Reading for the Sake of Content // some honest thoughts from blogging over the years

Happy new year, again! Cue the yearly reading challenges, resolutions, and pledges to read more!

NY resolutions from january 1-30 🥳

Maybe not, though.

This year, we all seem to want the universe to please cut us a break. It appears that many people have taken the initiative to carve out some guilt-free, time for rest in the upcoming months, and for some avid readers, this means cutting down on how many books we’re aiming to read by 2022. 

Although I personally don’t plan on scaling back my reading this year—there’s only so much reading my “slow-reader” butt can cut down on before I’m not reading anything 😅—the idea of slowing down how much literature I’m consuming brings to mind a question I ask myself often: how much do I read for the sake of content for my blog and YouTube channel? 

Appreciating Author’s Notes // why I like them, their affect on ratings, and when should they be read

A little moment of appreciation for Author’s Notes.

Of everything that goes into book publications, book covers seem to get the bulk of exposure. They receive constant praise for their beautiful art, are chided for misrepresenting their story’s content (1|2), and may be judged for any other detail bookworms can pick at. That’s what they get for being all out in the open—easy targets 😈🎯.

In comparison, there’s very little buzz about the Author’s Notes section in books.

where is the buzz?

Behind the book covers, tucked safely before or after the main story, author’s notes exist inconspicuously and don’t drive book sales for obvious reasons. However, even once readers finish a book, author’s notes are rarely referenced asides from the quick nod in a book review or the infrequent discussion they inspire.

Maybe there’s truly not much to say about them, which is fine, but it’s also a bit of a shame considering the thought authors put into writing them and determining where they fit according to the format of a book.

So, here’s my official Author’sNotesAppreciationPost✔️ where I consolidate all the reasons I like Author’s Notes, discuss how they affect book ratings, and question when they should be read. Let them not be in vain 💃🏽!

Are You A Speed-Reader? // and why I am a slow reader

Let’s be real, we bookworms don’t have enough time to read all the books we want to.

Never watching TV again, quitting our jobs, and devoting all our time to reading books won’t put an end to our never-ending TBRs. (Don’t go rushing to your boss with your two weeks just yet, pal.) There’s always a hot, new book we need to get to or an old classic that we’ve neglected.

Honestly, it’s a fortunate problem to have, to be able to read and have too much to read. But still, with all problems, no matter how negligible they seem, we search for ways to mitigate them.

In the case of the insurmountable books on TBRs, bookworms have taken to speed-reading.

Some people are naturally quick readers—they have the awesome (and scary) ability to hulk-smash dozens of books off their bookshelves every week. Others are auto-didactic and spend years training their eyes and brain to scan pages of stories so that they can finish them faster and faster. Still, there are the laboring bookworms who haven’t and can’t hone the craft of speed-reading for one reason or another.

I’m a part of the laboring class of bookworms 🙋, aka the slow readers, and here’s my take on this topic: