Inspired by this month's Time-Crunch TBR (and by a question I get asked a lot in the comments and on twitter), I thought we'd use this month's Book Chat to talk about Obligatory/Required Reading.
Feel free to chime in in the comments, create your own video and leave it as a response, or link up vlog and/or blog posts below!
And if you have thoughts or a desired topic for a future book chat, let me know in the comments!
Thanks for watching!
Definitely the bubble comment got to me! I was stuck in my own YA ways for practically three years since I stumbled onto the genre, and it took my senior year of high school, and an amazing AP Lit teacher with an astounding passion for literature, to pull me out of that funk, so to speak. Not that I don't still love YA, but, as I'm beginning to discover, I also really love classics. Not all classics necessarily but ones that some people don't really know about and some that are so well-known, that I stop to ask myself, how could I have not known? If that makes any sense... :)
That's funny, because for me, it was the opposite - I didn't really read YA as a YA, but was really into the classics. Jumped straight from there to adult literary fiction, and it was only after high school that I started really giving YA and MG reads a try, and realizing how much great stuff there is out there.
I am definitely one of those readers that dreads reading something that I feel obligated to read. I accept books for review on my blog, but I don't want to read anything that I'm not going to like, so I rarely accept books. I have a love/hate relationship with NetGalley. There are so many books that appeal to me, so I request them, but then I feel obligated to read them...
I am also a list maker. I have lists and lists of books. Books for review, books I've won, books I've bought and haven't read yet, books I want to re-read.
I really enjoyed what you said about having the right to give up on a book and the right to read whatever you want.
I am a lister too! Everything needs to be a list... I am obsessed with lists. And it does feel good to cross things off. Maybe we need to set up a List Anonymous group! LOL
I love the rights that readers have!Thank you!! It's so freeing! I've been thinking a lot about review books lately.Most that I get are from Indie Authors. The others I request from NetGalley. But I am so tired of the deadlines and obligations. So I'm giving them up. I just want to read the books I've purchased and what I want to review. This is just such a timely topic!
This was liberating to watch Misty. Thank you! I agree with everything you said here, and again it all goes back to "read what you love". We began reading for pleasure, so why not continue that way?
Having said that, I also see how I should push my boundaries and read back that are recommended (which I might be sceptical about) and more classics too.
I try to stay away from Netgalley for that very reason, Dena. I'd request ALL the things, and then be really buried and feel like I had to read them...
If we set up a Lister's Anonymous group, Angie, we'd spend all the time trying to organize everyone into subgroups based on different criteria... ;)
Heather, I hear you completely and I think I'm right there with you. My goal as of this moment is to not take any review books for the rest of the year, once I'm done with my Jane Austen event. Or at least, be VERY selective.
Sam, it's so easy to get caught up in a cycle, and to find yourself drifting further and further away from that core of "read what you love" - isn't it? I think we just have to take the time to remind ourselves every now and then.
Definitely the bubble comment got to me! I was stuck in my own YA ways for practically three years since I stumbled onto the genre, and it took my senior year of high school, and an amazing AP Lit teacher with an astounding passion for literature, to pull me out of that funk, so to speak. Not that I don't still love YA, but, as I'm beginning to discover, I also really love classics. Not all classics necessarily but ones that some people don't really know about and some that are so well-known, that I stop to ask myself, how could I have not known? If that makes any sense... :)
ReplyDeleteThat's funny, because for me, it was the opposite - I didn't really read YA as a YA, but was really into the classics. Jumped straight from there to adult literary fiction, and it was only after high school that I started really giving YA and MG reads a try, and realizing how much great stuff there is out there.
ReplyDeleteI am definitely one of those readers that dreads reading something that I feel obligated to read. I accept books for review on my blog, but I don't want to read anything that I'm not going to like, so I rarely accept books. I have a love/hate relationship with NetGalley. There are so many books that appeal to me, so I request them, but then I feel obligated to read them...
ReplyDeleteI am also a list maker. I have lists and lists of books. Books for review, books I've won, books I've bought and haven't read yet, books I want to re-read.
I really enjoyed what you said about having the right to give up on a book and the right to read whatever you want.
I am a lister too! Everything needs to be a list... I am obsessed with lists. And it does feel good to cross things off. Maybe we need to set up a List Anonymous group! LOL
ReplyDeleteAngie
I love the rights that readers have!Thank you!! It's so freeing!
ReplyDeleteI've been thinking a lot about review books lately.Most that I get are from Indie Authors. The others I request from NetGalley. But I am so tired of the deadlines and obligations. So I'm giving them up. I just want to read the books I've purchased and what I want to review. This is just such a timely topic!
Heather
This was liberating to watch Misty. Thank you! I agree with everything you said here, and again it all goes back to "read what you love". We began reading for pleasure, so why not continue that way?
ReplyDeleteHaving said that, I also see how I should push my boundaries and read back that are recommended (which I might be sceptical about) and more classics too.
I try to stay away from Netgalley for that very reason, Dena. I'd request ALL the things, and then be really buried and feel like I had to read them...
ReplyDeleteIf we set up a Lister's Anonymous group, Angie, we'd spend all the time trying to organize everyone into subgroups based on different criteria... ;)
Heather, I hear you completely and I think I'm right there with you. My goal as of this moment is to not take any review books for the rest of the year, once I'm done with my Jane Austen event. Or at least, be VERY selective.
Sam, it's so easy to get caught up in a cycle, and to find yourself drifting further and further away from that core of "read what you love" - isn't it? I think we just have to take the time to remind ourselves every now and then.