Bookish Thoughts

This past week wasn't a great book week. There are times when I go through a streak of amazing books, and then there are times when I can't find a book I like, and I quit several books in a row, or maybe I just don't feel like reading, or I finish several "meh" books and feel like my time was wasted. 

As much as I hate a DNF, I’m trying to walk away from more books that don’t appeal to me so I can spend more time reading books I actually like. The problem is, even when I’m halfway through a book and not loving it, I still have hope that it might change. It’s happened many times, and I’d hate to miss out. But at the same time, I’m trying to be a better discerner of what I like in a book. 

Here's hoping to some good reading in the coming days! I have a stack of books from the library just waiting! Surely one of them will be a gem!

(Update: I started this post several days ago and didn't finish. Then I got sick and spent a few days flat in bed. At this point, I'm not reading because my head feels like it's going to explode, so now I've had two "not great" book weeks in a row).

I always keep a list of book recommendations on my phone. Some of my favorite places to get book recommendations are:

• Goodreads - There are 3-4 friends on Goodreads who have very similar taste in books, so I know when they rate a book 4-5 stars, it's worth looking into. I also have 3-4 friends from whom I generally won't take a book recommendation because we simply DO NOT like the same things (but I enjoy seeing what they are reading nonetheless). 
• Sam's Club or Costco - I'll take a photo of the books at Sam's or Costco then come home and look them up on Goodreads and add some to my list. 
• Word of mouth - obviously.
• Facebook - when my "to read" list gets sparse, I'll sometimes ask for recommendations on Facebook. I don't get the best recommendations that way because about 80% of the recommendations are the same books the same people told me about last time I asked, and I've already read them. But it's always worth a try, and I like to see what people are reading and what they like. 
• Reader's Choice - our county library system does a read and vote program called Reader's Choice. They release a book list twice a year, and patrons can read as many as they want and vote to determine a winner. I get so excited when the new Reader's Choice selections come out. I always take a pamphlet home and look up all the books on Goodreads and add the ones I'm interested in to my list. 

As a personal rule, I don't follow any social media influencers, so I don't seek out book recommendations that way, but I can always tell when one of them has recommended a book because suddenly eight of my friends will mark the same book as "want to read" on Goodreads.  

I dabbled in Pinterest book lists for a while but found that I rarely like a book recommended on Pinterest, so I don't bother anymore. Amazon First Reads have also been mostly bummers, but I still download one every month... because what if? 

One of my favorite experiences to have with a book is when I go into it with very few expectations and end up loving it. 

My reading habits have changed with time. I used to be very anti-audiobook and anti-e-book, but now I embrace them both while still enjoying an occasional paperback. I also used to prefer to not read book synopses and just dive in ignorant. Now I always read the synopsis and do a little research when choosing a book. I find that there are a lot of books where, if I don't read the synopsis, I don't fully understand what's going on. That's true of the book I'm currently reading, Klara and the Sun by Kauo Ishiguro. I only understand - to some extent - what Klara is (an "artificial friend") because it said so in the synopsis. The book has just left me to make assumptions.

Speaking of books I don't understand, I struggle with fantasy, sci-fi, and classic literature. I'd like to think I'm somewhat intelligent - not a genius, by any means, just smart "enough" - but I just can't figure out fantasy. It makes me feel like I'm missing a function of the brain. There are always these languages and kingdoms that aren't well-explained. It's like, there's stuff I'm already supposed to know, and the author doesn't want to explain it to me. Plus, in fantasy books, there are always journeys. I struggle with journeys. That's not to say that I won't read a book with a journey, but I wouldn't say I'm much of a fan. If weird creatures are trekking across land running into problem after problem, I'm gonna suffer a bit. Toy Story included. 

(I do love LOTR but you have to admit... it's exactly what I described above. The languages... the kingdoms... the trekking creatures... also, I never made it past the first book. When it comes to Tolkien, just give me the movies. Likewise, I prefer classic literature in the form of BBC miniseries, though I've never managed to sit through Pride and Prejudice).

Whenever I ask for book recommendations on Facebook, someone will always ask, "What kind of books do you like?" I never know how to answer this. I can tell you the books I usually don't like: regency romance and chick-lit in addition to fantasy, sci-fi, and classic lit (I love the stories and themes of classic lit, but I don't care for the actual writing). I'll still explore these genres once in a while, but they're not usually my preference. In recent years, I'm also not very keen on series - I prefer stand-alone books. Despite the genres I'm not a big fan of, I still think I'm a well-rounded reader who likes a variety of books. 

Someday, if it ever works out, I'd like to write a novel. I'm at peace with "maybe I will, maybe I won't." I'm good either way. But there are a lot of things I fear about writing a book - namely rejection, criticism, and/or failure (I've spent my life avoiding things I might not succeed at - I'm basically a professional). Last year, my book club had the chance to meet with an author, Margo Catts, over Skype to talk about her book, Among the Lesser Gods. I asked her several questions, one of which was "how do you deal with criticism?" She had great answers. I don't remember what she said, but I recall walking out of that book club meeting feeling like I could write a book. The feeling went away quickly, but for a brief moment, I felt capable. 

Putting yourself out there like that is a big deal. Thinking about 12 different publishing houses rejecting Harry Potter is quite discouraging. But then I go to the library with my kids, and we come home with a book about a piece of toast who wants to be a dog, and I think, "If this is a published book, I can totally write one!"

Since I'm trying to finish this post while I'm sick (and feeling like I'm breathing fever out of my mouth), I'm going to go ahead and give myself permission to not come to any conclusion here (one more reason I actually shouldn't write a book - I'm terrible at wrapping things up and would much prefer to just point and yell at something in the sky to distract you while I run away).

I'm not sure that tactic sells many books. 

*If you're wondering what I'm sick with, my best guess is strep. On Saturday, I had headaches all day, and in the middle of the night I woke up with a sore throat and body aches. I thought I had COVID (since Nicky just had it), but I had a negative at-home test on Sunday and a negative PCR test yesterday. I went to the dentist on Friday and was suffering from some pretty intense mouth pain over the weekend, which I thought was from the hygienist being extra vigorous during my cleaning, but then I looked at the sores and realized it looked a lot like strep. Today when I woke up, I had developed several more sores, so I went and got tested for strep. It came back negative! But the doctor looked in my mouth and said, "Girl, I'm giving you antibiotics anyway! That looks horrible." And it is! I would rather read a fantasy novel any day than have this pain! I would post a photo, but you would never forgive me. So no reading for a while, but I have slept through 21 episodes of M*A*S*H in the past 48 hours.