My reading journey

A little bit about my reading journey which has led me to create Matilda's Room

Kia ora koutou, and welcome to Matilda’s Room! It is great to have you here.

A little bit about me, and the “why” behind Matilda’s Room before we crack into what we are really here for - the books!

I have always been a book worm - a real lover of books! I have fond memories of visiting the public library when I was younger and taking great pride and joy in choosing the perfect book for that week. My taste has changed a lot over the years. I used to be obsessive about a particular type of book or a particular author - I think this started with Roald Dahl, Paul Jennings and then the Goosebumps series in the 90s (hands up all you 80s and 90s kids out there!).

As I became a teenager, reading for fun dropped away a bit, and then came back again in my late teens and early 20s where my obsession with the likes of John Grisham started, and I had to read every book possible by my favourite authors.

And then… I got out into the “real world” of being an adult, and somehow I didn’t have the time (or make the time) for reading anymore. I went to law school where my reading consisted of long (boring) cases, and by the end of the day, my brain did not have any more capacity for words. I made my way into the work force and read the occasional book here and there. I then had two more children and my love and passion for reading dropped away completely. Between work, mumlife, and the day to day rush of life, my reading had become non existent.

But enough was enough. When we were switching over from 2018 to 2019, I made a (dare I say it), New Year’s Resolution to pick up my love of books again, and to bring the joy of books back into my life. I started following book recommendations, “influencers” and that year I read 26 books - one book a fortnight! I must say, that I read a pretty damn good collection of books that year - keep your eyes peeled for some chat about those books coming soon. 2020 continued along similar lines, and I read 31 books.

At the end of 2020, I made another resolution to challenge myself - I set myself the challenge to read 52 books in 2021. And guess what? Not only did I reach my goal, but I surpassed it, reading 81 books that year!

Roll on 2022.. and I was done with resolutions, and didn’t want to set myself a numbers target, and just thought I would see how the year unfolded. I didn’t really know what the year would have in store for me (long story, but some health stuff happened which meant I had a lot more “down time” than usual). This year isn’t quite over so the final tally isn’t quite in so we will save the final number for another chat. Needless to say, I have found myself in many spaces talking books with all of my friends, and being a bit of a “go to” for some people for book recommendations. And so Matilda’s Room was born!

Watch this space for the wrap up of 2022, as well as a wrap up and some recommendations since 2019.

I look forward to sharing all my favourite books with you, and hearing about yours too.

Because life is too short to read bad books!