Tips for Dedicated Reading Time and Self-Care with Weekend Reader

Ready to escape the everyday stresses and dive headfirst into a world of literary adventures? This week, we're joined by Lynell, the Weekend Reader, who has mastered the art of turning weekends into rejuvenating bookish retreats. Discover how she creates dedicated time for reading, balances her TBR list, and cultivates a vibrant online community around her love for books.

Weekend Reader reads and reviews contemporary fiction, specifically romance but enjoys reading diversely. Additionally, Weekend Reader is committed to supporting indie authors and authors of color in her recommendations. When the Weekend Reader isn't reading or reviewing she's baking.

In this episode, we're discussing:

• Rediscovering the Joy of Reading: Lynell shares her journey back to reading for pleasure and the importance of choosing books that spark joy.
• The Power of Balance: Learn how Lynell balances different genres and reading challenges to keep her reading experience fresh and engaging.
• Creating Intentional Retreats: Discover Lynell's process for planning and executing weekend reading retreats, including setting the ambiance, minimizing distractions, and connecting with fellow readers.
• Prioritizing Self-Care: Explore how dedicated reading time can be a form of self-care and rejuvenation, and how to communicate your needs to loved ones.
• Embracing Your Reading Pace: Let go of pressure and comparison, and embrace your own unique reading rhythm.

Carving out time for intentional reading retreats can be a powerful way to recharge, reconnect with your love of reading, and show up as your best self in all areas of your life. Whether you dedicate a full weekend or just a few hours each week, prioritize creating a space for immersive reading and self-care. Embrace the joy of reading, connect with fellow book lovers, and allow yourself to be transported to new worlds through the power of storytelling.

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Connect with Alesia:
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This podcast was produced by Galati Media.
Proud member of the Feminist Podcasters Collective.

Chapters

• 0:00 Starting the Reading Journey
• 1:14 Childhood Reading Memories
• 6:07 Balancing Reading Genres
• 9:51 Balancing Reading Genres
• 12:40 Planning and Executing Weekend Reading Sessions
• 19:57 Mood Reading and Adapting to Preferences
• 23:02 Dealing with Distractions and Setting Boundaries
• 27:14 Reading Goals and Community Expectations
• 30:47 Creating Space for Reading in Daily Life
• 37:34 Final Thoughts and Resources

Transcript

Alesia Galati: 0:00

Are you ready for a weekend reading retreat this week, we are joined by the weekend reader, who has mastered the art of turning her weekends into bookish retreats. Listener discretion is advised this podcast contains mature content intended for adult audiences only. Hello, I'm so excited to have you on so let's dive right in. I want to hear all about how you started your reading journey. First

Lynell @WeekendReader_: 0:32

of all, thank you for having me. I'm really excited to spend this time chatting with you. So I have a big family, and I was the youngest for the longest. So my siblings were always like the popular kids. They always had their friends, and there was little old me that they would have to tag along. And once I became a teenager, they became teenagers. They were like, No, you have to find your own friends. That didn't work for me. So reading became like the stand in until, you know, I hit puberty, and then I was like, Oh boys. Yes, I like those. And, you know, it tapered off a little bit. But I would say, after grad school, I was like, What am I going to do with my life? I don't want to be just about work. And I was like, oh, let's go back to reading. And so that became something that was really important to me to cultivate in and go back to and then I stumbled on Book Two. Was like, wait a minute, there are other people who just put their thoughts about books out there. And I was like, I want to do that. I never started a book to Channel, Channel, so there's that, but that was like the catalyst for, if I'm going to do the content creation part that came out of Book Two. But I was reading and enjoying the escapism and some capacity of reading and so, yeah, this is how I got here.

