With our recently installed PGR bookshelf, Communications Intern, Rachel, considers the joy of reading for pleasure. The bookshelf is in The Gilchrist Postgraduate Club – feel free to drop books off there and choose one for yourself.

Reading for fun isn’t something we can always associate with doing a PhD, or being a PGR. We read academic articles, we read journals, we read textbooks. One thing we don’t do is add to our reading list and read in our free time.

Why would we want to read for fun when we’ve been doing it all day? And, yet – I would happily watch Netflix on my laptop when I’ve been staring at a screen all day. This blog serves as a reminder to you, and to myself of the joys of reading for pleasure.

Choosing A Book

One of the best parts of reading is choosing the book – I could be browsing in a charity shop or second-hand bookshop and smelling the books, feeling their pages before settling on a good few. This is partly the reason why I have more books in my house than I can possibly read in a lifetime. For me, it’s the potential of a new book. The anticipation of what’s inside.

If you’re on campus, you can have a nosy at our PGR bookshelf – there are plenty of books to choose from whether you want to get lost in a murder or enveloped into a rom-com.

Getting Cosy

The joy of reading for me comes in the romanticisation of it. This is what motivates me to open the books, from then I rely on the book to keep me gripped and focused.

The image of being all cosy and warm in front of a roaring fire wrapped in blankets, woolly socks and with a mug of hot chocolate or tea and plenty of biscuits puts me in the mood for reading for fun. With summer upon us, my mind’s eye has me lying on a beach or reading by the pool basking in the sun. There’s simply nothing nicer.

To me, this embodies the joy of reading.

Achieving something

When I finish a book, I have the same feeling as baking a cake or growing vegetables from scratch: it’s the feeling of achievement and accomplishing something. You can’t announce to the world that you’ve completed every single season of a tv show but you can shout about the book you’ve read.  

With a book, it’s more than that – I get attached to the characters. When I’ve finished the book, I find myself wondering what each character is up to – did they ever finish that crossword? The little details play on my mind.

Rest & Relaxation

Focusing on reading and letting your brain relax is a form of mindfulness. It’s a way to rest and delve into another world. We already know that reading comes with all these benefits such as reducing stress and encouraging your brain to only work on one thing at once. It’s the feeling of ease – when all the threads and voices in my head quieten as I follow the words across the page. The story plays out in a scene in my head.

The Simple Joys of Reading

Instead of binge-watching yet another season, why not dedicate the time you would spend watching one twenty-minute episode to reading a book? You can peruse the bookshelf in the Gilchrist and choose a book that tickles your fancy.

Rachel Eager is a second-year PhD Candidate in Comparative Literature and is the Communications Intern 22/23. You can contact her by email: Rachel.Eager@Glasgow.ac.uk or on Twitter @RachelEager2.