Earlier this year, I shared some situations us readers know all too well and all of them were related to the reading experience itself. For today’s post, I thought it would be fun to talk about the general bookworm life and the situations we seem to find ourselves in more often than not!
One of the more annoying situations a reader can find themselves in is probably the book hangover or even worse: the reading slump. I mean, we all want to read right? So not being able to (for whatever reason) sucks. A lot. I feel like a couple of years ago I was in some sort of overall slump because I read so much less than I do these days? And I hated it. I want to be able to read all the books. All the time.
But this is also where the next situation or problem can come in: us readers being unable to pick what to read next. I mean, there is just too much to choose from and when you don’t know what it is exactly you feel like reading, deciding on one book can be quite difficult. Do you want high fantasy? Sci-Fi? A fun contemporary? None of the above but also nothing outside those genres? Yeah, try picking something in that mood.
If we’re fortunate, we might have a shelf (or shelves) filled with unread books that we can pick up at any given point in time but what if we don’t feel like reading any of them. Not a single one. I’m kind of in that position at the moment. I do have a good number of books on my shelves that I could read but I also want to reread all of my favorites? Because that’s almost a ton of fun too!
You may or may not know that I don’t really do monthly TBRs (mainly because I am quite the mood reader) but lately, I’ve set myself lose TBRs. Nothing too specific and with lots of space to pick up other books too, if I wanted to. But then I’ll find myself in the position that I’ll mainly pick up books that aren’t part of my TBR. I literally put a book at the top of my May TBR and then that was the one book I didn’t read? It’s ridiculous, let me tell you.
A common reader and bookworm activity is book shopping, I think. It doesn’t mean that we pick up a million of books at once – but we do buy books here and there. But the problem is that we probably also have so many unread books currently on our shelves that we don’t exactly need more new books. But man with the way publishing works, there’s just no way that you’re going to get all the books read that you want to read before the next exciting one comes out.
When I went in for my appointment to get my wisdom teeth taken out, I somehow managed to forget to take my book with me to read while I waited for the appointment. And it sucked. I wanted to make sure that I distracted myself long enough so I wouldn’t get too nervous or anxious beforehand. But! My audiobook and phone obsessed self, of course, had her phone on her so I could at least listen to an audiobook and keep myself distracted that way. π
But here’s another problem with audiobooks: if you forget your headphones you’re pretty much done for. I mean, especially on busy public transport it’s probably going to be difficult to listen to your audiobook without headphones (and kind of rude, I think? At least if you’re listening to it really loudly), so people: remember to bring headphones. I always have my pair in my handbag as I never leave the house without it.
Now, I feel like as a bookworm we probably carry a physical copy with us most of the time too, right? And even if it’s a paperback, it can still get a bit heavy. Now, imagine carrying that heavy book around with you all day hoping to get some free time to get a bit of reading done and before you know it, you’re back home and haven’t had a minute to do any actual reading. But you carried that book with you all day. Your poor shoulder!
How many times have you found yourself in a position where you had so many books you were super excited to be able to start reading but you just couldn’t pick one. So, instead of maybe starting a few of them to see what peeks your interest you just decide to not do any reading. Making decisions can be quite difficult, after all! So let’s just push that decision off for another day. Or two. Or maybe a week. I’m sure the right book will jump out at us when the time is right! π
Does anyone else feel as called out as me by this post? And I’m the one who freaking wrote it. Thanks for writing a call out post about yourself, Swetlana. It’s very much appreciated. π
No, but seriously, have you guys found yourself in similar situations before and which ones are the ones you tend you find yourself in more often? And please tell me you put books at the top of your TBR too but then never actually read them? It can’t be just me, right? RIGHT? Let’s talk about it in the comments down below! π
… why do you have to call me out like this
The last two are sooo me. I carry a book around with me EVERYWHERE, they’re practically extensions of my arms. but most of the time, I don’t even get to read that much because I find myself occupied :”) at least my nonexistent arm muscles get a workout! and I’m practically the most indecisive person ever, so I always take foreverrrr choosing which book I should pick up next. (And once I do pick it up, I don’t put it back down because I’m completely lost in the story. *sigh*)
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OH MY GOD, SAME. And sometimes being completely lost in the story can get quite ‘dangerous’ because you don’t do anything but read, read, read and before you realize it, the day has passed and you haven’t done or eaten anything. FUN TIMES. xD
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this basically describes my life T.T I completely miss time passing by (and, coincidentally, also miss a bunch of deadlines *weeps*) but sometimes the book is so absorbing that I truly don’t notice!
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I JUST got out of another one of those experiences because I read A Reaper At The Gates within like 24hrs or something? It was SO GOOD but now I have to deal with the messed up sleeping pattern…
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I am guilty of buying books, with many others on my shelf to read. I am also guilty of buying books on special β I cannot say no to a great deal β even when its the second one in a seriesβ¦
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But who CAN say ‘no’ to a fantastic deal?! I know I can’t! π I used to be the same last year but this year I’ve been pretty good about buying new books because I would read them within DAYS of buying them so they never even went on my shelves as ‘unread’.
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Here’s to hoping I’ll learn to do that this year, or I’ll be drowning in books soon.
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Oh yes, the headphones conundrum when an audiobook gets in your possession. The drama!
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I just had to make sure I put my headphones back into my bag because I used them for an impromptu dance party in the middle of the night. xD
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Hahahaha I love this post so much – I feel a bit called out here, especially when it comes to carrying a book around. I often do – well, most of the time it’s when I’m going to work so I know I will end up getting some reading time, but still… it’s SO heavy at times and I wonder if I’m crazy, or not hahaha. I also hate it so much when I forget my book, whenever I know I’ll have a long commute or I’ll have to wait for an appointment or something. That’s the worst!
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I’m so happy to hear that, Marie! π
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Oh my gosh, all of these are SOOOOOO relatable! Particularly the last one… or when I’m reading something I’m not loving, but need to return (to the library or to a friend), and I tell myself I need to finish it before I can read the book I’m excited about. And so I just don’t read either of them…
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I need to find a way to make sure I read both books I HAVE to read but also books I WANT to read because I have too many review copies waiting for me. xD
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Another great post about situations every bookworm knows! π I relate to a lot of them but especially the one about carrying a heavy book around because that’s 100% me π I always have a book with me, even if I cannot do actual reading. The thing is that lately I read a lot of big books and … carrying out Winter (800ish pages) was not fun for my shoulders π (My mom was horrified that I would carry such a big book with me π )
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OH MY GOD, I can imagine how heavy that must have been! That book is huge.
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