As a nod to the Oscars last Sunday, I thought, I would write a quick (and not very serious) post about my reading habits. What do I want to read – and what do I actually read in reality?
Everything
As you may know, I am a big fan of crime fiction. Nonfiction appeals to my urge to learn new things. The blogging community tempts me to pick up new releases. I’ve also developed a love for the classics and want to dig deeper into those. Light entertainment is always welcome, but I also want to challenge myself with more complex literature. If you look at my Goodreads shelves, recent reading include Snow Country (strange, otherworldly Japanese classic), Legends and Latte (cosy fantasy about an orc and a succubus opening a coffee shop), Knife (grisly Nordic thriller), Our Wives Under the Sea (contemporary with body horror), The Future of Humanity (speculative science) and Trust (metafiction).
It’s difficult to spot any patterns in my reading and I want to keep it that way. Mostly, I want to keep an open mind and – with romance as a possible exception – try to read as varied as possible.
Everywhere
Reading books from other cultures is great. I also want to dig into alternative realities, fantasy worlds and of course parallel universes! Speaking of parallel universes, another recent read is Dark Matter by Blake Crouch. I’d been looking forward to this book for a long time, but unfortunately it turned out to be a huge disappointment. The thing is, quantum physics and the many worlds theory is so unbelievably crazy, it’s difficult for fiction writers to come up with anything half as spectacular. Everything Everywhere All at Once is one of the best attempts I’ve seen in recent time. The movie did a great job utilising real concepts from quantum physics in a completely bonkers narrative. Creative and very entertaining.
All at Once
When I want to read everything from everywhere, how do I decide what to read next? Well, I think my approach (in line with the concept from the movie) relies on randomness and probabilities. Occasionally, I do pick up a book from my TBR, but more often I end up with an audiobook on sale or a random library book. Sometimes, I listen to a bunch of audiobook extracts and pick the one, which capture me the most. When everything else fails, I pick up an Agatha Christie novel. 🙂
In another universe, there might be a version of me, who is super organised and navigates multi-dimensional spreadsheets with origin of author, genre, publication year and thematic focus, etc. That version of me has developed an algorithm, which at any point of time can tell me what to pick up to optimize my reading goals.
If I manage to do something extremely unlikely (like writing a blog post, which actually makes sense?) maybe I can tap into the energy of the parallel me and get a more organised approach to reading. But more likely, I will continue to plod along as I always have. Which may not be a bad thing. After all, if one gets too much power, one could end up finishing the universe(s) in a big black bagel…
Did you watch the Oscars? Have you seen Everything Everywhere All at Once? What did you think about it? If you haven’t seen it, this post probably makes very little sense. My apologies…
Nope, didn’t watch the Oscars. Award ceremonies aren’t my thing. I also haven’t seen Everything Everywhere All at Once, so I’m a failure from your point of view. Like you, I read widely, though Sci-Fi and dystopian stuff isn’t for me. Quite a lot of non-fiction too these days: environmental and nature writing, and history, mainly. Anything with an interesting cover 😉
I agree about award ceremonies, definitely not my thing. I did check who won the day after, though. It’s interesting, they rewarded such a bonkers movie in most of the main categories. Great to hear you are reading nonfiction, I try to as well with varying success. Haha, since I only listen to / read electronic books, at least I am not tempted by interesting covers!
😉
Hi there. I saw the movie a few days before the Oscars broadcast. I liked it but didn’t love it. Too much franticness and over-the-top-ness for me.
Yes, it was definitely over the top, but somehow I didn’t mind 😀
Ahh I absolutely loved how you wrote this post!🙌😂 I’ve yet to see the movie, I’ve heard so much about it and think it’s something I’ll enjoy.
I more or less resonate with your reading habits, I tend to read dark academia and psychological thrillers with the occasional sci-fi, but I’m hoping to read more varied genres this year. I barely read non-fiction or romance because I’ve yet to find one that keeps me interested.
Brilliant writing here!🙌 I’m currently reading Out Wives Under the Sea and it’s so weird but artistic and beautiful all the same.
