The unpredictability of reading taste...
My pile of DNFs, bad sabbaticaling, and cobbler.
This week I’ve been bad at sabbaticaling—yes, I’m making that a word.
Every day this week I’ve been at my desk working on a short story for a charity anthology or working on the podcast. I’ll share more details soon about the anthology, but the point is, taking a break apparently doesn’t come naturally to me. I have to work at not working. I guess? I don’t know.
This is definitely first-world problem territory, but it’s annoying. Meal-planning didn’t happen, groceries were ordered instead of going shopping, clean laundry was scarce, no exercise happened. And…this newsletter is coming out late. :)
However, I’m here now and did have a few things I wanted to share with y’all today!
Reading Weirdness
So far this year I have read 5 books and have DNFed 5 books. This is…weird for me. I’m definitely pro-DNF. Forcing yourself to finish books you’re not enjoying will just get you stuck. But it’s strange for me to DNF so many. One of the books I had to put aside this week at the 38% mark is one that a number of people whose tastes I really respect have deemed a modern romance classic. But I was just…really bored.
Maybe you had to read it originally at the time it came out for it to fully connect or maybe I wasn’t in the right headspace, but it made me think about how strange and arbitrary reading tastes can be. This is why I don’t get too upset if I get a bad review on one of my books. I try not to read reviews anymore, but early on, when I did, I’d try to figure out if I’d done something wrong. But that’s a pointless exercise. What I did wrong for that reader might be what I did exactly right for another. (Like those reviews that say the book was too steamy. ;) )
Reading tastes are just strange and highly personalized—and also at the whims of your current stage in life and mood and level of sleep and on and on. That’s what I’m trying to figure out right now for me. Am I DNFing because I’m just picking up the wrong books or is it me? Probably a combo of both, but here’s hoping I pick up some books that capture me soon.
What’s the best thing you’ve read lately?
A Depth Year
Speaking of reading, I really liked these posts from Raptitude about the concept of a Depth Year.
“Towards the end of last year I proposed an idea that unexpectedly caught fire: what if, for a whole year, you stopped acquiring new things or taking on new pursuits. Instead, you return to abandoned projects, stalled hobbies, unread books and other neglected intentions, and go deeper with them than you ever have before.”
Like I talked about last week with my love for stunt memoirs, I love those personal challenge type things. I don’t necessarily want to sign up for not acquiring anything new, but I do like the spirit behind the depth challenge. I definitely can apply it to all the unread books in my TBR and my shelves of cookbooks. And a la Julie and Julia, I am often tempted to cook my way through a cookbook. We’ll see. For now, I’m going to ponder this idea of going deeper not wider and dig into what is sitting on my shelves.
What could you dig into deeper instead of looking for something new?
A recipe that keeps on giving…
I love to cook, but I’m not one of those cooks who just magically throws something together. I want a recipe. I can follow a recipe like a boss. And when I cook for others and my guests like something, I like that I can easily forward them a recipe so that they can make it for themselves.
One recipe that I made this Christmas that seems to be getting passed along from friend to friend now is Slow Cooker Oatmeal Apple Cobbler. If you want something warm and delicious and super easy, this recipe is great. It will also make your house smell awesome. The hardest part is peeling a bunch of apples, which isn’t hard just takes a little time. I definitely recommend adding a scoop of vanilla ice cream on top when you serve it because ice cream makes everything better. Enjoy!
Do you have any online recipes you love passing to friends? Feel free to share it in the comments!
Rad Reading Podcast
Today is all about the autobuy authors. We love finding autobuys, but we can also get stuck in a rut, only reading our sure things. Join us as we tackle the pros and cons of autobuy authors and then share a list of our favorite autobuys. And warning, technology and my puppy hated us this episode, so expect some bloopers in the middle and some outtakes at the end.
Listen your favorite podcast app:
Or add to your favorite podcast app with their “Add by URL” feature and paste this link there: https://feeds.acast.com/public/shows/rad-reading
No movie marathon review this week, but this marathon is one of the reasons I ended up writing all week. One of the movies I watched (and will review in a future edition) inspired the story! :)
Hope you all have a great weekend! Let me know if you make cobbler!
*Book links are affiliate links (Amazon, Libro.fm, and/or Bookshop.org), which means I earn a small commission if you buy through my links. Also, I receive advanced listening copies of some audiobooks through Libro.fm’s Influencer program. However, all reviews and opinions are my own.
The Simple Wild by KA Tucker is everything I love about romance books. It's that good!
The Mixtape by Brittany Cherry.