How has COVID-19 affected your reading habits?
“I have always been a very avid reader, and I can honestly say it only increased over Covid, especially over the spring break. I checked out 42 books from the library.”
Dana Timmermon, West senior
“Actually, I started reading more during quarantine. I got a lot of books on Amazon, which was a first for me. I got ‘My Policeman’ and ‘In Watermelon Sugar.’”
Alyse Lukaszewicz, West junior
“Compared to what I read while we were in person, I barely read over Covid. It really affected how much I was motivated to read, and I am not sure why. Since quarantine, I have started reading a lot more.”
Dhanvi Saini, West ninth grader
“During quarantine, like many people, I would become obsessed with one specific thing. For example, green tea. Sometimes I would want to read every book in my house. I have a habit of collecting books, and then I just read them over and over. During quarantine I couldn’t just go to the library to get new books, so I think that is what it resulted from. Another major factor that played into my reading was podcasts–it was like it was reading for me. I listened to hours and hours of podcasts. If I was listening to podcasts, I couldn’t also read. I started getting into new hobbies, and reading, I guess, took a bit of a backseat.”
Caroline Peplinski, East junior
“I definitely think that it increased the amount that I read. I read a lot of things I wouldn’t usually read, (like) more horror. That specifically doesn’t have anything to do with quarantine, it was just something I got more into. I was encouraged to go into more diverse genres.”
Alexander Frounfelker, East junior
“I don’t really read much in the first place. But over the quarantine I started doing a lot more reading on Instagram and Twitter. Not really any books, though.”
Gavin Emmrich, East sophomore
Interviews and photos by Norah Johnstone, Current Staff.
The West Bend Current 