers recognized way earlier and way faster than me what their fellow readers needed. They started online book clubs, reading groups, and reading communities. (I don’t care to argue over the distinctions in this article. Another time.)

There are tons of book clubs out there — free and paid — waiting for you to discover them. Or even create them!

These groups, clubs, and communities come in a wide variety. You can find clubs centered around a single author, book, or topic. Topics can range from broad, like history, to narrow, like racial inequality in 21st century America.

Doing a Google search will turn up many results, but it’s helpful to know what you want out of a book club. Think about these questions as you shop around:

• What interests you?
• What types of books do you like to read?
• How often do you want to meet? (Weekly, bi-weekly, monthly?)
• How much do you want to (or are you able to) read in a given period? (Don’t join a club you can’t keep up with, if it will stress you out. This should be enjoyable, not a burden.)
• Are you comfortable with video communication tools like Zoom? Or would you rather join a club that communicates through forums such as Facebook groups?
• Are you looking for a free book club or are you open to paying?

I joined a club called Book Oblivion, which calls itself a “reading community,” and functions as such. It’s a paid reading community with a private and very active Facebook group. So far this year, Book Oblivion has read 15 books together — ranging from fiction to critical theory to string theory — and they meet up every two weeks to discuss the readings on Live Chats. These Online Live Chats use Zoom, and are guided by passionate members and instructors. I know they’re passionate because I’m one of them. I actually led a group of readers through James Joyce’s Ulysses earlier this year, which was an amazing experience.

The most important thing is that you find a reading group that has a sense of community, where you feel welcomed and safe, where you can listen and share with other readers. I found Book Oblivion to be a great fit for me, and it might be for you. Or it might not. It’s a shopper’s market, so browse around, and find one that suits you.

Podcasts

During the pandemic, I fell in love with podcasts. Of course, you can’t converse with a podcast in real time like you can with a reading group. But they’re free, super accessible, and even more wide-ranging than book clubs. So you’re bound to find one that speaks to you and your unique interests.

All you need is an app that plays podcasts, which you can download on your smartphone. Or you can listen to them online without an app.

I love this about podcasts: they’re produced by people with a passion for the topic they’re covering. They aren’t trying to make (much) money or secure a primetime spot on a network. They’re just passionate, and they want to share their passion with you. And if they’re any good, that passion is passed along to you. You’ll find yourself getting excited about all sorts of things you’ve never even heard of.

Here is a list of some of my favorite literary podcasts. I highly recommend them all, for different reasons:

1. The History of Literature — hosted by the charming Jacke Wilson, who looks at a vast span of authors and their works with lots of personal commentary. You feel like you’re talking with a friend about their reading experience.
2. Backlisted Podcast — two well-read Englishmen, John Mitchison and Andy Miller, chat about books you’ve probably never heard of that deserve a wider audience.
3. The New Yorker Fiction — a guest author chooses a piece of fiction from the deep New Yorker archive, and reads and discusses it with the magazine’s Fiction Editor, Deborah Triesman.
4. The New Yorker Poetry — same idea as the Fiction podcast, but hosted by The New Yorker Poetry Editor, Kevin Young, featuring amazing guest poets. Young is an amazing poet himself.
5. The Writer’s Voice — Fiction from the Magazine — authors read their own recently-published fiction from The New Yorker. Hear their own work read aloud as they imagined it when they wrote it!
6. In Our Time — by BBC Radio 4, hosted by Melvyn Bragg and featuring three scholars of the chosen topic. It’s not always about literature, but of the 900 or so episodes, more than a handful cover authors.
7. LeVar Burton Reads — LaVar and his wonderful voice read his favorite stories, just for you. I’ve never heard of most of the authors he reads, so I always find something new!
8. World Book Club — by BBC World Service, famous authors discuss their work with a live audience.
9. The Verb — by BBC Radio 3 , a podcast fascinated with language and hosted by Ian McMillan, a poet himself, with great taste in literature.
10. Poetry Unbound — poet Pádraig ó Tuama reads a poem and guides listeners through it. Or does the poem guide him? I don’t know, but his voice is amazing. Also, Poetry Unbound is produced by the On Being Project, which produces On Being with Krista Tippett, another wonderful podcast that often features writers, amongst other fascinating people.
11. Shakespeare Unlimited — produced by the Folger Shakespeare Library, and discusses all things Shakespeare. If you’re not sure if Shakespeare is still relevant, this podcast will show you that his works definitely are — all around The Globe. (Pun shamelessly intended.)
12. Re Joyce — hosted by Frank Delaney, the world’s most eloquent man. Frank produced 368 episodes on James Joyce’s Ulysses before he passed away in early 2017. These episodes make Ulysses more accessible, without sacrificing any of the novel’s intricacies. I truly hope someone picks up where Mr. Delaney left off. Just a few more decades to go!
13. Ulysses — James Joyce — produced by RTé Radio 1 and features a dramatized reading of Ulysses, from start to finish, and it’s better than the audiobooks you can buy through Audible and Chirp. If you want to learn more about what you’ve listened to, check out its supplemental podcast, Reading Ulysses, also by RTé Radio 1, which features commentary by renowned scholars on each of the novel’s episodes.

There’s my incomplete list.

The best part is, listening to podcasts can complement your reading group discussions. I often share what I learned in podcasts with my reading community, and it feeds our conversations. Also, I get great recommendations for other podcasts I would otherwise never have heard of.

Speaking of recommendations: feel free to shout out your favorite podcasts in the comments below.

Disclaimer: Side Effects May Include . . .

Joining a reading community and finding some great podcasts helped me survive my three-month furlough. It gave me a lot to look forward to each day. The next live chat was only ever two-weeks away and counting.

If I had something to say before then, I dropped it in the Facebook group, and other hungry readers would respond. Hearing from fellow readers motivated me to read more and to read better. They revealed different perspectives and interpretations I would never have thought of.

Which bring me to…

Side Effect #1: You will learn that you are not as good a reader as you imagined. That there are other brilliant readers out there, and that you have much to learn from them. (This is a good thing.)

When I wasn’t reading for the upcoming live chat, I would listen to one of the many podcast episodes on deck. These were great for walks, and doing laundry and dishes. Now, I actually look forward to folding laundry and scrubbing dishes because I can listen to an episode or two. My wife loves this, of course!

Side Effect #2: The people you share a living space with will like you MORE. This is crucial when quarantining, or when married.

Finally, the more you listen to podcasts and talk to other readers, the more recommendations you will get. Many of these recommendations will weasel their way onto your To Be Read List.

Side Effect #3: Your To Be Read list will explode. You will have to accept that you will never, in your lifetime, read all the books you want to read.

If you can live with these side effects, then join a reading group and subscribe to some podcasts — they will truly enrich your reading life.

I hope the list I provided helps you get started.

Please share your favorite podcasts, book clubs, and — why not — any book recommendations to add to my already ridiculous TBR list.

Be safe and be well.

--J.Greenwell

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