By DEITRA WEDD
News Editor
The new year brings with it new years resolutions, and one student is still sticking to hers.
Isabella Hardester a Psychology major from Bartlesville, has made a resolution to read 100 books this year. “I really like to read so I thought it would be fun to push myself,” Hardester said.
Reading isn’t her only hobby though. She said she also enjoys crafts. “I like to do a mix of things and right now I’m working on cross stitching,’ Hardester said. “I’m always trying new crafts.”
These craft ideas can come from anywhere. For example, the cross-stitching idea came when a tutorial popped up on her YouTube feed. She said after seeing the video she got a kit from Walmart and tried it out.
“So, I read in between classes and before bed,” Hardester said. “But a lot of my idle time has been cross stitching.”
One of things that inspires some of this creativity is her teachers. “They inspire me because they put up with so much and can still share the material and give us insight into the world,” Hardester said.
Her inspiration for her resolution however, came from a slightly different place. It came from watching people on YouTube that talk about books. “Their goal is usually around 100 so I thought that was a good number to strive for,” she said.
So far, Hardester has read 15 books this year. “I calculated the amount per month I should read, and it comes down to 8.3 books a month,” she said.
During the month of February Hardester said she got in a little bit of a reading slump. I am a little behind she said, “but this is a thing I’m doing for fun so I’m not putting myself to a strict goal per month.”
Hardester said she fell out of her reading habits in middle school and high school but she has recently picked it back up.
She uses Overdrive to keep up with her reading and while she uses it to check out Ebooks and Audio books from the local library, Hardester said she likes having a physical book.
“I do enjoy having ebooks on my phone so when I have a lot of stuff in my backpack I’m not carrying around an extra thing,” she said. “I listen to audio books if I know I will be driving a lot, but I won’t listen if the narrator cannot keep me engaged.”
Hardester’s love of reading started when she was little. “I loved the Goosebumps books by R.L. Stine,” she said.
And while the Goosebump books were some of her favorites when she was a child, Hardester said her favorite series today are A Darker Shade of Magic by V.E Schwab and anything by John Green. “Turtles all the way down by him [John Green] is really good,” she said.
She also said that the reason she enjoys John Green is because he is good at portraying mental illness and his books are relatable. As for A Darker Shade of Magic, Hadester said she thinks it is well written and “you really feel like you are in this magical world.”