It's that time of year again...

Welcome again to the start of school, where you have too much to do with work, extracurriculars, and school, and are left with just enough time to eat and sleep like a normal human. How on earth are you going to find a speck of time to read what you enjoy? I have implemented a few of these techniques in my life to get me out of the school time reading slump.

First, I pick out about three different books that I want to read in the next month (tip #1: keep your goals low and easy to achieve). I would make sure that they span genres to keep it interesting. Then they sit on the bedside table in a nice pretty stack for when your brain has time to relax (tip #2: I personally keep all of my electronics down where I can not access them at night as I have bad self control when it comes to scrolling through memes). Just throw on some calm, smooth music and pull out one of those books, your night has been made!

When you have been assigned a super hardcore in depth book in English class the boredom might try to take over. THERE ARE BOOKS FOR THAT. That means it is time to break out some tissues because (hold on to your hats and glasses) it is contemporary time. If you are not overly aware, contemporaries are a genre of YA novel that deals mostly in the touchy feely romance stuff, like a hallmark movie for your brain. Purely written to alleviate stress and not make you have to think too hard about what exactly you are reading (tip #3: fanfiction also can take the place of these books, but tread lightly. They are a slippery slope into a pit, of which you may never emerge again). If you are looking for some recommendations for some excellent choices, we have a few reviews on the blog, but here are some more:

They Both Die at the End by Adam Silvera

Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

Anna and the French Kiss by Stephanie Perkins

The Sun is also a Star by Nicola Yoon

This list from Goodreads has some popular other titles for you to check out!

https://www.goodreads.com/shelf/show/contemporary-young-adult

Speaking of Goodreads, it can be hard to track what you are reading during the year and it is a great way to do that. However, if you would like a personalized way to track your own reading without it being out there for the world to see, a Google Sheets is your friend! Making a simple spreadsheet that covers the month, date completed, genre, title, and author will help you to remember what you have actually read. Some people even put ratings and if they owned a physical copy of the book on their spreadsheet, so they know if they need to add it to a Christmas list in the future.

I hope some of these tips help you with the upcoming school year!