While this isn’t a book blog, I do post a lot about books…because I like to read. And I think books are cool. And I’m all about childhood literacy. I can’t talk about my life without talking about books.
I have received a number of questions about bookish things, which I’ve decided I’ll answer here on this page and will update as needed. So, if you have any bookish questions about me, check here!
Do you receive anything for book reviews?
Nope. I’ve done the book blogger thing and, honestly, it burned me out. Now I just read what I want and say what I want about it.
If I send you my book, will you review it?
No. Please don’t ask me to read and review a book that you wrote or that you rep. There are countless bloggers, instagrammers, and YouTubers who would love to work with you, but I’m not one of them. If you do email me and pitch me book, you most likely won’t receive a response.
How do you read so much? Is that all you do all day?
This is an interesting question because I don’t think I read an unbelievable amount. I’m at about 95-115 books a year, but I know people who read 300+ books a year.
Also, no, I do not read all day. I have 2 kids, both of whom are currently in distance learning, and my hours are busy. But here are some of my tactics for reading the amount that I do.
First of all, I’m a book polygamist. 5 books at a time is my sweet spot, although sometimes I have a few more going if I have to finish something up before a book club or a library due date. The five “types” of books I have going are:
- A print book
- An e-book
- An audiobook
- A Serial book (Serial is a free app that will send you a chunk of a public domain book each day, which I read on my phone)
- A poetry collection
I also have figured out a reading schedule that works for me, at least right now. This may change when the kids go back to in-person school or summer hits, whichever comes first.
- First thing in the morning (while, I’m in the bathroom, ahem, doing my business) I read my Serial issue for the day, which is about 8-15 minutes.
- I read a print book for about 1 hour after lunch while my son does his “SSR” reading for school.
- 1 try to read an e-book read for about 1 hour before bed.
- I frequently listen to an audiobook while I’m doing things around the house or walking.
- I read a poem or two during bathroom visits.
Now, there are days where not all of these pieces fall into place. Alternatively, I can sometimes fit in a little extra reading if I have some other free time or I don’t want to watch whatever the rest of the fam is watching.
Doing the math, that is about 2.5-3 hours of reading a day, which is pretty good and, I’ll admit, more hardcore than a casual reader would do. But I am in no way a power reader. I do think I read slightly faster than what is considered average, just based on what my kindle says is the average amount of time required to read a book and how long it actually takes me to read it.
How do you rate your books?
Oh man, this is something I have struggled with. First of all, please know that everyone rates things differently. After over-thinking this, I’ve come up with a spectrum. I rate on a spectrum from 1 to 5 stars and will use quarter and half stars. But, basically, here is my spectrum (I do not rate DNF’s). I will say that I’ve sort of come to this scale recently, so if you go on my Goodreads page and see a book I read 5 years ago, I can’t say that I would give it the same star rating today.
5 Stars – THIS IS ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS I HAVE EVER READ IN MY ENTIRE LIFE! (example)
4 Stars – This may be one of my best books of the year (example
3 Stars – It was fine–I enjoyed it well enough but it didn’t make much of an impact on me (example)
2 Stars – I probably should have DNF’d this, although there might have been something there to make me think that it might turn itself around (example)
1 Star = This book was SO BAD that I couldn’t DNF it because it was my duty to humanity to tell everyone how terrible this books was! (example)
Where do you get all your books?
Various places, honestly. I haven’t done a rough count, but I’m guessing this is how my print book acquisition would go:
- Book of the Month (that is my referral link. If you are thinking of joining, I’d love for you to let me refer you!)
- Library
- Powell’s
- Third Eye Books
I don’t buy e-books, other than a few Amazon-exclusive titles for which I pay with digital credits. Instead, I now only get my e-books from the library. As for audiobooks, I have a Libro.fm subscription (that’s another referral link…feel free to use it if you would like!) and a remaining backlock of Audible books from my former membership there. I will also sometimes download a book from the library.
Can you give me any book recommendations?
Yes! I love to give recommendations! Just get in touch with me and I’ll see what I can do.
Where can I find you out in the virtual world?
Well, I’m here on this blog. I’m also….
And, of course, you can email me.
A Web of Stories 