Some books stay with you like old friends. While others crack you open like a walnut and leave your heart all over the page. And then there are those rare books that somehow feel like they were written just for you because they mirror your life in a way that makes you stop, breathe, and think.
That’s what we’re talking about today.
Not just reading for entertainment but reading to understand yourself better.
To laugh at your own quirks.
To face what you’ve been avoiding.
To get inspired to take the next step.
To recognize your story inside someone else’s pages.
It’s a little bit magical, a little bit healing, and a whole lot of “aha” moments.
That’s why I decided to put together 4 secrets to reading your life like a book and finding your story in the ones you read.
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Let Your Current Season Choose the Story
You don’t have to read what everyone else is reading. In fact, you shouldn’t. If you’re grieving, pick up a book that lets you cry with someone else’s character. If you’re falling in love, find a story that mirrors that flutter. If you’re stuck, find someone else who got unstuck and take notes.
Books have a funny way of showing up at just the right time if you let them.
Forget what’s trending and ask yourself, “What do I need right now?”
Then head to your bookshelf (or your favorite used bookstore) and follow the pull.
And no guilt if you don’t remember the ending. I once heard a podcast where the speaker said, ‘rereading a book is like catching up with an old friend’. Sometimes you forget how good it made you feel until you’re right back in it.
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Let the Main Character Teach You Something About Yourself
Whether you’re reading a fantasy epic or a quiet memoir, pay attention to what hits you hardest. Is it the main character’s doubt? Their courage? Their loneliness? Their ability to walk away from something that no longer fits?
That’s not just good writing. That’s a clue.
Books can act like mirrors. They reflect what’s going on inside us, sometimes more honestly than our own thoughts do. You might catch yourself rooting for a character who’s facing something you’ve been avoiding. Or crying over a scene that reminds you of someone you’ve lost. Don’t ignore that.
That’s your story showing up between the lines.
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Pause and Apply What You’re Learning
You ever finish a self-help book and immediately start looking for the next one? Yeah, me too. But sometimes, instead of speeding through the message, you’ve got to sit with it.
Reading isn’t a race. It’s reflection.
So, after you finish a chapter that feels a little too close to home, pause. Journal about it. Try applying one small piece of advice. Don’t wait for the “perfect” time. Use what hits home now.
Research says the best way to make it stick is to take small steps and track your progress. Not everything needs to be highlighted, underlined, and Instagrammed. Sometimes it just needs to be practiced quietly.
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Make Room for the Joy of Reading Again
Let’s be real. Life’s chaotic. But if you can scroll Instagram for 20 minutes, you can sit with a book for 10.
Don’t overthink it. Pick up something that delights you, even if it’s not “deep.” Read because it feels good. Read because it reminds you who you are. Read because it makes you smile again.
Don’t feel guilty about rereading old favorites, either. There’s magic in those pages too. You’re not the same person you were the first time you read it, so it’ll hit different. And if it brings you joy? That’s reason enough.
As an article I read over the weekend reminded me, “the joy of reading can be lost in the busyness of adulthood, but it’s never too late to bring it back”.
Final Thoughts: Every Book Holds a Bit of You
Reading your life like a book doesn’t require a book club or a highlighter. It just takes awareness. You’re not just reading words. You’re having a conversation with someone else’s story and learning more about your own.
So, the next time you crack open a novel or a nonfiction gem, ask yourself:
What part of me is hidden in this story?
That’s the secret power of books.
- They don’t just entertain. They reveal.
- They remind us that we’re not alone.
- They gently nudge us back to ourselves.
And that, my friend, is worth reading about.
Until next time…
About the Author
Cheryl Bannerman is a prolific and versatile author with a portfolio of ten published works across various genres including mystery novels and a children’s book. In 2018, she received the prestigious 2018 Book Excellence Award for her poetry collection, Words Never Spoken. In 2020, Bannerman’s book, Black Child to Black Woman: An African-American Woman Coming-of-Age Story, garnered acclaim, winning the Best Books Award in African American fiction and the Reader’s Favorite International Book Award Contest in Urban Fiction in 2021.
Readers can connect with Bannerman, purchase signed copies of her books, and subscribe to her newsletter through her website, www.bannermanbooks.com. When she is not writing for her next book, Bannerman is running her 29-year-old virtual B2B Training and Development company based out of her Orlando, Florida home.