Plz tell me Im not the only one who gets that reference...

ANYWHO.

So Ive been wanting to get back into reading some more. I used to read a tooooonnnnn when I was younger, and that was mostly fantasy. I used to want to read a lot too in college, but that was mostly HP books to escape. As Ive moved away from home and settled down, I've been hoping to get back into books; a few reasons being that I miss a good book, and I also want to get better at writing and I know besides practice, reading is a good way to expand that ability.

My problem right now is that I have so many books that I want to read, but I don't know where to begin. I also haven't used reading as an escape in a long time, which I really would like to start doing before bed. Thiisssss is where I need your guys' help!!

My questions are these:

1. Do you guys have any structure or goals to fit reading into your daily routine?
   
2. Do you guys have any good books that you like because of the writing style, or just enjoy in general?
   
3. What are yoooou reading and why? :D
   
4. I love you all <3 <3 <3 it's not a question I just wanted to tell you guys
   

I'm currently reading Loveboat, Taipei (YA) and The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle, both of which I love so far, but I MUST HAVE MOAR

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   Julius Scrimgeour

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I try to read on the weekends with the little one. But also I have a rule that if I dont get into a book by 50 pages I dont have to finish it. Also, I've learned over the years that its okay to quit half way.

My biggest thing is to only read one book at a time. Otherwise I never finish any of them.

As for what I am reading, I am reading an amazing biography called Georgina: Duchess of Devonshire. I'm not normally a fan of nonfiction (too much in college) but I have a tough time putting it down.

I also just zoomed through Rowenna Miller's Torn. I really like her because I feel I can see my own writing in her, but also she ties history and a type of magic together. She also isnt very well known and the first book in the series took me by surprise last year and i loved it.

P.S. love you too

  

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Thank you Bee <3 Your magic has made Sisse bloom

I'm in a book group in work and do it on my commute. It's a chore some days but the consistency of doing it every day helps.


We're reading 'where the crawdads sing' right now and its great but I just finished a book series by a former YA writer. they are murder mystery and NOT YA but her other books are.
- The Butterfly Garden
- Rose's of May
- The Vanishing Children

My next one is 'I am Pilgrim' - I'm trying to do a book a week, so pratchett is also a solid choice

They are a series so it helps to read them in order

Using goodreads helps too. It's an app that tracks books, let's you connect with others who are reading it. It's like a social network for books.

Having a book group also helps because there is a sense of accountability

  

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^  Look what Lady did  ^

Do you guys have any structure or goals to fit reading into your daily routine?

I have gotten back into reading mostly because I have a convenient 40 minute commute on the train every day, so that forces me to keep up a schedule and read regularly. I also tend to read on my lunch break. (I don't read at home so much because there are too many other things to do and then I get distracted xD). And obvs goodreads helps keep me accountable! I've also found half the fun when I REALLY LIKE or REALLY HATE a book is getting to write my own highly biased review/rating on goodreads.

Do you guys have any good books that you like because of the writing style, or just enjoy in general?

Not to shove ~classical things down your throat, but The Song of Achilles is an easy read with gorgeous lyrical writing, and The Secret History has some epic Donna Tartt lines & much college cult craziness. I also find that either reading 19th century stuff or modern novels set then is a surefire way to give me Charming muse; either in terms of writing style, words I want to use someday, or worse, the character bug xD On the whole I am not an Austen nut, but if you haven't covered the best Austens you definitely should. Northanger Abbeyyyy represent

Also! in terms of YA series you definitely should read, Lady: The Raven Boys et al. by Maggie Stiefvater. Beans will back me up on this! Please yell at us if you do read it. xD Also last year I read the Six of Crows duology by Leigh Bardugo and enjoyed that too, you should give that a try.

What are yoooou reading and why? :D

I am still on my Arctic kick of circa March 2018 which should carry me quite a way through this year, given the look of my to-read pile. >.> I do try to alternate between fiction and non-fiction (and swap between if I find myself in a rut with one), which is working out quite nicely for me.

  

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look ANOTHER beautiful bee!set <3

Do you guys have any structure or goals to fit reading into your daily routine?
I try for at least 30 minutes a day. Some days I'm more successful than others xD On days I don't work, I usually read a bit in the afternoon. I also got into audiobooks last year—I will never not prefer physical books, but audiobooks (particularly those written in first person) are still quite enjoyable, and fantastic to incorporate into housework or commutes!

Also getting active on Goodreads has helped me stay on the ball a TON. I know, we should strive for intrinsic gratification, but also that doesn't always work for me :P

Do you guys have any good books that you like because of the writing style, or just enjoy in general?
Was going to recommend 7 Deaths but you're already there I am a big friend of V.E. Schwab generally. Also I read The Starless Sea last year and, while the plot was occasionally "sure, I guess", the actual writing style and interludes were so beautiful I still get a (good) pang whenever I think about it.

Both have been around the block a bit, but I also recommend the Outlander series if you like your history laced with romance that isn't too sappy for my cold dead heart, and anything by Bernard Cornwell if you like your history laced with gripping action scenes.

What are yoooou reading and why? :D
Currently The Weed that Strings the Hangman's Bag by Alan Bradley as I wanted something ~cozy. Second in a series about a child poison enthusiast who solves mysteries in her rural British town ~1950s. Current audio is Margaret Atwood's The Testaments (sequel to Handmaid!) which I read-read last year but finally came off the waitlist for the audiobook at the library. Different narrator for each point of view, and a fab book to begin with, SO.

