Why you should be reading
By Betty Haynes, ACN Board Member
“Reading makes you a better writer.”
We’ve heard it a million times. But until recently, I was not listening.
My journey with reading has been anything from a straight path, filled with hills and valleys, twists and turns where I read more or less depending on which season of life I was in.
High school, college, and grad school were marked as times where I read a lot, but only because I had to. Reading felt like a chore just trying to keep up with the syllabus.
As I entered the workforce I went on this “if-I’m-reading-I need-to-learn-something” kick. Don’t get me wrong, I did read some useful stuff, but mostly dove into boring how-to nonfiction and self-help books guaranteed to solve the world’s problems.
And then, I honestly didn’t crack open a book for years. In the middle of motherhood, working, and farming, who time to read entire books?
Boy, was I wrong.
This year my oldest daughter, Clare, scolded me for being on my phone “all the time”. The irony is – I’m always telling her we’re a reading and outside time house instead of an iPad and TV house.
“Shoot,” I thought. “I’m not practicing what I preach to the girls.”
Since then, I’ve been more intentional about having books to read during downtime (like how Rory Gilmore always pulled a book out of her purse in waiting rooms instead of immediately opening Instagram).
About a month ago, one of my editors commented that my last few columns were “mastering the art of writing the way you think without writing the way you speak” and that I had “taken a basic story idea and made it immensely readable and enjoyable.”
Now you may be wondering: am I just using this Byline opportunity to promote myself? No, the point is that reading has undoubtedly improved my writing.
As an added bonus, books offer a welcome reprieve from our fast-paced, anxiety-inducing world. And couldn’t we all use that in 2025?!
If you’re looking for a book recommendation this year, here are a few I’ve read recently that I enjoyed:
Anything written by Kristin Hannah. This summer I’ve read The Nightingale, The Great Alone, The Women, and The Four Winds. I devoured them – literally couldn’t get enough. Hannah is an excellent storyteller and expert in character development. Each of these books devastated me in the best way, and have messy conflicts that challenge me to consider both sides – even when I’m not reading.
“American Dirt” by Jeanine Cummins. American Dirt is a page-turner with purpose. It’s set like a biography, but reads like a thriller. Lydia and her eight-year-old son, Luca, are forced to flee Mexico for their own safety and illegally immigrate to the United States. With the state of immigration discussions right now both in and out of ag, I’d encourage everyone to read this book to approach these conversations with educated empathy.
“The Anxious Generation” by Jonathan Haidt. The Anxious Generation is less about making you a great writer and more about making you a more-informed citizen. Haidt’s research shows millennials and Generation Z experience anxiety, depression and self-harm at rates far higher than their older counterparts. He contributes this to a move away from what he calls the “play-based childhood” of the 1980s and 1990s toward a “phone-based childhood” of the 2000s and 2010s.
This is part 1 of a 2 (or more) part series. If you have book recommendations to feature in part 2, please send them my to betty@midwesternlens.com
– Haynes is a freelance ag journalist and photographer from Petersburg, Illinois. Find her at www.midwesternlens.com