Whether I am scrolling, watching or playing, I absolutely love my screen time… in fact, I probably love it a little too much. There is just something amazing about escaping into another world and experiencing another life… it is a level of intrigue that I just can not say no to. So one of my goals for 2024 to help me cut back on screen time is to get back to one of my original escapism hobbies: reading.
There are some excellent films and series that I have watched in the past year or so that have been adapted from books, and I would love to read them and compare. There are also some really interesting looking gaming related books that I would love to read too.
I do have to confess, though; I am dyslexic and I find reading books incredibly difficult. A book that takes others days or weeks to read will often take me months to get through, and that does trigger my anxiety because I feel that as an adult in her 30s I should be able to read. However, I am learning to accept that everyone is different, including their reading abilities; and I am accepting that my reading difficulties come from an actual disability, not because I can’t read. My brain works different, and that is OK. Following that note, I am also accepting that audiobooks are there for convenience, and it is absolutely not a failure or an easy way out to consume those as a way of getting through more books.
So, while I am aiming to read more physical books this year, I will also be listening to more audiobooks, because the aim is to consume more knowledge and to expand my imagination, and reclaim that love for escaping into a story that I once had.
So, here is a list of books that I would love to read and/or listen to this year:
The Psychology of Zelda
I absolutely LOVE The Legend of Zelda game series, and I also have a pretty keen interest in psychology. So, when I came across this book – The Psychology of Zelda – I couldn’t resist but pick it up.
Due to my anxiety about reading, this book has been sitting on my desk staring at me for about 6 months or so… and I have since got the audiobook, which I have not listened to yet because I am determined to read this book! So, this is the physical book that I am going to begin my reading journey with in 2024. I don’t care if it takes me all year, I WILL READ IT.
The book is written by various psychologists, doctors, and clinicians, who were chosen for their love of The Legend of Zelda games and their knowledge of psychology. They not only apply psychological theories to Link, Zelda and the greater Hyrule, but they apply it to us – the lovers of these games.
The blurbs states that they ask questions such as:
- How do Link’s battles in Ocarina of Time against Dark Link, his monstrous doppelgänger, mirror the difficulty of confronting our personal demons and our tendency to be our own worst enemies?
- What lessons about pursuing life’s greater meaning can we take away from Link’s quests through Hyrule?
- What do we experience as players when we hear that familiar royal lullaby on the ocarina, Saria’s spirited melody in the Lost Woods, or the iconic main theme on the title screen?
- How do the obstacles throughout Majora’s Mask represent the five stages of grief?
- What can Link’s journey to overcome the loss of the fairy Navi teach us about understanding our own feelings of loss and depression?
These are all some pretty deep questions that I never really thought about too much, despite the fact of having some similar thoughts about life provoked by specific in-game moments (including my own personal connections to these moments) and lore surrounding Hyrule and Link’s adventures. I am super keen to take a deep dive into the psychology of this game series and how this fantasy world links to our real world. I think it is going to be quite a great read.
The Woman in Me – Britney Spears
The Woman in Me is a memoir by the Princess of Pop”, Britney Spears. It is an incredibly brave, inspiring, and moving story of her life.
In her story, she explores many facets of her life, including her family life, her passion for music, her rise to fame, her hardships, her relationships, her journey with motherhood and love for her children, and her life under the conservatorship and her freedom from it. It is a truly moving story about perseverance and overcoming hardship.
At the time of writing this, I have actually started this book as an audiobook, and quite honestly, it is an incredible insight into her life. The things she had to endure… completely spirit crushing things… she is such a strong woman and I admire her so much more now than I did growing up. I’m about halfway through, and I’m looking forward to finishing it and seeing what she does next.
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow – Gabrielle Zevin
Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow is a novel written by Gabrielle Zevin. The synopsis states that it is a story following the relationship between two childhood friends – who are often in love, but never lovers – as they come together as creative partners and begin a successful video game company.
It’s a very different kind of love story set within a world of creativity and video gaming. The story also hints at the infinite possibilities within the gaming world and the finite opportunities in life.
Quite frankly, this sounds like a fantastic story and I am incredibly intrigued. Anything that explores life and provokes you to think about it in a different way I always find to be super interesting.
I have got this in my audiobook library, however I am undecided if I want to read it or listen to it… either way, I am keen to dive into this story.
Lost in a Good Game – Pete Etchells
Lost in a Good Game is a rather different kind of memoir; Pete Etchells writes about how he came to terms with grief via virtual worlds after the death of his father when he was just 13 years old. He not only recounts how video games helped him get through a difficult time in his own life, he also explores the history and developments of video games, and explores the reasons that compel us to play video games and how games affect human behaviour.
As a psychologist, Pete Etchells takes the question “why we play video games and what they can do for us” and applies data from both scientific studies and his own experience with video games to write a compelling book that has been described by The Times as “a heartfelt defense of a demonised pasttime”.
I – along with many other gamers, I’m sure – have had many moments in my life where playing video games has helped get me through some tough times. It has helped me ignore whatever was going on by helping me escape into a world where those problems didn’t exist; it has helped calm my mind and emotions enough to process the issues at hand and come up with a solution, or at the very least process it so that I can move on; it has helped me to understand certain things in life through their narratives that have resonated with my own life; and it has connected me with a wider group of beautiful individuals across the world who also love gaming as much as I do.
I have this as an audiobook, and I am really looking forward to listening to it; however, I think this is one book that I would really love to have a physical copy of so that I can read it and just have in my personal library so that I can lend it to others who need a little change in perspective of the positive effects of gaming.
Harry Potter series
I was introduced to Harry Potter on my thirteenth birthday when I received the first 2 books in the series. I was instantly hooked. I loved the series so much that I was one of those kids lining up at bookstores waiting for them to open so that I could get my pre-ordered book straight out of the box on release day; and yes, I did it in costume, and I saw the movies in costume. I was obsessed. This was the first book series that I really lost myself in and found a sense of escapism in the pages.
With the series being one of the most successful and popular series in its almost 30 years of existence, it would be difficult to not know about Harry Potter, but o the chance that you don’t know – or perhaps you are suffering from amnesia and don’t remember about Harry Potter – here’s a brief synopsis:
The Harry Potter series is a collection of 7 books that chronicle the lives of a young wizard – Harry Potter – and his friends Hermione Granger and Ron Weasley during their time as students at the Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. The story follows the prophecy of a young wizard – Harry Potter – who is destined to save the magical world from demise at the hands of Lord Voldemort. The story’s overarching theme is of death, with a deeper meaning of the universal human reality of coming to terms with our mortality. There is also a deep message of the importance of never giving up, and the importance of friendship and your chosen family in your life.
I still have all the books from my childhood, and while I would love to sit down and read them all again, I don’t think that is a feasible goal for me for the year. Also, I constantly have little hands grabbing at anything that I am holding, and given that most of these books are first editions, I would rather them remain intact and without Vegemite fingerprint smears on the pages. So I am absolutely going to listen to them all on audiobook.
That’s just a couple of books on my list for the year. I’m keeping the list short so that it is realistic and manageable to my own personal reading and listening styles and capabilities. I’m looking forward to a year of spending some time off my screens and in some pages (even if some of it is pages being read to me through my earbuds).
I’d love to know what you are reading this year, and any suggestions you may have for me.
Until next time,
my neuro diaries 
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