  

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— graphics by mj ♥ —

Do you guys have any structure or goals to fit reading into your daily routine?
I don't really have a structure, per se beyond the fact that I tend to read a bit before bed and a bit when I wake up. Sometimes our internet goes out and I'll opt to read if I know it's not something fixable on my end.

Do you guys have any good books that you like because of the writing style, or just enjoy in general?
I love young adult 'thrillers' and recently found a book that I had been looking for for several years now. Christopher Pike, RL Stine, etc. I tend to read either vampiric romance (Carpathian series being one of my favorites) or thrillers/horror. Especially those that were written in the 80's. I like being gripped on the edge of my seat.

What are yoooou reading and why? :D
I just finished reading Simon vs. the Homo Sapiens Agenda, and it's sequal about his best friend Leah on the Offbeat. And am currently reading the third novel set in that universe: the upside of unrequited. I adore them because as a queer person, finding a good book (especially in English-speaking movies) where the non-hetero and/or non-ci character doesn't up and die in the end or deal with other intensely tragic shit is quite rare to find.

So I guess this also kind of ties into the question above when it comes to good books that I enjoy in general: books where being non-hetero and/or non-cis isn't the entire basis and focus of the character but is simply one aspect when it comes to them as they go through life. Like their hair being brown and their eyes being green or whatever. Not sure if I made sense there, it's 3.26am xD

  

WOW I SUCK. This was in my drafts and I apparently never hit submit =_=

ANYWHO

Thanks for the recs and advice everyone!!!

Sisse Thompsett oooo I'll have to check those guys out, esp Gerogina. I love "biographies" when they're kind of woven as stories. I was like ¾ of the way thru Magaret George's Memoires of Cleopatra and then I never picked it back up and I have to start all over again.... and it's a little under 1,000 pages that are like....bible paper thin. Send help.

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Ginevra Blackwood Yes!! I've got Goodreads, but I'm also bad at tracking what I read xDD and Goodreads seems to help a liiiiittleee bit!!

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Elias Grimstone Ooooff if I had a commute I'd definitely do that - that was one of my favorite parts of having a 30 min bus ride to work back home.

and omg nooooo don't feel bad about suggesting classical things to me, I barely read those in HS and need to have more of those on my list.

Aso ooo yes I've heard of the Raven Boys!! Sooooo many people have told me this is really god and I should read it. So I guess I should read it xD

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Julius Scrimgeour ooo yes I prefer physical books as opposed to audiobooks, but the latter is fantastic for car rides (esp in bad traffic lol) and cleaning! Def picked up The Starless Sea this year and 7 ½ Deaths is FAB so far. The other day I was talking to my friend about it and he said - potential spoiler in tags below

Show

7 ½ Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle

"Ooooo what if it's your OWN death that you have to solve?"

AND NOW I GOTS TO KNOW IF HE'S RIGHT.

But yes Goodreads, like I said for Dante I really have to utilize that more...

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Roberto Devine No that totally made sense! I def love books where the physical identity like someone's race isn't a factor, so I can imagine it's the same concept with LGBTQ+ identities too. Where sexuality is brought up and respected to bring awareness, but they don't have to be the #Tragic character in order to do that <3

The following 1 user Likes Amelia Evans's post:1 user Likes Amelia Evans's post
   Julius Scrimgeour

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YO How was Loveboat, Taipei? I keep seeing it at the store and am like YAAAS TAIWAN

  

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— graphics by mj ♥ —

YO How was Loveboat, Taipei? I keep seeing it at the store and am like YAAAS TAIWAN

OMG I LOVED IT <3 that reminds me I drafted up a Charming Book Club for it and didn't finish it. Posting it later today >D

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   Aldous Crouch

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Do you guys have any structure or goals to fit reading into your daily routine?

Not really! If I really like a book and have time, I might binge-read it and finish it in two days. If I'm not too thrilled about a book, I might read it in a span of two weeks. I don't really have any "must read 10 pages per day" goals. I believe that reading is done for fun, so daily routines makes it rigid, like it's a job or something.


Do you guys have any good books that you like because of the writing style, or just enjoy in general?

I looove Kurt Vonnegut's writing style and Mother Night is my favourite. Then, I love Milan Kundera, he writes more emotional and love-themed books. His writing style is really philosophical imo. I also love Nabokov's writing style and The Laughter in the Dark is my favourite.


What are yoooou reading and why? :D

I'm currently reading Memoirs Found in a Bathtub by Stanislaw Lem. I picked it up because he wrote Solaris, which Tarkovsky adapted into a film. From what I understood after watching Youtube videos that explained the movie, it talks about the self and what makes a person "real". I was interested because I went to this philosophical conversation event where we talked about what is the self and I thought Solaris would be interesting to read. The library didn't have it, however, so I picked up this one.

The story is about this man who has been given a mission but nobody tells him what it's about. So he wanders this headquarters/spaceship/Ministry sort of thing trying to figure out what his mission is about and growing progressively more paranoid that everyone is out to get him. I think it's an allegory about how life is meaningless and we wander trying to find what our "mission" is about, sure that we're the center of the universe, when in fact there's no meaning and we're unimportant in the grand scheme of things.