For me the struggle isn’t being unaware of the types of books I like. I can drill down to really specific storylines, but the most important thing is a well written story. And more importantly well written characters. Werewolf/ demon romance or rockstar/ recluse romance even western or historical are all amazing stories if written well. The written well part is an incredibly difficult to metric to search for though. Which is the struggle. 🤷♀️
Yes, this is definitely a struggle with the flood of books we now have available. I think this is why I've leaned so heavily on finding curation sources I can trust like podcasts and newsletters. When I find fellow readers whose tastes often line up with mine, I can use their recommendations to help sift through some of the choices. Also, I can find favorite authors and then listen to some of those authors' recommendations if they make them (and if they're not just promoting friends or exchanging promotion with others but giving real deal recs.) I also have gotten good at reading sample pages and being able to tell pretty quickly if the writer knows how to write (or has a tone/voice/style that I like.) Another tactic I use is checking out whatever looks interesting at the library and then doing a sample session where I just read the opening pages of each to see if any catches me. If I don't like it, nothing lost because I can just return the book to the library.
Agree with you Bobbie! A well-written story + characters I have some depth of feeling for are 2 characteristics for me to keep reading. As a result, I'm a big DNFer. :-) And I love what Roni is saying below about following my favorite author recommendations. Kiese Laymon, for example, never steers me wrong! Yes to the sample read too.
Hi! I never thought about it, but I am definitely a mood reader. I've been reading a TON this year, to the point where I've had to switch to a KU subscription because my wallet cannot keep up with all the obsessive reading. At first, I needed to get away from romance, but still wanted fantasy, so I started with Percy Jackson. It's evolved since then, back into a romantasy realm since I'm getting back into writing myself and I like to keep track of what I like and don't like so I can do/avoid those things in my own stories or writing style. I'm not sure if there's a microgenre in there, but I definitely prefer where the heroine is a fighter/assassin/warrior or learns to be one. I don't care for fated mates IF the only reason they fall in love is because they're "supposed to." I need more of a reason for two people to be together than just wanting to rip each other's clothes off or a magical pull to that person.
I love your books, even though I tend not to read other authors who write tragic-backstory heroines. I prefer lighter, humor-tinged stories because I have enough drama in my life and my reading is an escape.
I've also 100% been that person who read a popular book and went, "huh?" Not always. Loved Harry Potter and Fourth Wing. ACOTAR, not as much, though I admit I kept reading because I preferred where the series went from Book 2 on.
Finally, thank you for mentioning DayOne. I've been keeping track of this years reading on Goodreads, but sometimes I just wanted to leave notes for myself re: why I DNF'd or why I liked it, but I don't want to give a long review.
Yes, I'm with you on the fated mates thing. That trope almost never works for me. What's interesting is I learned (via the CliftonStrengths personality metric I coach with) that different personality types/Strengths are more prone to like instalove stories than others. I'm not wired to like instalove/fated mates because my personality is geared toward knowing my inner circle very deeply and not letting just anyone into it, so to me, I can't really understand instalove because there are a lot of steps to go through before I let someone that close. But others who are wired differently and are more socially open tend to enjoy stories of instalove because they have the capacity to fall for someone really quickly in real life too. I think that's fascinating. And yes, DayOne has been a really nice and easy way for me to keep track on the go. Plus, it looks pretty seeing all the book covers lined up in the app. :)
For me the struggle isn’t being unaware of the types of books I like. I can drill down to really specific storylines, but the most important thing is a well written story. And more importantly well written characters. Werewolf/ demon romance or rockstar/ recluse romance even western or historical are all amazing stories if written well. The written well part is an incredibly difficult to metric to search for though. Which is the struggle. 🤷♀️
Yes, this is definitely a struggle with the flood of books we now have available. I think this is why I've leaned so heavily on finding curation sources I can trust like podcasts and newsletters. When I find fellow readers whose tastes often line up with mine, I can use their recommendations to help sift through some of the choices. Also, I can find favorite authors and then listen to some of those authors' recommendations if they make them (and if they're not just promoting friends or exchanging promotion with others but giving real deal recs.) I also have gotten good at reading sample pages and being able to tell pretty quickly if the writer knows how to write (or has a tone/voice/style that I like.) Another tactic I use is checking out whatever looks interesting at the library and then doing a sample session where I just read the opening pages of each to see if any catches me. If I don't like it, nothing lost because I can just return the book to the library.
Love the sample session idea!
Sample sessions can be fun! I’ve heard some people call it a book flight like a wine flight lol.
Agree with you Bobbie! A well-written story + characters I have some depth of feeling for are 2 characteristics for me to keep reading. As a result, I'm a big DNFer. :-) And I love what Roni is saying below about following my favorite author recommendations. Kiese Laymon, for example, never steers me wrong! Yes to the sample read too.
I read a mix of microgenres. I read what I like and will try other things, because variety is the spice of life. lol
Variety is definitely good!
Hi! I never thought about it, but I am definitely a mood reader. I've been reading a TON this year, to the point where I've had to switch to a KU subscription because my wallet cannot keep up with all the obsessive reading. At first, I needed to get away from romance, but still wanted fantasy, so I started with Percy Jackson. It's evolved since then, back into a romantasy realm since I'm getting back into writing myself and I like to keep track of what I like and don't like so I can do/avoid those things in my own stories or writing style. I'm not sure if there's a microgenre in there, but I definitely prefer where the heroine is a fighter/assassin/warrior or learns to be one. I don't care for fated mates IF the only reason they fall in love is because they're "supposed to." I need more of a reason for two people to be together than just wanting to rip each other's clothes off or a magical pull to that person.
I love your books, even though I tend not to read other authors who write tragic-backstory heroines. I prefer lighter, humor-tinged stories because I have enough drama in my life and my reading is an escape.
I've also 100% been that person who read a popular book and went, "huh?" Not always. Loved Harry Potter and Fourth Wing. ACOTAR, not as much, though I admit I kept reading because I preferred where the series went from Book 2 on.
Finally, thank you for mentioning DayOne. I've been keeping track of this years reading on Goodreads, but sometimes I just wanted to leave notes for myself re: why I DNF'd or why I liked it, but I don't want to give a long review.
Yes, I'm with you on the fated mates thing. That trope almost never works for me. What's interesting is I learned (via the CliftonStrengths personality metric I coach with) that different personality types/Strengths are more prone to like instalove stories than others. I'm not wired to like instalove/fated mates because my personality is geared toward knowing my inner circle very deeply and not letting just anyone into it, so to me, I can't really understand instalove because there are a lot of steps to go through before I let someone that close. But others who are wired differently and are more socially open tend to enjoy stories of instalove because they have the capacity to fall for someone really quickly in real life too. I think that's fascinating. And yes, DayOne has been a really nice and easy way for me to keep track on the go. Plus, it looks pretty seeing all the book covers lined up in the app. :)