Alesia Galati: 2:04

I love that so much. And I think that a lot of us, those of us on book talk, or, you know, books gram or things like that, a lot of us can relate to that experience of I read a lot when I was little, you know, I got the Pizza Hut, yeah? Like, I got all those Reading Rainbow, like, there's a lot of that that ties into the older generation that's on these places, yeah, those of us in our 30s and millennials and so I think that a lot of us can relate to that of being, like, maybe striving a lot, especially during our college careers and like striving to read and then being like, I feel like as an adult, quote, unquote, and for people who can't see me, I'm doing buddy ears as an adult. I'm supposed to be reading to develop myself into this immaculate human being that no one ever achieves. Like I'm supposed to be putting in all this work. And for me personally, I found myself struggling to get through the books that I thought I should read. And then when I was like, You know what? Screw this. I am done. Let me go back to what I was reading when I was like, 1819, super horny. Let me go back to the erotica. Let me go back to the stuff that I enjoyed. And I blew through those books, and I was like, Oh, that makes sense, cool. And it also was a natural way to help with my libido after child number two, wonderful. A witness, a win? Yes, exactly. I think that a lot of us have almost rediscovered our love of reading in this way, after feeling like, oh, we have to read books a certain way, or we have to read a certain type of book in order to be seen as a proper person when it's like, just read for fun, guys,

Lynell @WeekendReader_: 4:04

yeah, and I think it's really interesting, because for me, like my family, my parents, I didn't grow up with a lot of toys. And whenever I say that out loud, people are like, Oh my gosh, your childhood must have been hormones. No, it was great, because my parents saw something that I enjoyed, and they cultivated that for me. And so I always had, like, workbooks, and, like I said, just books in general. And one, one story My mom loves to tell people is for the Scholastic Book Fair. One year, she was like, Okay, you could only get one book, and I was like, No, I deserve more books. So I stole some money from her so I could get more. And I was just learning how to so I was really on when this happened. So I was learning how to count, and I miscounted how much I took, because I was also a responsible. Little thief, because I was like, she's gonna know I still so I had to get it really close. So I had worked out, like, how many books I could actually come back with based off of how much money she gave me. So anyway, I was, like, really being thoughtful about how I was gonna tell my pick, my mom, how I committed the crime. Anyway, I got caught, and because my teacher saw that, I miscounted and I couldn't explain where the extra money came from. And my mom had a good relationship with all of my teachers, teachers pet, you know, but I still got all of the books, even though I stole the money. But, you know, I got punished. And yeah, so I was that kid, right? Reading was always a part of just, like, my personality, or just a way for me to, like, feel not alone, I guess, is the best way to say it. And so when kids were out doing wanting, you know, the newest sneakers, or the newest whatever I was like, get me the shootie blooms, the whole box set, or the Sweet Valley, you know what? I mean, I was that kid. And then over time, there weren't that many kids that as I was getting older, I had to make some adjustments over time. So I got into dance and, you know, balancing that out a little bit. But yeah, I definitely think for me, it's has always been about balancing just having a big imagination and then eventually going to grad school, having to read really dense text. It was a good thing for me to have a love for reading, because I could just, like, plow through complicated theories and be like, Oh, I get it. And everyone's like, Girl, we're still on Chapter Two, you know, but I am a big proponent that it is about finding a genre that speaks to your brain and leaning into that versus what's popular. Because what I first got into the bookish space fantasy, was like the thing, and it still is in a lot of ways, but I tap out after like 400 pages, and so fantasy didn't always work for me. Now I'm slowly getting into fantasy, but, yeah, I definitely think there's a lot of folks who feel like you only have to read this, or you only have to or in order to have engagement, you have to read these authors, and I just don't think that's the intention of reading right, like you should actually enjoy it. And anyone who tells you any different, I think you should not take their advice.

