I'm in a reading rut

but I'm not fighting it

One housekeeping thing - I’m doing a long overdue reader survey. If you have 5 minutes, I’d love your feedback as I build out the next chapter of Hyphenated by Hitha. To the 35 readers who’ve generously filled this out - thank you!

Before we dive in, catch up on what you might have missed:

swipe file: meal prep plan

the plan - june 2026

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This isn’t about getting out of a reading rut, but making peace with it.

It started in May. While things started looking up in every area of my life, my reading fell by the wayside. Aside from We Dance Upon Demons, I all but forgot what else I read, and I think I re-read the entire Innkeeper Chronicles series for the who-knows-at-this-point time. My long-held Storygraph streak broke, and three books - Waiting for Dawn, Autonomous, and Cleopatra - languished on my ‘currently reading’ section for months.

After the initial sting of the breaking a 361-day streak, I accepted it. This is not a reading chapter (no pun intended), and I’ve accepted that.

I lost my reading momentum. That’s okay. Here are some of the jump starts that are helping me find my reading rhythm again.

I listened to Every Day I Read: 53 Ways to Get Closer to Books by Hwang Bo-reum — the most supportive, non-preachy book about reading there could be. Bo-reum enables of all of my “toxic” reading habits: re-reading books, reading multiple books at the same time, reading in every format. Each chapter is two to three minutes, so it’s the perfect thing to read while you’re doing the little things — making the bed, heating up and eating lunch, walking to the subway. I finished it on a long walk through Central Park on Friday and promptly hugged my phone—that’s how calm it made me feel. The book reminded me that it’s not about hitting a reading goal or contributing to the conversation about the books everyone’s talking about. It’s about reconnecting with yourself by what you choose to pick up and asking “Is this what I want to read? Is this what I want to read right now?” I’ve become a big fan of the “pause” status on Storygraph, and I give myself grace when I change that status to “did not finish.”

Life is too short to force yourself to read something because everyone else is. For me, that’s Yesteryear.

I also finally finished my friend Marisa’s book, Waiting for Dawn. I picked up this book when I was, frankly speaking, in crisis. The first chapters mirrored my life at that moment—bad, gray, pain, marathon. I put it down and picked it back up as things steadied, reading about connection, light, love, and flake (that chapter was a necessary reframe for me). With things finally turning for the better (*knocks on wood*), I was ready to embrace the final chapters of help, perform, heal, and hope. For as much as I’m still processing all of the shit we’ve been through this year, I’m glad that this book fell into my hands when it did, and that I slowly read it as each chapter met me where I was. Had I read it the way I usually read a nonfiction book (usually a heavy skimming over a few days), I would’ve missed so much and still held onto old narratives that I needed to shed.

Waiting for Dawn taught me to read differently.

I’ve always considered myself a mood reader, but I rarely ventured out of the romance genre. Tsubaki Stationery Store, by Ito Ogawa, has been a beautiful introduction to the original and authentic cozy literature (versus the Americanized, algorithmic version that features cats and coffee shops and small towns). It is the most soothing, restorative book. The best comparison I can make to it is to a piece of fudge at one of those old-time candy shops that make it fresh every day. The book is like a small square, one that’s so perfectly satisfying that you slow down to savor each tiny bite. I read this book over weeks, and easily put it down when I had savored the story behind a certain letter. Pre-order it now (it comes out July 7).

There are no medals in reading a certain number of books (and a personal pan pizza isn’t worth speeding through a book that should be savored).

There are so many books I want to read right now—Kennedy Ryan’s Score, The Kennedys and the Windsors (this episode piqued my interest, as did Elizabeth Holmes’ interview with Caroline Hallemann), Jo Piazza’s The Parisian Heist, Gilt Free by my dear friend Keren, and more that are piled up around my home.

I also have a pile of comparison books that I’m studying for my next book, and it’s taking everything in me to not fling myself into this project and abandon everything else. More on that next weekend.

I’ll get to all of these books, and I’m eager to experience them differently from how I used to read.

This might be the first year I’ve abandoned any kind of “books read” goal. And I’m good with it — more than anything.

What are you reading (or rereading) right now? I want to know all the details - the format, how far you’re in the book, and how it’s making you feel.

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things I’m loving right now

• speaking of reading, I’ve been wearing and loving these reading glasses (lightweight without being flimsy, excellent lenses). The brand is having a BOGO sale (with code BOGO), and I plan on buying a backup pair of readers and these sunglasses (I’m fairly certain my Amazon pair aren’t properly polarized). I also really like these square aviators.

• I nodded my way through this entire article—and I would very much like to expand our aperature of ragebait lit to the books about men performing literal crimes against humanity right now, please and thank you.

• I’ve been an annoying evangelist of Cured’s Serenity and Dream gummies, but I’ve been sleeping on their Flow ones for energy & focus. I’ve cut down my daily coffee down to 1 while getting everything done (and having a little late afternoon time to pause before jumping into mom mode).

• Janel Abrahami’s examination of millennials’ obsession with credentials was an uncomfortable mirror to how I feel when I scroll lately, and provided a necessary mindset shift on what I can do differently in the short term, and where to double down for the long term.

• Some things I’m feeling for summer - a cropped rugby polo, a perfect summer sweater, and these lemon trousers.

• In honor of Love Island’s return, I give you my favorite Islander Olandria and her incredible post-show run.

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Take care of yourself, the best you can.

xo,
HPN