if you ask any of my friends, i can be a little rigid about my evening routine. i like to go to bed early, and before i go to sleep i like to read for anywhere from 30 minutes to an hour. i always get my best sleep when i’m able to have that time to unwind and relax before turning in.

but every once in a while, i allow myself a break. i have read more books this year than i have since my babysitters club days, and before the year is out i will have passed my totals from the last two years combined. it’s been a mix of old favorites and new discoveries, of poetry and graphic novels and non-fiction, of essays and novels. i’ve discovered some great new authors and got to return to hogwarts.

i’ve loved the books i’ve read this year, but i needed a break. and so i took one.

i gave myself a week off. instead of reading each night, i watched old episodes of bones [i’m currently rewatching the entire series all the way through from beginning to end]. i read articles and blog posts. i wrote postcards to voters in swing states. i spoke to friends on the phone.

it was a lot more screen time than i normally like, but i needed the mental break. it was a busy week with a lot of virtual meetings, and at the end of the day i enjoyed being able to shut my brain off and watch something i’ve watched so many times before.

i’ll go back to my routine and my books next week. i’m in the middle of a great read and have many new books on my shelves that i look forward to reading, but for this week it was good to do something a little different.

it’s something i need to remind myself to do more often.

xx