Reading with teafortiffany

Hello friends!!

It’s been a minute since I’ve just done a regular sort of opinion and thought based type of blog post. Honestly, it almost feels like I’m just making a journal post, but online, for everyone to see. (I’m not nervous. Are you nervous?) I’ll be honest and admit that I haven’t finished my book yet. It has been hard to even make a dent in the book so far and I am honestly enjoying it, so that’s a bummer. But that got me thinking, what are some of the ideas and concepts around reading that I have changed my opinion on over the years? How have I changed from a reader who can stay up until all hours of the night to finish a book to one that gets maybe an hour here or there to read a chapter (or two if I’m lucky). So that’s what I’m going to talk about. In no particular order.

1. I don’t want to waste my time

I used to be one of those, soldier through even if I hate it, type of people. I felt like I owed it to the book that I bought or borrowed to complete it in it’s entirety. What if I ended up loving the book in the end? What if the author makes it into a series, and those books are better? What if! What if!

No.

I’m done with the what ifs. I’m in my 30’s and entering a stage in my life where I’m trying to move on to a good career, begin a family, and enjoy time with those I love. This year my partner and I bought a house, he got a new truck and is finishing up his Master’s degree, and we adopted a dog who is just the center of my world right now.

That being said, I’ve come to terms with the idea of DNFing books. This isn’t to say that people who do are wasting their time. I’m not here to judge how anyone spends there time, but for me, it was no longer worth it to keep trucking through a book I’m not vibing with – for whatever reason that might be. That includes the petty reasons like, the main character is named after someone I hated at my old job, or something along those lines. That being said, I do tend to leave those types of reviews out of my socials. Just because I didn’t like it, doesn’t mean someone else won’t.

2. Its okay to read slow

Along the same vain as before, I don’t have as much time as I used to. I used to read a book a night and that was fantastic. I don’t have that type of time anymore and I split what free time I do have between doing boring adult things and spending time on other hobbies that bring me joy. This blog has helped me to find time to read again and that has brought me so much happiness.

These days, I read maybe two books a month and I’m not sure I’ll even hit that this month if I’m honest. I used to feel like I was failing as a reader because I wasn’t reading as many books as other people. First off, I shouldn’t be comparing myself to other people. I don’t know what their situations are like and if they leave room for them to be able to read 10+ books a month, then that is fantastic. I’m not at a point like that and don’t know if I ever will be. I take what time I can get and enjoy it.

3. I like what I like….it’s not always popular

I’m guilty of doing the “I won’t read this because it’s popular” thing. I’ll admit it. I’ve actively worked on this aspect by setting myself some challenges to branch out and try the popular pick. Sometimes (like with Dungeon Crawler Carl) I find a new book or series that I absolutely love and want to devour immediately. Sometimes, I find that the popular book just isn’t for me and I move on.

I also have stopped wasting my time with certain genre’s. I am just not a Contemporary Romance girlie. I’m not. I can’t get into it for some reason and I’ve tried so many different times. So I just don’t bother anymore. I will still explore other genres. Right now, I’m giving thrillers a go. I’ve picked up a couple and I’m excited to try them out. I might not enjoy them but that’s what I’m going to figure out. I’ll try a couple of different authors and see what’s going on.

This whole thing applies to authors. I have those who are an auto-purchase (T. Kingfisher) and those who I keep as far away from me as possible. It’s all about setting my boundaries and I will not feel bad about that anymore.

4. I will probably never read every book I’ve bought

I get the whole, book dragon vs book worm, argument right. Buying books and reading books are intertwined but not always the same hobby. I’m not saying I’m out here holding on to books for absolutely no reason with no intention of reading it. That’s just silly (to me). Every time I purchase a book, it is with the intent to someday read it. Now, I might find that I have a book in my collection from a long time ago and my tastes have changed, or I don’t want to read a book anymore, or maybe I just don’t like that author/genre. I will go through and unhaul books that I’ve never even touched, but I typically try and find them a good home before moving them on to donations or in some cases, listing them to be sold.

It’s the nature of being what I like to call, a hopeful reader.

I hope I can find time to read all these books that I want to read but I’m also realistic about what time I do have. I’ve come to accept that sometimes, it’s just better to move something along so that someone else can enjoy it.

I also just don’t have the space for a massive library. Which brings me to the last little nugget for this post.

5. I don’t have to have the aesthetically pleasing space

Along with this blog, I also have an instagram account that I’m building up. The idea is to have both this blog and the instagram account working together – some more shortform content with my longer form content. Being on instagram I sometimes see these beautiful spreads, libraries, and reading areas. I thought, how can I possibly compete if I don’t have the same thing?

Does it matter?

No. It really doesn’t. I am still finding spots for stuff to go in this house. I have a space that works for what I currently have and I can still make aesthetically pleasing photos and not have a beautiful bookshelf. I don’t have space for a special reading nook so I’ll just enjoy the spaces where I can read comfortably. Maybe someday I’ll be able to do those things, but I don’t think there’s any pressure to have that.

Conclusion

I’m just trying to have some fun and enjoy reading. Sometimes I felt like there was just too much pressure and it took the fun out of it. I want to be clear though, I am not saying that people who do these things are bad or trying to be negative about them at all. These are just, conclusions that I came to that fit my life. A lot of it is because of time and ignoring that fear of missing out. I am more content in who I am as a reader now than I was before.

I hope you all still enjoyed this post. I know it’s not a review or a haul, but it was something that I’ve been thinking about for the past week and I really wanted to talk about it.

As always, leave a comment if you want to extend the conversation or if you just want to say hi! Until next time.

Bye friends!!