Alesia Galati: 7:58

I like that you said the word balance, because I try to do this with my own kids, and I think that it's important that as readers, we do this. And I would say, when I started out in like, the books gram space, mine was more like, there were a lot of white readers, because that's what I was getting pushed on the algorithm and Amazon and all of these places. And I was like, I had to be really intentional about the content I was seeing following creators who had more diverse voices, so that I could attract those types of things. And I try to do this with my kids too, but more genre specific. And I think that we can use it in any way of our reading, but where my oldest is very much in two comic books, and I'm like, Yes, love that. Sure we can get all the comic books, and you also have to read a chapter book once a month right, implementing different changes, to challenge ourselves, to challenge my kid, to step outside of our comfort zone, quote, unquote, or the things that were being fed, to try something new. And know we might get to the end and be like, Yeah, that wasn't for me. And I kind of feel like that about fantasy, right? Like, too many emotional roller coasters for me. If the main characters die at the end, I'm gonna be crying. And I don't need to be doing that. Just it's too much. And so, like, cool, I tried it, but now I know that more, like, high fantasy is not for me, whereas urban fantasy with like vampires and werewolves and like the modern age. Yes, totally. For that. You have to try different things and then find the balance right from there. But right, yeah, that's something that I definitely try to implement with my kids. And they the oldest one. He loves to read. He will go through so many books, especially if there's comics or pictures, which is cool. He's 10. That's normal for that age, and he reads at a higher level. So I want to make sure that we're still challenging him and not just giving him books that are like too easy, right? But you're a very interesting approach to your reading schedule that I want to jump. Right into you call yourself the weekend. Yeah, and what does that mean? And how in the world did you get into this habit of turning your weekends into reading retreats? Because that's what it feels like from the outside looking in.

Lynell @WeekendReader_: 10:12

Yeah, it was a happy stance. Because I think my original handle was, like, eclectic reader, and I lasted, like, maybe a month, because it wasn't eclectic at all. I was really only reading romance, and so I was like, I I savor my weekends. That's how I like to think about it. My weekends are my time to recharge. I am very protective over my weekends. And for me, my weekends start about like four o'clock on Friday, until, you know, I have to go back to work on Monday. My friends and my family know, if you want to do something with me on a weekend, it needs to be pre planned, so then I can make some adjustments. And I don't like doing things unless I'm on vacation, right? I don't like to have activities on both Saturday and Sunday, because I have a very people focused for front facing type job. And so I am reading, and I'm teaching people or trying to help people learn things Monday through Friday and so on Saturday and Sunday and Friday nights, I really just want to be able to do what I want to do. I want to read what I want to read. And weekend reader was born out of it's a reflection of how I see my weekends. And it is really for reading or just to recharge in general. And at one point I was like, Oh, I'll have all of these, like branches, like weekend eatings, because I also like to eat out. And then I was like, you know, it's, it all fits under weekend reader. You have to eat. You have to, you know, do spa days. It all falls under the one umbrella. And I think for the most part, at least in America, people tend to see weekends as a social time. And so I really was thinking about if I wanted to create a a platform that was uniquely me. It would be something specific to the weekends, like I am doing all of the things that are for me to help recharge on the weekends, and a lot of us have to wait until the weekend to do certain things just for us. And so that's where it really came out of. And reading, of course, was like a no brainer,

Alesia Galati: 12:45

yeah, I love that so much. And also the fact that you're the kind of building up to, all right, I am depleted by Friday, and now I need to recharge. What are the things that are going to recharge me the best? And I'm guessing you're probably an introvert like I am, time alone, that's the recharge. It's good. And so like finding ways to do that. I posted on my business side that I have like, seven interviews this week and a workshop that I'm doing, which is a lot, way more than I typically do, but we're gearing up for something, so I've got a lot of front facing things that I have to put in FaceTime for, and that is really depleting for me, especially when there's maybe two in one day or sometimes three in one day, like that is a lot for me. And so seeing the days that maybe I have more space, all right, how can I bake in time to recharge, reset? Maybe that looks like an afternoon now, or it looks like just going on a drive by myself and going to get some food, like it could be literally anything, but like finding ways of okay, I see the week ahead. It's an abnormal week. How can I make sure I bake that in? But what you're doing is something that's very intentional on a regular basis to create that space for yourself, and so I love that so much. For me, I find my nights to be my weekend reader moments, just because my kids go to bed at 730 ish, eight o'clock latest, and then they're down. My husband usually wants to watch TV. I'm not trying to watch TV, so my butt is sitting right next to him with my Kindle or with a book that is my recharge, reset time. And so then for the weekends, the kids want to do stuff, the husband wants to do stuff. And so like, How can I find as someone who maybe doesn't have enough spaciousness in my current schedule, right? Like, life will change as the kids get older and they are like, don't want to be near you, mom, all of those things are going to change. But how can I create that space now, when you come up with because you've shared this recently, of like, Here's how. I plan for my weekend reading retreats. How do you do that?

