Reading can be Difficult – A Note of Encouragement

A message from Marcie Stokman and the Well-Read Mom Team

Are you feeling discouraged because reading is turning out to be harder than you thought it would be? Did you struggle through parts of Persuasion? I did too.

Reading has changed for all of us.

Maybe you’ve never been much of a reader. Or maybe you once were, but that was ten years ago, and now—after that gap—it doesn’t come as naturally as you remember. Whether it’s a decreased attention span, the struggle to find time, or simply working to comprehend, you are not imagining it. Reading is harder than it used to be.

So rest assured: you are not alone. Let’s encourage one another to persevere. Developing a reading practice is good for you, for your family, and for our society.

Think about it—if you send and receive texts on your phone throughout the day (and most of us do), you’re probably using the same 100 words about 50 percent of the time. So when we encounter words like sanguine, vex, or fastidious in Jane Austen’s Persuasion, they stretch us. These words aren’t what we use in daily conversation, but they expand our vocabulary, and in doing so, they stretch and strengthen our ability to think and comprehend.

It takes intentionality. That’s why we just posted an interview I recorded with Andrew LaTellier, a wonderful teacher, on “how to mark a book.” I wish I’d had this resource when I was homeschooling! Even now, I find it so helpful. Andrew’s creative methods are practical tools that can enhance our comprehension and make reading more alive.

So, ladies, don’t quit. Little by little, read what you can in the time you have. Stay with it, and by the end of the year, you’ll find yourself in a different place. We are better together. Let’s persevere—to read more, and to read well.

About Well-Read Mom

In Well-Read Mom, women read more and read well. Our hope is to deepen the awareness of meaning hidden in each woman’s daily life, elevate the cultural conversation, and revitalize reading literature from books. If you would like to have us help you select worthy reading material, we invite you to join and read along with us. We are better together! For information on how to start or join a Well-Read Mom group visit our website wellreadmom.com