Life happens + new book recs

Being an adult means having to constantly handle multiple responsibilities at a time. This might be the hardest part of adulthood for us, when kids, to understand. I was put into grown-up level responsibilities far too early in my life, so as a teen I thought I had it all figured it out. I was already having to deal with so much for so long, it couldn't get worse, could it? Turns out it could. And it did. 

I swear this is not a post to complain about adulthood, at least not completely. Being an adult is also very awesome. But accepting the constant movements of life is something incredibly hard to handle in real time. Life gets busy. Priorities are shifting all the time. I sometimes feel like I don't have time to see my friends, how could I have time to read?! 

The truth is: sometimes I don't. There are priorities I can shift to fit reading into my daily life, but that is not always a possibility. Sometimes reading just get cut off completely instead. And this is when the biggest reading secret is exposed: audiobooks are a great way to keep reading. Even if you are listening to 10-15 minutes of the book during the commute time on the busy days and weeks. 

In the end, the most important thing to remember is that life just happens, it's normal. You might read a book in 2 days this week and not read again for 2 weeks. The key is forcing yourself back to a book, maybe a really silly one, after the slump and the busyness fades away. Maybe pick up a book for 5 or 10 minutes before going to sleep. You'd be surprised by how much reading is done with only 10 minutes a day. 

I am not saying reading habits are easy to keep; they are not. Reading is a very hard habit to form and maintain, because there are so many other more interesting things going on at all times. And in the end, as an adult, the responsibility is fully yours. I know it sucks, but you're going to have to choose between the Netflix show and the book sometimes. And then also understand that choosing the Netflix show is not worse than choosing the book. 

Biggest truth yet: There is no right answer on how to live life. 

I made a new list of book recommendations, and these are good examples of the non-existent right answer to anything in life. 

Book recommendations: 
1. Broken Country by Clare Leslie Hall: Fiction. Took me almost 11 months to get this at the library. I love the way this was written and the development of the characters; it's one of those books that will continue to be in my mind for many years. 
2. Americanah by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Fiction. I was late to the game on this one. Chimamanda writes so beautifully and the story is extremely accurate for immigrants living in the US and for those that decide to go back to their home-country too. The book was published in 2013 and still holds truth to the immigrant community to the day. 
3. The Babysitter: My Summers with a Serial Killer by Liza Rodman & Jennifer Jordan. Nonfiction. This story is interesting because it is a memoir; for the true-crime lovers, this book has some insights of what a serial killer might be doing on their daily life.