Lynell @WeekendReader_: 15:05

So a couple of things. So I work in education, and so there are some months I know that I won't have any weekends to myself because we are working for PrEP or things like that. But for the most part, when you know July and August are, like, the months where I'm like, Please don't ask me to make any decisions, because my brain just wants to shut off. But typically what I will do on Thursday and for me it this might sound really weird, but for me it's like, really exciting Thursday nights. I'm looking at all of the books, whether it's arcs or books that I said I wanted to read. So Thursday night, I'm like, thinking about, do I have, like, the brain power to read 10 books? Because that can happen where I'm just like, I'm gonna read through entire series, and sometimes, as No, I just want to gently read through three bucks. It's also a way for me to check in on where I am emotionally, like if I'm tired or if I have a migraine, which I have chronic migraines, and so my eyes are usually tired. I take all of that into consideration if I'm in like a, you know, Mafia romance, I can only read so much many of those before. I'm like, Girl, what is right? There needs to be a balance here. And so Thursday nights, I start thinking about that. And then Friday at lunch, I'm just like, usually I have 20 books that I'm like, looking at and thinking about how I can slot them in, and then I decide, usually, by like, 435 o'clock ish, I decide, and then I just plug them into a collage. And, you know, sometimes it's the esthetics of it too. I'm like, Oh, does this all look like too cheesy? Because that's the other thing about me. Like, if I read too many, too many contemporary romances, they start to feel the same. And so I had no I have to balance it out a little bit. So seeing it visually also helps me think. Like Lynelle, you're not going to get through all of these books, so break it up a little bit. I'm a big proponent on reading widely within a genre. And so sometimes I'm like, I need a little bit of mystery. So romantic suspense is actually my palate cleanser, rather than contemporary romance. So I take all of that into consideration. And then, for me, I like posting my weekend TBRs, because then I usually get some feedback. Oh my gosh. I really love this book. So then that tells me maybe I should start with that book if there are a lot of people who are excited about it, because then they'll want a check in. And then it just encourages me to actually read what I said I would do, because I can't do monthly TBRs. I am fascinated with people who can do that I cannot. I have to do it a week by week basis. And then when I post, I get all of my snacks for the weekend, which is also like a little treat for me, because I'm like in my sweet or salty or savory, and it just feels like kind of reinvesting or re focusing in on things that make me happy and over time, and I think I have still fairly a small community, just the folks that typically DM me like, oh my gosh, that's on my TBR. If you like it, I'm going to read it. That kind of helps get me, like, motivated, even if I don't want to read anything that I put out, which is rarely happens. And then Friday night, when I start, you know, I have my snacks, I have all my drinks, because I have a couple of different beverages, some alcoholic, some non alcoholic, a little bit of coffee. Then I start. And then it is like, when you finish the first one, at least for me, I want to be able to go back like, Okay, I read it. I loved it. Here are the things that I love about it. And that typically happens somewhere Saturday afternoon. And when you know a lot of the folks who follow me are like, which one did you start, or I just started this book. Can I DM you about what I'm experiencing? I'm like, sure, you know, because then it becomes a little bit more of a community. Read, right? And then Sunday, I report out what I finish. And I've, you know, tried to switch up in terms of just posting and doing, yep, I read it. I found that people actually want to hear, like my initial responses of books before, like the full review. And I find that to be another way for me to make sure that I'm connecting with people around something that they're also excited about.

Alesia Galati: 19:58

I love this so much, and I'm. Curious, are you a mood reader? Because I know I am. And same, like, the idea of someone having a monthly TBR is really strange to my brain. I just had not wrapped my head around, Oh, these are the ones I'm going to read. And then doing it, I'll have, like, a theoretical idea, but like actually doing it. So do you feel like you're a mood reader? And then, if you are, how do you approach that in a way that's like, not beating yourself up if you do switch it up?

