Hello Reader,
I’m experimenting with Friday morning sends—to give you something bookish before the weekend rush hits. Let me know if it works better for you. Or if it doesn’t. I’m listening.
Speaking of weekends, last year I got to take in a Banana Ball game in Oklahoma City with some dear friends.
My favorite of the 4 teams competing this year? Party Animals! And most weekends I make time to watch a game live on YouTube.
📚 Step Up to the Plate—With a Book
In case you’re not familiar, Banana Ball is a wildly and wonderfully twisted version of baseball.
They flip, dance, and make it a show.
That’s the energy I want for reading.
I know what it’s like to deprive myself of the “fun” books for after I finish the “important” ones. Treating fiction like dessert after our vegetables of self-improvement? That’s silliness.
How is it that so many of us turned reading—one of humanity's greatest pleasures—into another checkbox on our productivity apps.
Why did we let this happen?
Maybe it's our always-on culture, where everything needs to have a purpose.
Maybe it's those well-meaning teachers who made us track our reading minutes.
Maybe it's just the weight of all those "must-read" lists making us feel guilty about picking up what we actually want to read.
What if joy-first reading wasn’t the reward—
What if it was the default?
Full confession. The first time I asked myself this question a year or so ago, I froze. I had no idea where to start.
🫵🏻 How Do You Start a Book When It’s Just for You?
First things first, how do even find something that draws you in? For me, the journey began with a simple mantra: Pursue curiosity.
I love downloading samples on Libby and Kindle. The Table of Contents and the first few pages give me some idea about whether I might be interested. But there's nothing more satisfying than taking a slow stroll through your local library bookshelves. It seems as if the possibilities are endless.
But finding the right book is just the first step. The real magic happens when you bring your full self to the reading experience - just like how the Savannah Bananas approach their games.
The Bananas don't wait for fun to happen. They bring it. So what if we brought that same energy to our reading lives?
🍌🥎 Watch This Joy in Action
The catcher for the Savannah Bananas—Bill Leroy—dances his way down the steps to home plate—in full gear.
He slides down the railing. Grabs a snack from a fan. Wears headphones like it’s his personal walk-up soundtrack.
And then? He tosses the gear on one piece at a time, catches the warmup pitch, and rifles the ball to second like it’s the most joyful job in the world.
Leroy didn’t wait for joy.
He brought it.
This isn't just showmanship—it's a mindset.
Routine tasks can be transformed by how we approach it.
Moment can be elevated by the energy we bring to it.
🛋️ Creating Your Reading Ritual
One of my favorite places on the planet is Chapters on Main, an indie bookstore and coffee shop in Van Buren, Arkansas.
New and used books. A killer cortado. And every few weeks, I meet BFF for a slow Saturday morning catch-up.
They serve espresso from Onyx Coffee Lab in Northwest Arkansas which—fun fact—was just named the #1 coffee shop in North America and #2 in the world by The World's 100 Best Coffee Shops. So yeah…it’s not just me. Onyx really is that good.
When you let yourself believe that reading for pleasure can be as "good for you" as reading the hottest personal growth books on Twitter, you'll find your happy reading place and your happy genre.
The point isn’t where or how. It’s making space for joy.
💛 Bring More Joy to Your Reading Life
Want to feel more Bananas-level joy in your reading? Kindle Unlimited helps me keep it low-pressure and full of possibilities.
Curious how the Bananas made chaos and fun their strategy? Jesse Cole’s books are full of ideas worth borrowing:
→ Find Your Yellow Tux
→ Fans First
🥜 What’s Your Move?
How do you start a book when it’s just for you?
Hit reply and tell me. Or just step into your next read with a little more intention.
Joy-first reading. That’s the move.
See you next Friday,
—Tracy
P. S. Next week I'll share about my adventure through The Count of Monte Cristo. Why I almost quit twice, and who gave me the support I needed to keep going. The book is not at all what I expected. 👀
