A few weeks ago, Engie posted a bunch of fun bookish questions that she got from a podcast and I am fully stealing these prompts to reflect on my own reading life. Let’s get into it!
1) How do you define mood reading and are you a mood reader?
I define mood reading as taking into account your emotions and how you’re feeling currently when choosing what book to read next. Mood readers don’t stick to a strict TBR list when deciding their next book. Rather, they might have a stack of library books at their bedside table and once they finish their current read, they will peruse that stack of books to decide which one feels right for them to read right now. Maybe that’s a romance because they just read a heavy book or because they’re having a tough week and want something light. Or maybe that’s a fast-paced thriller to get out of a book slump.
I am not a mood reader. I have a very strict TBR list that I try not to deviate from. (More on that below!)
This is not to say I am never a mood reader. Usually, if I’m going through something really difficult (a big change, grief, high anxiety, etc.), I will stick to solely reading romances because they’re easy and light and exactly what I need at the moment. But generally, mood reading is not my thing.
2) Do you have a TBR? Do you stick to it?
Yes and yes. I keep many different TBR lists, such as shelving things as Want to Read on Goodreads, keeping up a list of romances I want to read, and buying books (my bookshelves are their own version of a TBR list). I pull from those lists to create a smaller TBR that I follow. Here’s what it looks like right now:
I read one romance in between each of my other categories:
- Must Reads – books I want to read ASAP (these are books that have been recommended to me a lot or are very buzzy right now)
- Books I Own – I pick a section of one of my bookshelves and choose an unread book to slot into the category
- Goodreads TBR – I use a random number generator to generate a number that correlates to my Goodreads want-to-read shelf
3) Do you cry reading books? If so, what books have made you cry?
It’s rare for me to cry but it does happen. I remember tearing up at the end of The People We Keep by Allison Larkin, but mostly for happy reasons. I cried a lot when I read Two Kisses for Maddy by Matthew Logelin—that book tore me up. I’m sure there have been other instances but I can’t remember them off the top of my head!
4) Do you use reading to escape, learn, or critically reflect?
I use reading to escape and to learn. I credit reading as to why I went from a very conservative Republican (I was hugely anti-abortion and a huge George Bush fan at one time!) to a liberal Democrat because I took the time to read about different perspectives and cultures, and it caused me to do a deep internal shift on my values and what I want from our society as a whole. I love the escape I get from reading (romance is my favorite genre, after all!), but I also want to continue learning and growing as a person through what I’m reading. That’s why I am so committed to reading diversely and reading as many books about social justice and antiracism as possible.
5) What is a book that made you laugh out loud?
Oh, this is hard because it’s rare for a book to make me laugh out loud. This is going to be a very odd choice but the books that Amber Ruffin and her sister Lacey Lamar have published have had a very cheeky tone to them, even when they’re talking about really awful racist incidents they’ve dealt with. Some of the back-and-forth banter in their books has made me laugh out loud. (You’ll Never Believe What Happened to Lacey: Crazy Stories About Racism and The World Record Book of Racist Stories)
6) What is a book that you don’t really know how to feel about?
Hmm… maybe Our Missing Hearts by Celeste Ng. On the one hand, I understood that she was trying to show us a dystopian society that doesn’t look too scarily different from our current reality. But on the other hand, I’m not really sure the point she was trying to make and I think a lot of it got lost in flowery language.
7) Are you more likely to read on a sunny day or a cloudy day?
The weather doesn’t dictate when I’m going to read—I read almost every day regardless of the weather.
8) Do you usually “set the mood” when you read? Candles, lights, etc.?
Nope. I mean, I’ll make sure I have good lighting (whether that’s natural or artificial) so I’m not straining my eyes to read, but I don’t set up any sort of cozy ambiance when I’m reading. I do love to read in my cozy chair in my room and maybe I’ll have a cup of coffee next to me, but that’s about it for setting the mood.
9) Can you leap from book to book or do you need buffer time between books?
I am most definitely a leaper! That’s the benefit of not being a mood reader—I know exactly what’s coming up next to read so I grab the book, a new bookmark, and get to it!
Do you read to escape, learn, or critically reflect?
I feel like an outlier in my group of friends because I primarily read non-fiction, mostly to learn?! I just like non fiction and I’m trying to feel less “embarrassed?” about that.
I definitely cry at books – not often, but a few times a year.
Oh, I hope you can feel less embarrassed about reading mostly nonfiction! It’s what you like! And it means you get a LOT more out of your reading life than I do with my romance reading, haha. Building a reading life you love is reading WHAT you love, not reading what you *should*.
I love your answer to number four. I agree wholeheartedly. Reading is such a great way to learn about other people and perspectives, whether they are a different race or gender or religion etc. I may never be a catholic, but I can understand some things about the religion and can happily have friends of different religions no matter what my beliefs are because reading has kept me more open minded. I love that. (Also I am fascinated by the period of Henry VIII and the swings from one religion to another based on his mood or current wife!)
I don’t know if you ever got into Marian Keyes, but if you haven’t, you should. She is a cheeky Irish woman who makes me laugh out loud. Disclaimer though: she did struggle with alcoholism and depression and sometimes does touch on the subjects, although not in a massive way. Apparently she also writes non-fiction, which I don’t think I have ever read of hers!