Lynell @WeekendReader_: 20:31

Yeah, I like to think that I'm a mood reader. Some some of my friends are like, you can't be a mood reader with these weekly TBRs. You know, mood reader is going with the flow. And I'm like, but my flow is always romance. That's the vibe, right? We know it's gonna be romance. So I'm always orbiting romance in some capacity. And so for me, yes, I think I'm a mood reader, because sometimes I'm like, I want to read something really deeply emotional, and their authors that I know who are going to be able to provide that satisfying reading experience. But I've been trying really hard this year to find a lot more new to me authors, so I've been bouncing around a lot. But yeah, I definitely think I'm a mood reader, because even if I set my weekly TPR, the type of reader I am if I read your book, your very first book, and I'm like, five star. Give me all of them, my brain is like, I have to read every book you've published. And so that has happened where I've read something and I've really just loved the character work, or there were plot points that I did not see coming or handling a topic that just felt like really tender. And so now I'm like, who cares what's on this weekly? TBR, I'm gonna just, you know, shift gears and read whatever else this author has like right now. LDS, I read one of her shorts, and I'm now reading her first public book, and it is, you gotta save her that, because she's hitting on so many different points. So yeah, in that way, I definitely think I'm a mood reader, and there have been times where I've set a weekly TBR and nothing is hitting nothing is working, and I want to change gears, because I don't want to spoil my weekend because my reading didn't match my expectations, right? Because I always assume a book that I pick up I'm going to enjoy it, which I know, for some people, that might sound strange, but I don't want to read things that I don't think I'm not going to enjoy, and so if I'm not enjoying it, I don't unless there's a reason, I don't push myself to finish it. So I'll switch gears. And I think being a mood reader, I have so many books on my TDR, right, that if something isn't working for me, I'll just go and pick something else.

Alesia Galati: 23:02

Do you find yourself getting distracted? If you are all right, I've set the goal. This is how I'm going to show up this weekend. Do you put on new journal, not disturb? Do you like hunker down in a way? Because I know for me, if I'm reading and I had to be really self aware, to come to this of being like when I read on my Kindle app on my phone, I get distracted. One thing will trigger another thought that is like, squirrel. And then next thing you know, I've been on Instagram for three hours, and I'm like, What the heck are you doing? Or if I'm reading on paperback, my eyes hurt after a certain amount of time. I just cannot focus on something that close for that long. And even if maybe it's the color of the page or just whatever, there's lots of different avenues and things that that I have issues with it, with that and then going into all right, if I read on my Kindle, then I can go from the black screen to the lighter screen. It makes it a lot easier on my eyes. If I'm folding laundry, then I know I'm going to be listening to an audiobook. So two things, how do you not get distracted with your like, Hey, I'm going to be recharging this weekend. How do you set up boundaries and parameters for yourself, not even like family, because we talked about that, but like with yourself and your desire to be distracted? And then do you read only one type of way, whether it's on your phone or your Kindle or paperback, or do you switch it up so that you can get through more books over the weekend?

Lynell @WeekendReader_: 24:28

Yeah, for me, I maybe two years ago, I realized I read faster on my Kindle, and so I am pretty much exclusively reading on my Kindle. And I Yes, I will have a Kindle and a paperback version of the book. I am that type of reader. I don't have a lot of distractions. I read in two hour chunks. So I read full two hours, no potty breaks or anything like that. And then usually I'm. Like, Oh, I need to put more ice in my drink, or I need to get up and pay, or I just need to change reading positions. And in that little bit of a break, I'll, you know, check messages from Instagram or do something else eat, and then I'll come back to reading. So I think overall, I might read for a full eight like when you combine them all eight hours. And you know, I try to be really gentle with myself, because if my attention goes somewhere else, I think about it as that's important, right? Whatever my attention has been drawn to, I need to do that thing if I end up not finishing a book or end up talking to a friend in DMS for a little bit longer than I had planned to, then that just becomes the priority at the time, and then I'll go back to reading. One of the things that I've been trying really hard, and hopefully I'm doing a better job communicating that out, is that I don't feel bad if I don't finish a book, or I don't want to feel shame around not producing when it comes to reading, because this is something that is supposed to be fun and for me, and it's taken a long time to get here right, because I want to be an influencer in some ways, I want to create the content, but I also want a role model that is supposed to be fun, and if it's not going to be fun, then what am I actually doing it? So for me, if I'm off scrolling on Instagram, my brain needed that break, right? And it's okay, and I will finish the book. Maybe, you know, I wanted to read from 10 to seven. Maybe I'll read from 10 to 10 now, because I took a little bit of break. So that's where I am. And sometimes I'm like, Okay, girl, you didn't read at all because you were like, Kiki with someone. But I think about that time, spending that time with that person. It was probably I needed it. They needed it. So it's okay, and the book will be there, you know, it'll get ready eventually. We talked

