My relationship with reading has fluctuated throughout the years. When I was a kid, I was always reading whatever I could get my hands on, especially fantasy and romance novels in the veins of Wicked or Jane Austen (I had this thing where I was reading books probably sooner than I was able to fully comprehend what was happening...). However, once I reached college and graduate school, and the years in between and following, my interest in reading disappeared. Between burnout and personal issues, I barely picked up books for nearly a decade. However, I wanted to start reading for fun again around 2018ish or so, but really got myself back into it with rereading the Hunger Games series in 2020 because the prequel novel was being published (which I highly recommend). With getting a job at my local public library and a Kindle, I've begun to read essentially nonstop. My Kindle goes everywhere with me (it's also on my phone which has proven dangerous) and I'm basically always reading 1-3 books at a time (usually an audiobook at work).
As for what I read - now this is something that hasn't changed, not entirely. I'm still an avid fan of fantasy and romance, but I've really found that my niche genre is romance. I absolutely love love and I love reading about people falling in love. I remember my mom telling me when I was a teenager (with teenage love troubles), that I was a hopeless romantic and all I wanted was to be swept off my feet (spoiler alert: it didn't happen because I was 15...it happened much later with my now wife, Marisa). I was discussing this with my colleague a couple of weeks ago, again calling myself a hopeless romantic. She quoted the 1984 movie, Remember the Stone, telling me that I was actually a hopeFUL romantic. This has stuck with me and this is what I decided I am.
Being the hopeful romantic that I am, I have also made the habit of dragging my friends and family into the world of romance novels with me. As Wyatt & Saricks (2019) say, "sharing these stories becomes both our goal and our pleasure" (p. xx), and it absolutely brings me so much joy to share cute love stories with anyone and everyone. And I look forward to continue sharing stories with all of you.
Now, I don't just read romance novels. They're just the primary thing I read. Fantasy novels are still my number two genre (don't get me started on good combinations of the two). I love reading them as a way to escape reality and to get pulled into other universes. I also enjoy science fiction or the occasional mystery, which usually has to be recommended by my coworker who somehow always knows I'm going to like something.
If interested, feel free to add me on Goodreads and/or on Storygraph
In no particular order, (and for reasons I cannot always articulate), here are my favorite authors and books (at least at this time):
Favorite Authors
- TJ Klune
- Sarah J Maas
- N.K. Jemisin
- Holly Black
- T. Kingfisher (Ursula Vernon)
Favorite Books/Series
- A Court of Silver Flames by Sarah J. Maas
- House in the Cerulean Sea by TJ Klune
- anything NK Jemisin has ever written
- Folk of the Air series by Holly Black
- World of the White Rat books by T. Kingfisher
- The Hunger Games by Suzanne Collins
- What the River Knows by Isabel Ibanez
Hi Katie,
ReplyDeleteGlad to have another class with you! It took me a while to slow down and have enough time to appreciate Hunger Games. Which book would you say was your favorite?
I understand the burnout thing. When I had my third kid and the pandemic hit, I really did not know how to keep going at the same speed.
I also really like romance books. It is hard being friends with so many librarians, because they give me so much trouble for reading corny and sometime problematic romances. Are you going to read House of Flame and Shadow when it comes out at the end of the month?
Hi Jackie! Always nice to see you again :) I agree on the Hunger Games. Reading it as an adult really allowed to me fully take it in and appreciate it on another level. I definitely recommend those books to anyone and always will. As for which of those books is my favorite, I have no idea. Maybe Mockingjay? But, Catching Fire is also there....so is the first one. Yeah, I don't have a favorite LOL.
DeleteI understand what you mean with the people giving you trouble about being a romance reader. I have decided that I do not care what people have to say about what I read because it makes I enjoy reading it and it makes me happy. Being judgemental about what other people are reading, especially to their faces (I know sometimes we can't control it to ourselves because that is just how people are, I think), does not a good librarian make, in my opinion. We're supposed to be championing for people reading whatever they like to read and helping them find more things they like (point of this class). I am sorry that your librarian friends do that to you. Hopefully they mean it in a silly way. We just love reading about love!!
And yes, I am definitely reading House of Flame and Shadow when it comes out, but it all depends on if my library gets it immediately or not! Are you going to read it?
I love TJ Klune! I really enjoyed The House in the Cerulean Sea when it was published in 2020 and I'm really looking forward to the sequel coming this year. I might have to re-read that sometime soon...
ReplyDeleteYes!!! I LOVE TJ Klune. The House in the Cerulean Sea is such a special book, in my opinion. If you haven't read his Under the Whispering Door, I highly recommend that one too!
DeleteHi Katie! I also am a huge romance and fantasy reader! Sarah J Maas is an author that I love too. One series that I had recommended to me and ended up loving was the Air Awakens series by Elise Kova. I've never met anyone else that has read it (besides the person that recommended it to me) but it is so good!!
ReplyDeleteOooh, that is now on my list! That looks intriguing and fun. Thanks for the rec!
DeleteHi Katie, I adored The House in the Cerulean Sea! I'm also super stoked for the sequel. I recently read The Hollow Places and What Moves the Dead by T. Kingfisher and I really enjoyed both of them. I usually read more thrillers/suspense, but I'm hoping to read more horror this year. I'm excited to buy What Feasts the Night when it comes out next month! Happy reading :)
ReplyDeleteI've only read T. Kingfishers White Rat books and Nettle & Bone. Everything else by her is on my TBR list. I especially loved the White Rat books because all of the protagonists are well into their 30s, so it was fun to have fantasy and romance books with adults who actually have their lived experiences vs young 20-year-olds who are wise beyond their years.
DeleteFantastic reading profile! I too am a hopeFUL romantic (I LOVE LOVE LOVE that movie!). I'm glad you've gotten back into reading! Like you I always have a book on hand and have several going at once. Great writing!
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