Yes, that’s what I love so much about reading! We get to learn about so many different subjects and I love when it’s packaged in a way that’s so interesting – like historical fiction! I’ve learned about so many different parts of history that I knew nothing about.
I’ll have to check out Marian Keyes! Do you have a favorite book of hers?
One of the first (or maybe THE first) book I read of hers was Under The Duvet, which is a series of essays and kind of gives you an idea of her voice. It doesn’t meet your GR hurdle though!
I love this post, both your take and Engie’s. My reading is mostly escapism with some learning here and there. You and Kyria both mentioned The People That We Keep today so I’m taking that note. I’m with you that the weather doesn’t dictate whether I read or not BUT if I’m on the beach it’s almost 100% certain that I’m going to spend the whole day reading.
There is truly nothing like a whole day to sit on the beach and read. The crazy thing is that I live 20 minutes or less from SO MANY BEACHES, and I never go to them for a day of reading!
This is a fun post! I should do it as well – and go back and read Engie’s. She posted it at a time when I was so slammed at work that I could not keep up with blog reading. But I think things will be a bit quieter this week with the Easter holiday – and I’m not traveling for 2 weeks. Hooray!
I am not a mood reader. I read what is available on libby from the library. Granted things come up and I can defer them if I am not super interested in reading it at the moment. But I usually have 3 books checked out at one time, so I need to read what I’ve checked out so I can get through it before it’s due at the library.
I do not cry much when reading books – except some non-fiction! I cried a lot reading “A Heart That Works” because it’s about the couple’s 2-year old dying. And then I cried A LOT reading “When Breath Becomes Air” – and I was on an airplane which was kind of embarrassing.
I mostly read to escape but I also read to expand my views on things.
I can definitely see how those two books would make you cry! I don’t think I can emotionally handle When Breath Becomes Air so I haven’t tried it, even though I know it’s such a good book. Maybe that’s why I don’t really cry when reading – I don’t let myself read the books that will make me cry! haha.
I read in the dark with my backlit Kindle so much that I am actually genuinely annoyed when I have to deal with shadows with “good” lighting in the form of lamps or whatever. LOL. I honestly can’t even remember how I used to read pre-Kindle. What an incredible invention ebooks are.
I think the question about escape, learn, or critically reflect is tough because I do primarily read to escape, but I do think critically about everything I read, even if it’s a ridiculous book about a woman falling in love with a Kpop start who she didn’t even know was famous. And you can learn from anything, whether it’s a lesson about human nature or culture or just a new vocabulary word. So in some ways that question is silly, isn’t it?
Oh, I don’t think that question is silly at all! I think it is helpful to think about what you want to get from reading. I don’t read to critically reflect – that’s not my jam and I like that reading can be purely for fun and not to think hard about themes or anything like that. That’s why I tend to be a lot less critical about romances, I think, than you are. I just want a happy story with good writing!
I do agree we can learn a lot from reading, but for a lot of people, that’s not their purpose for reading. It shows in the comments on this post – most of us read for escape! I do think I place more of an emphasis on learning when it comes to my reading, and seek out specific books to help me with that goal.
I read to escape, learn, and critically reflect. Sometimes all at the same time! Sometimes, I just escape. I am a bit of a mood reader but it also depends on when my library holds come in. I have cried in two books that I remember: Of Mice and Men (DEVASTATING ENDING) and Flowers for Algernon (SAME).
I haven’t read either of those books! And maybe I won’t if the endings are so devastating. Ack!
Fun post!!! I would say I mostly read to escape. Every time I read non-fiction, I end up wishing I were immersed in a story. Really well-written fiction can be a learning experience though, or make you critically reflect. But really for me it’s mostly about escape.
When I say something is on my “TBR” it really means it’s sitting on my bookshelf. waiting to come in as a library hold, or in a note on my phone. So I don’t have a formal list, but just a bunch of possibilities waiting for me to decide.
Okay, I will say I am slightly overwhelmed by your TBR system but I know people are ALSO very overwhelmed by my very structured and detailed one, haha. I like having a strong plan! I used to be the girl with a big stack of library books on my bedside table, but things are different these days.
Escaping and learning, for sure. I am always impressed by your TBR organization. I am a total mood reader. In the evening, I tend to flip between mystery/thriller and fluffy romance. Escape reading. Audiobooks are for nonfiction and/or heavier fiction (e.g., My Beautiful Friend [although that didn’t help me love it…], The Dutch House). Print books are… well, mostly for poetry and (gag) personal growth type reading. And there are always the comfort reads. 🙂
I would love to sit on a beach with nothing else to do but be warm (please, I’d love to be warm sometime?) and read. And, you know, eat. 😉
Book questions are so fun and I loved to read your answers. I am most definitely a mood reader. I have my TBRs and I try to pick from them but they feel more like a library (87 physical books and 600+ digital once – don’t ask).
I can easily skip from one book to another. But when I hit 6 books of parallel reading it starts to get overwhelming and I need to finish up a few. She says and has currently 9 books in the loop…
I may have to answer these book questions on my blog too. So fun.