Hi, my name is Terence, and I’m your host for Reading and Readers, a podcast where I review Christian books for you.

I missed the 4th year anniversary date. That’s a sign that the romance has faded. No more roses and daring do, just dishes and things to do.

Instead, I find myself scrolling endless YouTube shorts, or other trivial pursuits when I should be reading books, reviewing books, and making podcasts on books.

Do you know I used to consume books like a madman? I wake up in the morning, and my hand reaches for a book. And I can read all the way till the night, just enjoying good books.

I used to look with disdain at people who mindlessly scroll through their devices. Come on, feed your mind with something solid. Tweets, shorts, reels, Insta, they are all just sugar water. What happens to a body fed sugar water all day all year long?

I started this podcast as a way to fight back. To show people that you don’t need to spend a lot of money to get good books. There are plenty of good books available at discounts and even for free! You can be healthy, you can keep your mind healthy, just follow me.

But now, I find it harder and harder to finish a book. And watching endless shorts doesn’t seem that bad a thing. Hahaha look… another dumb video. Let’s watch another one. And all by itself, without my brain telling it what to do, my finger just scrolls up to the next video, as if it were the most natural thing to do.

Maybe that is the problem.

The finger I use to scroll to the next video on my phone is the same finger I use to turn to the next page on my phone. A lot of my books are on my phone. And my whole body, mind, soul and spirit, is conditioned to get stimulated from my phone, and it’s hard for a book to compete against sweet nothings.

I need to get out of this before I drown. And I wish I could say I was drowning in a sea of information. Wave upon wave plunging me into the depths of the world’s ever-expanding knowledge.

But I am drowning not in a sea. It’s a wading pool, shallow waters. All I need to do is just stand up.

And that’s what I am going to do. The fourth year has not started very well. But I did start this podcast for a purpose. And that purpose is still true.

I am going to finish a book.
I am going to write a review.
I am going to make a podcast.

Thanks for listening to Reading and Readers. Hope to serve you all better this year.