Within the Bookends

People will often say, “I don’t have time to read.” What they’re saying isn’t that time doesn’t exist, but that the version of reading they’ve imagined doesn’t fit the life they are living right now.

Reading carries a very specific image for many people. It looks like uninterrupted time in a quiet space, with a long stretch of hours ahead of you. No one needs you. Nothing is pulling at your attention. You open a book and disappear into it for hours.

While that image is lovely, it’s also a myth for most of us.

If you have a full life, if you are working, caring for others, juggling responsibilities, or simply moving through busy days, those large, open blocks of time are rare. And waiting for them can make reading feel like one more thing left undone, rather than something that is meant to support you.

Reading does not need to be an event.

It doesn’t need ceremony or perfect conditions. It doesn’t require a large commitment of time. Reading works best when it becomes something small and simple that slips into the life you already have.

Reading becomes possible when it is easy to reach.

Having a book with you makes all the difference. Physical or digital does not matter. There is no right or wrong choice. What matters is that when a few minutes appear, you are ready to use them.

And that is where the margins come in.

The margins of the day happen in the in between moments. The short pockets of time that already exist, even if they don’t appear like reading time at first glance. These moments can happen while waiting at a doctor’s office, sitting in the car during school pickup or practice, or taking a much needed pause in the middle of your workday. They are the quiet spaces that appear when you are no longer rushing from one thing to the next. Moments that can be yours, if you let them be.

Sometimes it is five minutes. Sometimes it is fifteen. Sometimes you barely settle in before life calls you back. And sometimes you are surprised by how much time quietly passes. A few pages still matter. A short space still counts. What matters most is not how long you read, but that you make reading available to yourself.

Reading can also live in quieter parts of the day.

It might be in the morning, before the house fully wakes up. A cup of coffee or tea. A few pages before emails or news enter your head. A gentle way to begin the day on your own terms.

At night, before bed, reading can become a way to slow down and transition out of the day. Studies have shown that reading before sleep can meaningfully support rest, and I’ll talk more about that another time. For now, it is enough to know that even a few pages can shift how the day ends.

When reading is allowed to live in real life, something begins to change. Over time, this way of reading begins to shift how you relate to time itself.

Once a story has you, something interesting happens. You stop struggling to find time and begin to recognize it when it appears. Small openings make themselves known. Not out of obligation, but because you want to return to what you are reading.

Reading does not need to happen every day. There will be times when life takes over and books sit untouched. That is normal. You can always come back. Like a good friend, the book will be there, ready for you to pick up where you left off.

It does not matter how many pages you read today, this week, or this year. It does not matter how many books you finish.

What matters is that you read.

In the margins of your life. In small moments. At your own pace. For yourself.

That is enough.