Reader Problems Tag

Reading through the questions for the reading problems tag, I realized I'm a pretty low stress reader, but I do have a couple of reading issues that get under my skin. Check out the video above or keep reading for my answers to this problematic questions!

1. You have 20,000 books on your TBR. How in the world do you decide what to read next?
This changes month to month for me. Some months I am totally on the whim of my mood and other months, I have certain books to review and that really determines a lot of my reading, or I'll have a buddy read etc. While reading ruts don't happen to me very often, there are some months where I just have to make myself start something, anything. I'll put that book back down, and maybe never get to it again, but making myself start is what matters. If I don't like the book I chose, then I usually have an easy time deciding what I want to read instead because of what I liked or didn't like in the book I started.

2. You’re halfway through a book and you’re just not loving it. Do you quit or are you committed?
QUIT! I'm a quitter. I give it until 1/3 through the book and if I'm not totally into the story, I'm out. I'm a slower reader, and so sometimes even when a book is great, I still struggle to get through it. If there is an audio book available, I'll try that to help speed along and also break up some of the monotony of reading the same book for weeks. I really don't like quitting, but I'll also quit if I decide that there is something else I would rather read in the moment. Life is too short to spend time doing unimportant things that we really don't want to be doing. I've never regretted putting a book down, but I have definitely wished I had time back that I spent reading a "bad" book.


3. The end of the year is coming and you’re so close, but so far away on your Goodreads reading challenge. Do you try to catch up and how?
Nope! And this exact situation happened to me. I set my Goodreads goal to 60 book in 2017. I didn't check it often and just trucked along. Turns out I read 59 books in 2017, one away from my goal. Which is great! But just a tiny bit frustrating. Generally speaking, I feel like I am reading as much as I can already and trying to force more is just going to make me frustrated. Although I check infrequently, if I see that I am a book or two behind schedule it definitely helps me refocus on reading and away from social media, but if I were super far away I'd just let the pressure go.

4. The covers of a series you love do. not. match. How do you cope?
I feel like this is one people have very strong reactions to,but I don't. If I collected and read series that would *really* bother me, but as an adult I read series very infrequently and and even more rarely do I purchase them ( all hail the library!). But there are times when it might be an issue for me - I don't own any of the Harry Potter books currently, for example. I KNOW. It's terrible. I'm planning on getting them in the next several years and rereading them to my son when he is a little older and I *definitely* want them to match, so I can totally relate to the struggle, it just isn't something that affects me very often.


5. Every one and their mother loves a book you really don’t like. Who do you bond with over shared feelings? 
 Good bless, Goodreads. If there is a book you feel like everyone loves, I promise you someone feels how you do and they are on Goodreads talking about it. I also love that space, because there are times when I feel like a book was missing something or didn't handle an aspect of the plot well, and there is always someone far more articulate than I am who can explain to me why I feel that way. In summary, Goodreads is pretty great.

6. You’re reading a book and you are about to start crying in public. How do you deal? 

This is incredibly rare, with books and movies. It has happened twice in my recent memory though, and strangely both times were at the gym - exercise makes me emotional? Both times it happened I was listening to a book called "Juniper" by Kelly and Thomas French. My solution was stopping the audiobook and switching gears. I had to turn it off, crying in the gym is just too awkward. On the other hand, the movie version of TFIOS, I was SO weepy. I cried like it was going out of style and laughed so hard at myself for it, as well. But I love books and movies that hit that strong of a nerve that you feel out of control emotionally, that's a pretty impactful read!

7. A sequel of a book you loved just came out, but you’ve forgotten a lot from the prior novel. Will you re-read the book? Skip the sequel? Try to find a synopsis on Goodreads? Cry in frustration?!?!?!?

YOUTUBE!  Someone will have created an awesome synopsis video that I can gets me back on track with the plot, characters, and themes. Plus I'll be watching a content creator that I really enjoy, winning all around!

8. You do not want anyone. ANYONE. borrowing your books. How do you politely tell people nope when they ask? 
This is so not me, so this is hard to even answer! I think I would suggest the library as a good place to pick a copy up. But really, this just seems like a horribly awkward social interaction.

9. Reading ADD. You’ve picked up and put down 5 books in the last month. How do you get over your reading slump?

Usually reading a YA, or something very cozy. Basically, a book I know I can finish. I might not like it, it might not be life changing, but personally, finsihng a book always kick starts me into getting back into the attitude of toughing it out until the book gets good.

10. There are so many new books coming out that you’re dying to read! How many do you actually buy?
One maybe two. The rest will be on hold for me at the library! God bless the library.

11. After you’ve bought the new books you can’t wait to get to, how long do they sit on your shelf before you get to them?

I'm excited to read every book that I pick up , that's why I picked it up ; ) But there is also a scale for me, if it is a book that I am that really, truly just so excited to read? No time. The last time I was just so excited, can't sleep,  this feels like Christmas, about reading a book was "Turtles All The Way Down" and I didn't even leave the parking lot before I started reading. Chapters One and Two were read in my car in the parking lot of Half Price Books!

This tag was originally created by Tiffany of About to Read, check out her channel here https://www.youtube.com/user/ForThoseAboutToRead/videos

What reader problems do you encounter? Are you a pretty easy going reader or does the idea of lending a book or mismatching series send a chill through your reading heart!? Let's chat below!