You can probably find the movie on streaming services (I watched it via Amazon Prime). It’s rather weird – to put it mildly – but also good fun. Haha, I’ve tried and tried, but finally given up on romance. It just isn’t a genre for me. I like some of Jane Austen’s novels, but they are so much more than just romance.
Ah thanks, I look forward to hear what you think of Our Wives Under the Sea. I really enjoyed it!
Love this post! I saw the film just before the Oscars and thought it was good fun, but very wierd. I think our reading styles are pretty similiar I tried to go down an organised route and it just doesn’t work for me at all. Hence the shrugging GIF! 😂
Thanks Nicki! The film was undoubtedly very weird, we can agree on that! But also fun and entertaining. Yes, being organised is highly overrated, at least when it comes to reading. Exactly – your GIF really says it all! 😂
Gotta love an eclectic reader! I like your habit of challenging yourself in different areas–and of course, a random pick of something that catches your eye can never be wrong (just like Agatha Christie can never be wrong! Knife sounds great–I just put it on my library list for my next round of checkouts.
I haven’t seen EEAAO, but am eager to get the chance. I often stop and wonder what is happening to another me in another, parallel, universe. Usually it is when I feel I have been/am in danger–‘Ah, another me probably just got squished in this scenario….” A bit macabre, maybe? But also maybe true?
Haha, it’s fun to keep it fresh. I get a bit bored, if I stick to the same type of books all the time. Knife was good fun, it’s one of the last books in a series though, it might be better to start with one of the earlier books. You can probably find EEAAO on Amazon Prime, if you subscribe – that is how I watched it. Haha, well according to the many worlds theory – if you were close to a fastgoing car, but made the choice that got you safety – then there probably would be another universe, where you go squished. It is so weird, but according to very brainy scientists, it might actually be true.
Thanks for stopping by!
Over the last decade or so, I’ve read more and more books from African authors (and some from other countries too). It’s certainly an education to do so.
I would love to read more from African authors, it tends to be quite a different experience. I still remember My Sister, the Serial Killer – that certainly was different and good fun as well.
Ha ha, I love this post. I watched the movie myself last week too, and I agree, deciding what to read next does sometimes feel like navigating a world of infinite possibilities! It’s great when you make an unexpected discovery.
Thanks Julia. I think a bit of randomness can lead to some great finds. Quite often you don’t have ultra high expectations, when you pick up an unknown book. It’s more common to become disappointed with books, you have been looking forward to forever.
Fun post. You know I haven’t seen the full movie — but I get what it’s like from the first half hour. My reading is a bit like that too. All over, all at Once, LoL. But mostly I read literary and contemporary fiction. I think I read less thriller & crime stuff than I used to. You’ve sampled quite a variety of genres. It depends on mood sometimes right? I often alternate between light & heavy stuff, lol. I like a mix. I should throw in a classic every once in awhile … I usually enjoy them when I do.
Aha, you gave up after 1/2 hour? That is fair enough, I think you quickly get a good impression of what it’s all about. Now you mention it, I also read less crime and thriller than I used to. I still get through quite a lot, but I find it difficult to find books, I really enjoy. Classics are fun! They also give some background for reading modern novels, many authors are inspired by the classics or tropes / ideas originally invented in older classics.
Great idea for a post, loved it!
Glad you enjoyed! It was one of these spur-of-the-moment posts, I didn’t plan to post anything last week.
I can definitely relate! 😀 I enjoyed the movie, too, I thought it was fun and quite original.
Absolutely, fun, original and over the top (but in a good way…).
Awesome tribute to the Oscar winner, stargazer! I do like to explore books from all over the world despite translation not being perfect all the time. Being open-minded is definitely key to a fun reading rotation though, that’s for sure! 😀
Thanks Lashaan, it was a spur-of-the-moment post, put together very quickly. Translation is such an interesting topic, you don’t read the author’s work, but a combination of the work by the author and translator. I’ve been meaning to write a blog post about it. One day… 😉