Two people can read the same text and experience something entirely different. As a teenager, I made it my personal goal to write the perfect book — the novel that had everything a book should have without a single flaw.

As I got a bit older, I came to realize this pursuit was rather naïve. The strength of one book is often closely connected to its weakness. The book with the perfect fast pace often lacks in description or has underdeveloped characters.

Because of this, a “good” book is often very personal and can change depending where we are in life.

When I was 13, I had a class that required each student to read a book from a list of classics. Without doing any research I chose my book: “The House of Seven Gables,” by Nathaniel Hawthorne. It didn’t take me long to regret this choice.

I went to my mom telling her I could not read this book. The vocabulary was impossible, and I didn’t understand what was happening. She wisely told me to write down the words I did not know, and we would look them up together with a dictionary.

I listed a full page of words from the first chapter alone. As we went through my list, I realized I did know half of the words, but had never learned to read or spell them. The other half … I learned.

I wish I could say the book was exciting, but to this day I am not sure I have ever read a more boring book. Fortunately, my mom had read to me, and I knew books were not inherently boring. This challenge didn’t steer me away from reading; instead, it taught me that I could read anything!

I have read a lot of books and have learned over the years that what I enjoy reading is not always constant. Sometimes when I am struggling, I like to read stories with tough situations and decisions which help me feel empathy.

I have engaged in voluminous works filled with crazy tangents and backstories. I have read books that are so fast-paced there is no time to think about anything else. Which of these is the best? It changes based on where I am and what I need at that time.

I recently checked out an e-audiobook by my favorite author through Libby. I started strong, but soon realized that to get through this 55-hour experience, I was going to have to listen for almost four hours every day before it was automatically returned. I made the decision not to finish the book.

Do I want to hear the story? Sure. But I started dreading listening because there were other things I wanted to do with my time. It is not that the book isn’t for me. It’s just not the right time, and that is OK.

Am I going to stop reading because of this experience? Nope. I’ll just pick something that is right for me, right now.

Find your right book now by visiting your local library or find something on the Libby App.