Alesia Galati: 27:14

about this a little bit before we press record. But this idea of like, oh, I have to read 250 books in a year, or I'm not a reader, or I have to read, you know, a certain amount of pages in a year in order to be a reader. How do you feel about that topic as it relates to reading for fun? Because clearly, it's something that you're very passionate about, and I agree 100% like, do this for fun. And how do you approach that? If people are like, Oh, but like, how many Rick's books do you read in the year? And are you trying to that stuff? I'm like, what does that look like?

Lynell @WeekendReader_: 27:49

Yeah, so I want to say, being in the book community, it's easy to fall in that trap of you have to read 100 books, you have to read 200 books. And I've definitely fallen victim to that. I think there are a couple of posts, older posts, where I'm like, This is how you do it. And I have gotten to a place where I don't want to do anything that feels required when it comes to my platform, and I don't want to communicate that to anyone who comes to my Instagram page like I don't want anyone to feel that they need to read as fast as I do, the types of books that I do, or as many books as I do, because I fall within 100 to 200 depending on the year I feel comfortable in, like the 150 ish range. So I say all of that, and I've communicated out. The reason I can read at the volume I do is because I'm a single woman and I am only responsible for myself. I make a decent living, so I don't put myself on book buying bands. I don't know why people do that, but if it works for you, do that, but I can read at the volume that I read year to year, because I have curated my life in order to accommodate that. And my life might look different to someone who has a family with small kids, no kids, special needs kids, or you're taking care of your parents or or another family member, right? That could look different to you. And so I want people to be gentle with themselves about what they can do with the time that they do have. And if you're able to read an hour or day, then you protect that time and you do that. So I am a big proponent of you don't need to do anything other than what you have the capacity and the ability to do. Do not buy books that you can. Afford. Do not go to cons that you can't afford. If anything in this any page that you're following makes you feel bad, stop following them. Because I don't think it's the intention of what the community is supposed to provide, which is a safe space or a space for readers to gush about the books that you enjoy, or maybe even connect on the books that you don't like, right? Because sometimes that can bring out some community. So I'm pretty big on if someone is telling you have to read 100 books to be a reader, do not listen to them if you read one book in a year, that is good. Yeah, that's all you should be striving for. Yeah, I couldn't

Alesia Galati: 30:47

agree more. And I would say this too, that if the content that you're absorbing, whether that's through podcasts or YouTube videos, Instagram, Tiktok, Facebook, it does not matter if that content is making you feel negatively about yourself and how you are able to show up in the world with your current capacity, unfollow the people who make you feel less than even if it's me like 100% Please protect yourself, Protect your own sanity and do what's best for you. I would never want someone to follow us and say, Hey, I feel less than because of this thing you posted like that would make me feel terrible. So please just do what's gonna work best for you. I think that it's such an important part of being a content creator and having this space and like this privilege of having people's ears, is that we're not doing them a disservice by shooting all over them, as my one of my friends, says, you know, we don't need to do all that. So you also mentioned previously that July and August are really low reading times for you because you are doing so much with your job. And it's the seasonalities of life that I think that we sometimes can beat ourselves up about of like, oh, well, in this month I read this amount of books, but then in this month I read barely anything, and it's like, give yourself some grace. Life is gonna happen. Life be life in it's okay if you want to reset your goals, that's cool, too. I found myself halfway through the year rescheduling and reassessing everything for my reading goal, for how many books I wanted to read in the year, my listening goal, because I found that I was listening to way more audiobooks than I had in any previous years, I had to reassess my stuff and say these goals are no longer working for me. Deep breath, that's okay. Now let's reassess it and see what we need to do to change or change. Okay. I'm not gonna read as many pages this year as maybe I have in previously years, but my hours are through the roof. There's nothing wrong with either of those. So if someone is, you know, trying to figure out, all right, I love this idea, and I've never thought of it before as like, Oh, I could create an evening of re energizing myself with a book, or with this, you know, a couple hours of reading. Or maybe I do want to become a weekend reader, instead of just waiting for the next all Weekender with my girlfriends, where we go read books, because we see that kind of extreme, and then the people who are like just banging through a bunch of books and like a lot of comparison. So if someone's like, I want to try to start this. I'm not really sure where to start. Where do you recommend that they start looking at their lives.

