Whether it be a phone app, Goodreads, or just plain old pen and paper, everyone has their own way of keeping track of the books they read. I think there is some desire in all of us readers to be able to go back and see the books we've read in the past and what we've thought about them. Today I thought I would take some time to describe own style.
Showing posts with label discussion. Show all posts
Showing posts with label discussion. Show all posts
Friday, January 30, 2015
Saturday, December 6, 2014
On Reading Slumps
As you may have noticed, I've been absent for a while. Aside from the fact that school has my swamped with work (as do grad school apps), I also haven't been reading a lot lately. You could say I've been in a reading slump. That's right, those dreaded words that every reader shudders at. I've pretty much only been reading the books required for my classes. I just couldn't seem to get into any book that I picked up, regardless of how much I'd been waiting to read it.
It wasn't until I was home for Thanksgiving that I finally picked up a non-required book. The book that seemed to pull my from my reading slump was The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider. An important thing to note is that this was a re-read for me. However, it was a book I'd been wanting to re-read for a while. I think the reason that it pulled me from my reading slump was that it felt like low stakes reading. I already knew what was going to happen. I already knew the characters. And yet I still discovered new things on every page. I brought the experiences of a year between reads into the book that I didn't have the first time around.
I think a lot of us bloggers feel the need to keep up with all of the new releases that we rarely have time to re-read old favorites. We always say we want to re-read books and yet with all the new books, we never seem to actually pick them up again. When I was younger, before I'd even heard of the world of book blogging and before I had my own spending money, I relied on re-reading books for my reading fix. I didn't have the luxury of acquiring every new book that I wanted. To be honest, I don't think I even new what books came out when. I missed that.
For that reason, aside from books I've been given for review, I am going to be focusing on diving into all of those books I've been wanting to re-read. I already have a list of books that I know are just sitting on my shelves gathering dust. Hopefully, this will finally get me out of my reading slump and then, when I'm good and ready, I'll go back to those new releases (or at that point maybe not so new) with fresh eyes.
What do you do to get out of reading slumps? Let me know down below in the comments!
It wasn't until I was home for Thanksgiving that I finally picked up a non-required book. The book that seemed to pull my from my reading slump was The Beginning of Everything by Robyn Schneider. An important thing to note is that this was a re-read for me. However, it was a book I'd been wanting to re-read for a while. I think the reason that it pulled me from my reading slump was that it felt like low stakes reading. I already knew what was going to happen. I already knew the characters. And yet I still discovered new things on every page. I brought the experiences of a year between reads into the book that I didn't have the first time around.
I think a lot of us bloggers feel the need to keep up with all of the new releases that we rarely have time to re-read old favorites. We always say we want to re-read books and yet with all the new books, we never seem to actually pick them up again. When I was younger, before I'd even heard of the world of book blogging and before I had my own spending money, I relied on re-reading books for my reading fix. I didn't have the luxury of acquiring every new book that I wanted. To be honest, I don't think I even new what books came out when. I missed that.
For that reason, aside from books I've been given for review, I am going to be focusing on diving into all of those books I've been wanting to re-read. I already have a list of books that I know are just sitting on my shelves gathering dust. Hopefully, this will finally get me out of my reading slump and then, when I'm good and ready, I'll go back to those new releases (or at that point maybe not so new) with fresh eyes.
What do you do to get out of reading slumps? Let me know down below in the comments!
Sunday, July 6, 2014
Why I Need Diverse Books: A #WeNeedDiverseBooks Discussion
As of late, it has come to light how important it is that there be a diverse selection of books on store shelves and while I knew intellectually that it was important I never felt it in my heart. I recently wrote a review of Sarah Ockler’s book The Book of Broken Hearts where I mentioned how much it impacted me that the main character, Jude, and I shared a common cultural heritage. While I was reading this book, it hit me how much it meant to me that I could relate to Jude and her family on such a fundamental level in a way that I don’t think I have ever been able to with any other character.
As a Latina women, I don’t come across similar characters very often in the books I read (YA fiction) and I had become too comfortable with this fact. I was so used to seeing the same kinds of characters presented to me that I didn’t know it could be different. Basically, I didn’t know what I was missing. I think this is the root of the problem that the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign is trying to get at. We as readers are too comfortable with the status quo and that needs to change. I want others to be able to find that connection with different characters, whether it be through race, culture, gender, or a myriad of other points of connection. I want others to feel that fundamental connection that I felt with Jude and her family because I could relate to our shared culture. That will never happen if we don’t diversify our bookshelves.
This is my call to action – not just my call out to you, but too myself as well. I don’t want to be comfortable with what is out there because I know that we can do better. If you find a book out there that portrays the kind of diversity you want to see, tell people about it. Tell your friends, reach out to people on the internet, and just get them talking. The only way we are going to see the change is if we go out there and make it happen.
As a Latina women, I don’t come across similar characters very often in the books I read (YA fiction) and I had become too comfortable with this fact. I was so used to seeing the same kinds of characters presented to me that I didn’t know it could be different. Basically, I didn’t know what I was missing. I think this is the root of the problem that the #WeNeedDiverseBooks campaign is trying to get at. We as readers are too comfortable with the status quo and that needs to change. I want others to be able to find that connection with different characters, whether it be through race, culture, gender, or a myriad of other points of connection. I want others to feel that fundamental connection that I felt with Jude and her family because I could relate to our shared culture. That will never happen if we don’t diversify our bookshelves.
This is my call to action – not just my call out to you, but too myself as well. I don’t want to be comfortable with what is out there because I know that we can do better. If you find a book out there that portrays the kind of diversity you want to see, tell people about it. Tell your friends, reach out to people on the internet, and just get them talking. The only way we are going to see the change is if we go out there and make it happen.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)