Em’s Book Love Club
My Journey with Reading
Welcome to Em’s Book Love Club! It all started in my English 2 Honors class with Mrs. Myers. We were expected to pick out a new book of our choosing to read each month. She called it “Book Love.” We downloaded the GoodReads app and added books onto our virtual book shelves. Begrudgingly, I read several books to satisfy the requirements in the class and get my A. I didn’t read books because I enjoyed it. I read books because I had to.
I didn’t always dislike reading. In fact, I used to love it. At a young age, I was at a reading level above most of my peers. I obsessed over the lives of Laura Ingalls Wilder and Maximum Ride. Each book transported to a new world created by my own imagination. But as I grew older, it became a chore. I was no longer reading “just for fun.” All of my readings were for a class, a grade, or an assignment. I looked at books with much bitterness.
Before college started, I was stuck in the longest summer of my life. Most of my friends moved into their dorms, but I was still stuck at home. My late start was all thanks to the quarter system. Although I complained about school a lot, the one thing about the stressful workload is that I always had something to do. I was never bored.
I grew tired of watching TV shows and movies on Netflix to keep me entertained. It was straining my eyes, and I lacked any kind of imagination. My brain was mindlessly watching and streaming — allowing the app to Autoplay to the next episode. It became a toxic cycle that I knew I would have to dig myself out of.
The solution to the problem was books. As I was looking at my phone for new sources of entertainment, the GoodReads app was staring me down. I decided to familiarize myself with the app and see what it could offer. That was when I found my first book — The Revised Fundamentals of Caregiving by Jonathan Evison. I proceeded to go to the library, check out the book, and begin reading.
Before I knew it, I was hooked. Reading became my favorite hobby. It kept me company in the silence. From that day forward, my nose was always stuck in a book. My college friends would look at me with confusion written all over their faces and say, “you read for fun?” Like me, they had all become jaded by the loads of reading assignments for classes that they forgot what it felt like to read “for fun.” To them, the sight of reading “for fun” was the most bizarre thing that they had seen in ages.
I’d always respond to that question with a simple “yes” and proceed to flash the biggest smile on my face. Reading has helped me unlock the imaginative and creative part of me that I thought I would never find again. It has become a source of joy and wonder.
Falling back in love with books has been a truly special thing for me. As I read more stories, I also learn more about myself. Each book shares a lesson, a thought, a dream. The books I read always teach me something new. If I could, I would shout my love for books on the rooftops. But that’s a little too dramatic.
I believe the best way to share my love for books is to do so with others. I decided to start a virtual “book love club.” On this blog, you’ll find all of my latest reads, my thoughts and opinions on each book, and reading guides. Each reading guide is carefully crafted with discussion questions that will get your gears turning as you read the novel. It is meant to help you think about the book a little bit more, use your creativity and imagination, and locate the main themes and takeaways from the novel.
Will I love every book that I share? Probably not. But I like to think that I have a good sense of what books have the potential of being absolute gold. Each post for book love club is a love letter to the mountain of books I plan to read. I hope that you come along this journey with me and find yourself diving your nose into more novels, memoirs, and stories.
Here’s to the greatest adventure you’ll ever embark on. I promise you, you won’t regret it!
Books are a uniquely portable magic
Stephen King
Deconstructing the Reading Guide
Each book that I introduce to the Book Love Club will also come with an exclusive Inner Eminence reading guide! You’ll be able to download the reading guide when I upload a new book review. The reading guide comes with a short summary of the novel as well as 7-10 guiding and discussion questions to get your wheels turning as you are reading the book. I think it’s good to have some questions running through your mind when you are reading. It helps you digest the main takeaways better and understand the themes that are present in the book.
I always have so much fun coming up with different questions to bring to book love club. Designing the reading guides for this club has been so much fun. I am really excited to launch this series and inspire you to start your book love journey. Hopefully, you will grow to love reading as much as I do!
Make sure to subscribe to my mailing list for updates on the latest reads. You can check out the books category here for all of my future reading guides and reviews.
Follow me on GoodReads: Emily Ha – Carlsbad, CA (178 books) | Goodreads
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