Lynell @WeekendReader_: 33:42

Yeah. So for me, I also have to do a lot of data analysis with my job, and a lot of that translates into how I run my platform. So I'm always collecting information about how many books I'm reading in the month, so I know how many days on average I read in a month, I know which months I will dip down. 10 seems to be about the average. And so I'm collecting all of that information to make some informed decisions again, so I don't feel guilty if this is a little bit lower. One of the things I have not been able to figure out is my audiobook listening. That is something that I want to try to figure out a little bit more. But to answer your question specifically you have to do or what has been helpful for me has been to take an inventory of how I'm spending my time normally, right? Because I think a lot of times people in any bookish spaces is they talk about reading as an add on, versus I take the approach is, it's integrated, right? So I would think about it as, what are you doing right now, and where are you current? Slotting in your reading time. So is there a day that you feel that you read more? Can you give yourself a little bit more of a chunk of time to read then, because some people might not work a day in the middle of the week, so that might actually be your weekend reading time, right? So your weekend is really a Wednesday versus my Saturday, Sunday, and then thinking about what responsibilities to you have in the month or in that week, and if there are slots of time that you can say, family, pump the brakes. This is me time and not feel guilty because you're not still showing up for the people who love you, right? Because that's the other thing. Yes, my family knows that's, you know, the weekends are mine, but if they need me, my phone isn't on, do not disturb, right? I'll, you know, be available. And so I think it's about being really sure about is reading the right hobby for you, and if it is, where are you naturally gravitating towards in terms of putting in the time to read? A few months ago, I did a blog post about it, and the folks were sharing like their time is like from two o'clock to five o'clock in the morning I am I can't think that time right? So they've been able to figure out what time is a quiet time for them to be really intentional about their reading, and so it might look different. And I would encourage people to figure out, like, where that is for you, and kind of make sure that you're protecting that and reaffirming and reminding people no this day or these days are for me to do these things, because that means I'll be able to show up a little better for you, more present for you. And I think people want to honor that when they realize that this is helpful for you, because all of us have stressful lives, and we're all trying to find ways to, you know, not disassociate, right, but to ways to feel whole again. And for a lot of us, that's with readings. I think if you're able to communicate that to people who love you, they'll want to support you too. And what works for me, might not work for you, but taking the time to be intentional about figuring out where do you feel the most present to be able to read that is your time, and you use that time to read?

Alesia Galati: 37:35

Yeah, I couldn't agree more. I personally have to communicate quite often with my husband, of like, here's the plan, and then we reassess during football season, and I know I'm gonna have lots of time to read because football's on the TV, and my husband's distracted with that, and he doesn't need as much, maybe quality time, or want as much quality time during that season. And so I know I have that space. And then we've also said, Okay, how can we create one night a week phones down quality time, whether that looks like a movie where we're really focusing and intentional, game night, date night in right? There's so many different things that we can do during that time to reconnect. And that's one night a week that's really intentional, and then we reassess, as we need to, if maybe that night doesn't work anymore, we find ourselves canceling it. I think there are so many ways, if we just communicate with the people that we love, set those boundaries and then have space to not beat ourselves up and reassess if we need to. Lynelle, this has been so much fun. Thank you so much for being on and talking through your process. Where can people find you? Get to know you, hang out

Lynell @WeekendReader_: 38:47

with you again. Thank you for having me. This has definitely been a lot of fun. I love doing podcasts because then I get all of these really great questions. I'm like, Oh, I didn't think about it that way. But folks can find me on Instagram and threads at weekend reader underscore, and then my blog is weekend slash reader.blogspot.com, and those are the main places for folks to find me. And we'll

Alesia Galati: 39:15

make sure that we have those linked in the show notes for anyone driving or doing other things while they're listening or watching. Thank you so much. Lynelle,

Unknown: 39:23

thank you. You.