The trickiest part of writing a blog, in my opinion, is the salutation right at the beginning. I mean nobody wants to sound overly chirpy or false but being to cold and distant is not ideal either...hmm. Must try harder.
My goal is to make this whole blogging thing into a weekly habit (I mean how hard could it be?) so this warrants a new style of blogs. I am not holding myself to wrap-ups, hauls and reviews but a whole manner of book related content. I thought this week it would be interesting to start off by considering my own reading habits. I will admit that this is not something I have previously given too much thought to if I am honest. I've always kind of gone with the flow and not really paid too much attention to the habits I have picked up. Taking a step back and thinking about my approach to reading comes with thanks to a few different realisations:
1. I realised I do not have a "favourite" genre any more. Which makes finding books pretty tricky sometimes.
2. I find myself caught up in the hype of a new or upcoming book and don't stop to think about whether or not I am interested in the content, genre or style of writing.
3. A kind of combination of the above has left my shelves laden with books I am not even sure whether I will read or not.
The kick starter to this actually happened in my local Waterstones yesterday afternoon when I was spending time with a friend and colleague. She made a comment about liking to read the occasional "crappy crime" novel as well as making a beeline for the sci-fi shelf. I found myself a bit overwhelmed because I found that there just wasn't a particular direction to look in for a genre or book that might interest me.
As I kind of aimlessly sauntered around the shelves I was trying to recall the last time I went into a bookshop and "knew" what I was looking for. When I really think about it I could pinpoint a rough idea of my final year of my undergraduate degree. It was when I was head over heels with Shirley Jackson, Mary Shelley and Stephen King and, thus, all things Gothic fiction. What was even trickier was to try to remember why I got away from that comfort zone. When I look over my Goodreads summary for 2017 there are definitely a good few Gothic numbers amongst the books I read. The realisation that I came to was that I didn't necessarily seek those out because they were Gothic fiction but rather because I had either heard of them recently or had been recommended them.
When I cast my memory over the books I have read most recently there is definitely a new genre that is creeping through and that is literary fiction. Until recently I was naive as to the existence of this genre and when I found myself trying to categorise the books I was (mostly) reading I found it difficult. Another genre I find myself drawn to is historical fiction. I find when literary and historical fiction are mixed with a little bit of the Gothic I have an ideal book.
So my final questions were: what do I do about this predicament? Do I keep randomly picking up books or do I try to settle and look specifically for ones that fit in with my (let's be honest) ridiculously specific success criteria? Is there anything wrong with being a reader of random books?
At the moment my thoughts are that there is nothing wrong with reading the way I have been recently - random reading has lead me to discover so many great authors (Joanna Cannon, Heather Morris, Gail Honeyman...the list is endless). In fact, random reading offers so many opportunities for rediscovery of reading identity if it is a conscious choice. It is ridiculous how many books I bought and did not read last year and now when I look at some of those books I feel like I will probably never pick them up. They don't really interest me, I am never in the mood for them. It's most definitely an "it's not you, it's me" situation because there are, I'm sure, some fab books that are among those I probably won't read.
Traditionally most of us set resolutions in January for the start of a new year (and, let's face it, break them in February) but I don't think that we should limit our target/resolution setting to that time of year. Part of why I always break my resolutions is because I find myself pulling away from the idea of them being so fixed. I hate being told what to do and so in the end I break them because I resent them after a while. So I am not calling this a "resolution" but rather a promise to myself (and my bank!) that I will make a concerted effort in the coming months to rediscover my reading identity, not to buy endless amounts of hyped books that I am not interested in and to get rid of (or at least put to storage) books that I have never and will never pick up.
An interesting week this week in terms of reading, I am currently listening to "The Belles" by Dhonielle Clayton and really enjoying it. The narrator is brilliant! Alongside this I am also reading the beautiful hardback of "The Mermaid and Mrs Hancock" and finding it totally enthralling. Oozing with indulgent description and some extremely well developed characters.
Ending on a quotation from my current favourite film:
"You don't need everyone to love you, just a few good people."
-The Greatest Showman
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