I realized that maybe I should include a little blurb about myself somewhere on here. I don’t much enjoy talking about myself, but I kind of want to put down somewhere my position as a reader at this point in time, to see if it changes in the future.

I read voraciously. As you can tell, I am reading approximately 20 books a month. This includes most commonly physical books from the library. I don’t buy books because the deadlines for return are what keep me reading. I have bought books in the past and they just sit on the shelf. To me, that’s not what books are for. I don’t want anyone to think I’m smart in ways I’m not. I have also added audio books to my reading infrequently throughout the years. I listen to a lot of podcasts, so my ears are often tied up in those. But after giving up news/political podcasts for Lent in 2019, I had a lot more free time, so I started checking electronic audiobooks out from the library as well, and read a few books with a free trial from Audible (which I promptly canceled because I’m cheap. And broke. Good combination, I guess). Most recently, I have become a Netgalley reader. A lot of my goodreads friends were reviewing these books that hadn’t even been published yet, and I wanted to feel cool like that. I had an old tablet that I’d gotten on a misguided adventure several years ago, so I brought it to work. Now I don’t have to bring books back and forth for reading on my lunch break; I can just turn on the screen and read what I’ve downloaded. This has been a fun adventure and probably makes me feel more powerful than it should.

Lately I have been thinking a lot about what I like to read. Reading Glasses (a podcast) has people describe what their “wheelhouse” is. I’m not entirely sure what this means, but it’s gotten me thinking about what I am picking up. As I started on this reading-heavy journey, I was picking up EVERYTHING. If a book was in the least bit interesting or recommended, I would add it to my tbr and put it on hold from the library. When the library staff took it upon themselves to explain to me how to suspend holds when I reached about 30 books checked out from the library which almost all came in at the same time, I realized I should become a bit more discerning. Genres I automatically gravitate toward are historical fiction, fantasy, and horror/suspense/thriller. As a young reader, I enjoyed Goosebumps, Scary Stories to Tell in the Dark, Stephen King, and Christopher Pike. This grew into a weird fascination with VC Andrews, and I think I’ve read all of the books written during her lifetime (none after, because I’ve heard nothing good). I don’t have a mind for history, but I like learning about places and events through the lens of a story, so I will read random things for that purpose. As for fantasy, I have always been drawn to magic, from vampires to dragons to young women learning that they are witches and how to manage their powers. I will read all of that stuff. As I’ve gotten older, lived more of life, and gotten more mature in my reading tastes, I’ve also added some literary fiction to the mix. I have enjoyed some of the books written recently that basically talk about people like me, living lives that could have been mine if I’d had different parents or lived in a different city, just for the experience of that person and learning their lessons. The only thing I can think of that I do not enjoy is romance for its own sake, particularly open-door scenes. I also sometimes think I don’t love science fiction (although lately it seems like some fantasy novels are falling under that heading, which I don’t understand, because I thought science fiction was like viruses and space), but then I think about things like Jurassic Park or The Martian Chronicles and realize I guess I do like sci-fi.

Besides genres, I think there are some other thinks I’m looking for in books. One of my very favorite things to read about is when people come together for a good cause, and when a person realizes their purpose in life. Those kinds of scenes, when well executed, will give me chills and/or bring me to tears. I read for plot, and can’t really hang with books that place intense detail on the setting or characters. I give a book 50 pages to catch my interest, and if I’m not asking myself, “What happens next?” it gets set aside. I also require likeable characters. I distinctly remember a book I was reading in high school that involved a man wearing a white gold ring (a google search suggests it was The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant) and I hated the protagonist so much I threw the book and never picked it back up again. Less dramatic incidents have repeated since. The Trial is a more recent example I can think of, where I just could not finish the book because I thought the main character was a selfish prig, so therefore I could not find any reason to care about him struggling to figure out what was happening to him. I also cannot abide cheesy language. I was recently offered an ARC of a romantic comedy that I could not finish because the characters were like weird, alien versions of people who had the strangest conversations with each other. (It’s the same reason I can’t really stand to watch TV..I find the dialogue inane.) I also don’t enjoy flowery language for its own sake; I am not a fan of poetry because it often doesn’t make sense to me. I tried reading Remembrance of Things Past by Proust a few months ago and just could not stand the amount of detail the author was putting into describing everything and nothing. Sure, it was pretty, but WHY?! I generally struggle with classic books (like 1800s) because I just cannot understand what they’re trying to say. It feels like reading a foreign language, and not something I feel compelled to spend time on when there are so many other books to be read that I gain a lot of joy from.

As for me as a human, I am a 34-year-old lawyer living in Michigan. I was divorced last year and that took a heavy toll on my psyche. Someday I might write about the experience, but I’m just now recovering, so it’ll take some time. I have a dog and I walk her when the weather is decent and listen to podcasts/audiobooks. I enjoy cooking and spending time with my family. I am very introverted and anxious, so I really struggle with making new friends in person and keeping in contact with people I know. Reading is the balm to my soul, because I don’t have to think about myself when I read.