Book Blogger Confessions is a meme that posts the 1st and 3rd Monday of every month, where book bloggers "confess" and vent about topics that are unique to us. Feel free to share, vent and offer solutions. Just keep it respectful - no bashing authors or other bloggers!
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So, today's question is: Choosing your next book. How do you decide which book to read next? How do you balance “review” reading with “fun” reading?
Since this is a two-part question, I'll break it down accordingly. First, how do I decide what to read next? I wasn't sure if this meant what I chose to read next from the stack of books I usually have in my book bag, or what's waiting for a review, or what I choose from the library when I'm looking for a book.
If I have a stack of books in the house already, along with review requests, I'll usually balance reading one "review request book" with another book. It's usual for me to have 2 - 3 books at home going at one time (since I read for pleasure, and also have to read 2 books every month for my library book groups - but I'm able to do most of that reading at work). That way, just in case I'm not loving the book I received to review, I can balance it out with another book. If I'm doing this, I will deliberately choose a book that's nothing like the other one.
I will admit that sometimes, I accept too many requests for reviews, and then start to feel a bit overwhelmed. This happened just recently --- I thought I'd be able to whip through a bunch of books, and then I got sick and all I was doing was sleeping, doping myself up on painkillers and antibiotics and going to work, and then coming home and going back to bed. I was sick enough that I didn't feel like reading (that's how my husband knows I'm really sick ...... I almost never feel like reading). As a result of all of this, I got behind in my reviewing, and I feel like I'm still scrambling a bit .... and I'm reading these "review request books" first, and not anything else.
Now, I'm thinking I might only accept 1 - 2 requests per month. The feeling of not being able to read other books, and concentrate on the review requests has made me feel a bit cranky. Of course, it is my fault for taking too much on .... so I'm going to get that under control.
If I don't have anything that's waiting for a review, I will usually start with what's in my book bag (I keep loose library books there .... it keeps them contained, and not roaming through my house), and I'll just choose what I feel like at that moment. This is actually my favorite kind of reading --- pure pleasure reading. I usually have a bunch of library books handy, so if I start a book and I'm not wild about it, I can choose another. If I run out of library books that I want to read, I just go into my personal library and choose something. As a librarian, I'm surrounded by reading material, so I constantly have a supply of books --- things I've put on hold, or things I've just grabbed off the shelf.
I'm looking forward to seeing how other bloggers handle the whole "review request books" versus pleasure reading --- I'm hoping for some good ideas!
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4 comments:
Balancing between review book and your own choice is very important, I think, for burnout. It can't start to feel like a job!
I love that you get to read at work. That sounds fabulous.
I'm so glad you're getting in some pure pleasure reading! It's good that the library provides you with plenty of reading resources. :-)
Pleasure reading is so important for bloggers. For some reason after awhile you almost feel guilty doing that.
I'm making a point of doing that now and I'm feeling so much better about reading & blogging these days.
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